How to ​relate​ ​skilfully​ to ​all​ the thoughts and images that arise in the mind

● Is an aspect predominant and we ​rarely pay attention to

● Becoming aware of proliferation of thought in the mind
● Its so determinant of what happens in our life
● In the course of ordinary life we get lost in them, act in them and even when we dont act
they still have the power to condition strong emotions in us
● Applying mindfulness​ to though as as object is that when we are mindful that we are
thinking the thoughts have no power at all, its just passing empty phenomena arising
and passing thought
● Yet when we are NOT AWARE THEY HAVE TREMENDOUS POWER and we just
follow along, like a puppy on a leash
● Becoming aware quicker - takes practice, including thought as object of meditation
● We are strengthening our ability to be aware of them as close to the beginning as
possible

There are different levels to attending to thought

● First thing we might wanna do is simply be aware that we are thinking,
acknowledgement is strengthening the habit of awareness, and then coming back to
whatever the anchor is
● Second, to become aware more specifically of the common thought pattern that keeps
coming back, ( ex: planning, future fantasies of what we need to do).
○ Take the note when u see it so you reinforce mindfulness of that pattern.because
its a common pattern it will be useful
○ ( it might be the pattern of judging, either yourself or others), notice so u dont get
identified with those judging thoughts. Judging isn't the problems, its a condition
habit of mind that we almost all have, the problem arises when we are not aware
that it's there, and we identify with it. We give energy to judgement from inside
and strengthen our identification, instead of seeing the arising and passing,
content doesn't matter, only matter when we identify and act on the thought.
Form a meditative perspective we are just WATCHING THE PASSING FLOW
OF PHENOMENA,
○ Will help to keep mind in openness and not identification with those patterns that
arise more frequently
○ EXAMPLES of patterns: planning , judging, commenting, past and future.. How
many of our thoughts are past and future, NOTICE THE CHALLENGE OF
STAYING IN THE PRESENT.
● THIRD LEVEL of attending to thoughts, most interesting. When there are a lot of
thoughts happening / stream of thought, would be a good time to ask a question about
yourself that almost no one asks, WHAT IS A THOUGHT? What is actually a thought as
a phenomena?? We see how ephemeral and empty and insubstantial a thought is, if we
are attentive when it arises, WHAT IS IT? A little more than nothing, tiny energy
condensation into words, there's not much there… when we are mindful it will disappear
 because we are not identified/ lost in it. When we are unaware that we are thinking the
thoughts dominate our lives. They are like dictators of the mind. SHOWS THE POWER
OF MINDFULNESS, without it we are lost in our stories and with it we can see tought
itself as being so empty , insubstantial, transparent and without much power.
○ Instead of seeing a proliferation of thoughts as a problem, you can use that time
to really look, opportunity to ask the question
○ Purpose is not so much to come out with an answer BUT directing the
awareness to look directly at the nature of thought, as phenomena NOT
CONTENT. About what the thought is in itself.
○ Just explore out of your own interest

Other elements that can enliven your practice

First, to be what your habitual response is to becoming aware that you've been thinking
We sitting with body, breath, sensations, opening field, thought comes, we are not aware of it,
we get caught up in the train of association, we get carried away for a while, and at certain point
we wake up from being lost. WHAT'S YOUR FIRST REACTION? When you wake up from
being lost? First reaction is often rushing back to whatever the object is or the normal anchor (
back to the breath) OR we wake up from being lost and have a little moment of self judgement.

THird alternative is UNDERSTANDING THAT FOR AS MANY TIMES THAT YOU'VE BEEN
LOST, EXACTLY THAT MANY TIMES YOU WAKE UP, pay attention to that moment of going
from that delusion ( something is happening and we dont know its happening), when lost in
thinking process, that moment of transition of being lost and becoming awake, WE CAN
EXPERIENCE DIRECTLY WE'VE GONE FROM IGNORANCE TO WISDOM, FROM
DELUSION TO AWARENESS. Being awake feels like this…
● Everytime you wake up , it would be helpful if you recondition your habit of “ oh im lost
again” to appreciation “ oh i'm awake again”!!!
● Instead of emphasizing the lost emphasize the wakefulness
● Energizes the practice, reminder that takes us beyond the practice as a technique to the
practice as a vehicle for direct learning about our experience
● Real understanding of ignorance and delusion VS wakefulness and awareness, and its
in this moments of transition that this becomes very clear