About This Answer
Ajahn Dtun explains that the mind is hard to calm at first because little samādhi has been developed, and for decades we have let it follow its thoughts and moods. So patience and persistent effort are needed. One fixes mindfulness on the in- and out-breath or on Buddho; when thoughts arise, let them, but do not run after them. Go against the current and keep mindfulness in the present.
He recalls a day in his twenties when his mind was proliferating restlessly, and he asked himself why his mind was so scattered. He went into his room, sat in meditation and brought mindfulness to the breath at the tip of the nose, and the thoughts all disappeared, because he did not let the mind run with them.
The key point is not to support or prop up the thinking. Whenever thoughts proliferate, bring mindfulness back to the breath or Buddho, and they cease. In this way the power of mindfulness grows stronger. Anyone who wants a peaceful mind must give time to sitting and walking meditation, practising often, and the mind will become peaceful by itself.