When I first began meditating, I tried to convert my mother. But Jewish mothers have arsenals of truth that young meditators cannot begin to fathom.

“I already know how to meditate,” she told me.

“Really?” I asked. “How do you do it?”

“I sit at the window of my apartment with my coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other,” she explained. “Then I just look out at the world going by, and my mind doesn’t function. I don’t think happy thoughts, and I don’t think sad thoughts. I don’t think any thoughts. It’s the best part of my day.”

Now, many years later, I recognize that my mother was far closer to real meditation than I was. In her own way, she had mastered the wandering mind—something I am still trying to do.

If the Jewish-Mother Meditation is valid—and it is—any activity that takes you beyond your intellect and connects you with your inner spirit is a good meditation. If you write, paint, dance, play music, or engage in sports, you know there is a state of awareness you enter where the small sense of self disappears and Something Greater moves through you. Or you may sit in silence, watch your breath, say a mantra, or become absorbed in the light within you. Anything that helps you find peace is worthwhile. It is your true source of happiness.

It has been a long time since my mother taught me the Jewish-Mother Meditation. Since then she has gone to heaven, and I am still learning to deal with a restless mind that tells me all kinds of things that simply are not true. When it is my turn to meet Mom in the afterlife, if I find her sitting with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other, I will not be surprised.

What do you do that connects you with inner peace? How can you maximize that experience each day and in your entire life?

I do what it takes to quiet my mind. In peace I know truth.