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| I have read one of the things to do while meditating or just sitting and breathing, is to observe your thoughts. To have no attachment to it, but to just look at and acknowledge it. I have been trying to do this but am unsure of some things:
1. When I observe my thoughts or myself, do I observe it from within my body, or from outside of my body looking onto myself? Does it matter?
2. I am unable to become a third-party to just observe the thoughts. I am experiencing them first-hand. For example if something happened to me that day and I think about what happened, I'm still seeing it as happening to me first-hand, instead of removing myself from what happened, and just observing it.
Any advice? Thank you in advance for the help. |
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| Hi. It is NOT that one of the thing to do in Meditation is 'to watch thoughts'. But, that is ONE WAY or ONE KIND of meditation practice. In that practice you do watch the thoughts.
Thought is in the mind, and not in the body. I am NOT advising this method of meditation to you but I am only answering your question. Answer: Just watch the thought without worrying about where you are watching.
Meditation is NOT a mechanical practice and has to be done individually. So, there is NO one exact method or practice that is to be copied.
Namaste.
imadayana - 2008-07-20 5:51 AM
I have read one of the things to do while meditating or just sitting and breathing, is to observe your thoughts. To have no attachment to it, but to just look at and acknowledge it. I have been trying to do this but am unsure of some things:
1. When I observe my thoughts or myself, do I observe it from within my body, or from outside of my body looking onto myself? Does it matter?
2. I am unable to become a third-party to just observe the thoughts. I am experiencing them first-hand. For example if something happened to me that day and I think about what happened, I'm still seeing it as happening to me first-hand, instead of removing myself from what happened, and just observing it.
Any advice? Thank you in advance for the help. |
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| the way I was taught to begin with, is to observe your breath, not your thoughts.
Then, if, while observing your breath, a thought arises, it's okay: do not fight it and do not cling to it, just come back gently to observing your breath as soon as you noticed that you were thinking.
Doing this, progressively, you'll be able not to identify yourself totally to your thoughts. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| In meditation I was taught to let the thoughts be like clouds in the sky and let them be there without reacting to them. Of course, some thoughts are like storm clouds and you may have difficulty not reacting as if a severe storm was coming your way - duck and run for cover! 
Observing your thoughts as a separate practice from meditation is very, very interesting. I think of it as a bit like channel surfing on TV. I can flick through the channels and react to each one - oh, I HATE that show!, no, that's boring, love that...." etc. or I can just flip through and see what is on. Cooking show - ok, it is nearly lunch time, I understand that. Cartoons from childhood - ah, cute! Nascar - really? Oh yeah, actually thinking about Mr. Tourist there...cooking show again - huh, I must be hungrier than I thought. It is an interesting little exercise and not as easy as it sounds. It is easy to get caught up in a thought - quiz show..oh yes, I'm trying to learn that new procedure at work, oh my goodness it is tough, why can't I get that second section, my boss is such a pain, blah, blah, blah and the emotions come in etc.
So yeah - a valid practice but separate from meditation is what I have been taught. |
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| ankali: Thanks for your fantastic, brief and lucid statement. I bow down to your succintness. Actually, I also wish to make one more comment, which includes my comment on Sister Tourist's above post as well. That comment is:
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali made these things so simple: yathaabhimatadhyaanaadvaa... by Meditation on Whatever One Feels Shall Reduce the Fluctuations in Chitta.... Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Chapter 1.
OM ShantiH.
ankali - 2008-07-20 9:03 AM
the way I was taught to begin with, is to observe your breath, not your thoughts.
Then, if, while observing your breath, a thought arises, it's okay: do not fight it and do not cling to it, just come back gently to observing your breath as soon as you noticed that you were thinking.
Doing this, progressively, you'll be able not to identify yourself totally to your thoughts. |
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| Thank you for the replies. I kind of knew in the back of my mind there wasn't a right way or a wrong way to do this, but I thought since I couldn't observe the thoughts, versus experience them, there should be something I could be doing differently.
Thanks again for that. |
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| I understand there is a very good reason they have you start with observing the breath, not the thoughts, in meditation. It's because it's too easy to get caught up in thoughts. With focusing on the breath, you stay focused on it.
I wonder if you are really thinking about Buddhist mindfulness, which is something you do outside of meditation which helps you to be able to meditate.
Kulkarn's advice to: "Just watch the thought without worrying about where you are watching." does not really give the complete picture of how to learn mindfulness. Try "Mindfulness in Plain English." Which talks about mindfulness bot in everyday life, and in meditation. It really does take more than just
sitting down and saying: "ok I'm going to meditate now, yeah that's it."
The yoga Sutras explain it like crap, sorry, but it's true. If anybody knows
a yoga sutra commentary that can really compare, I'd like to know about it,
please.
PS: I'm not a Buddhist. I like neither religion in its entirety, because there is unfortunate baggage attached to both!
Edited by tunguska 2009-03-28 2:39 PM
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| ankali - 2008-07-20 6:03 AM
the way I was taught to begin with, is to observe your breath, not your thoughts.
Then, if, while observing your breath, a thought arises, it's okay: do not fight it and do not cling to it, just come back gently to observing your breath as soon as you noticed that you were thinking.
Doing this, progressively, you'll be able not to identify yourself totally to your thoughts.
I like to see thoughts like the bubbles in a glass of champagne. I just let them appear at the bottom of the glass out of nowhere and go to the top where they disappear. When I start attaching to a particular thought, I just remember the champagne bubbles and let (not make) the thought evaporate.
When thoughts arise, if I observe them without comment (words in my head) and do not attach to them (judge them positively or negatively), they naturally evaporate.
Edited by jimg 2009-03-28 3:57 PM
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| tunguska - 2009-03-28 7:31 PM
The yoga Sutras explain it like crap, sorry, but it's true. If anybody knows
a yoga sutra commentary that can really compare, I'd like to know about it,
please.
Dear remote place in Russia :-)
You might like to look for the translation & commentary of the yoga sutras done by Chip Hartranft, published by Shambala Classics. I found it very well written and very understandable.
All the best,
John |
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Observing the Thoughts
