Meditation / Observing and Watching thoughts
 

I have been watching or listening to my thoughts ( the witnessing presence) for about 3 years now and I've had tremendous results. I started after reading about the practice in The Power Of Now by Eckhart Toll. I don't know how long it took but I went from compulsive thinking to now a relaxed and peaceful state of mind. I also realized I am not the body or the mind. I am timeless formless eternal pure consciousness. I still have some attachment to the mind because I still suffer sometimes but less often. My mind is incapable of racing. Also thoughts come and go without effecting me. It's truly a blessing.

They say to watch your thoughts like clouds lazily floating by and not to grab at them or follow them. Like in the past when I'm watching thoughts it would be like for just an example " I want some cookies. I wonder if I have any? I don't think so. I better go to the store. Oh but I don't have any gas. Oops I went unconscious I'm supposed to be watching my thoughts! When now it's like " I want a cookie" then the thought stops and I wait for the next one.

Be the awareness as the thought enters as the thought endures and as the thought ends as you are conscious. I am now at the point where I have alot of precognitive thoughts like where I will say the first word and then be aware of the rest of the thought without saying it in my head. I also have very very soft whispering thoughts.

Please let me know what you think and any of your experiences and ideas. Peace and happiness to all!!

I like me some very very soft whispering thoughts. Sounds good.

A good exercise for increasing sensory awareness I recently discovered is one where you pick a sense, say for example; hearing, and then you slowly speak out loud the input you get through that particular sense. "I hear the the engine of a car starting..." (lol, 10 sec after writing I did hear exactly that) .. and "I hear a cat meowing in the apartment below me...

The same you can do for the other senses.
I haven't done this exercise over a long enough period to claim fantastic results, but after doing it for a while it is clear that this will help deepening perception and maybe even discovering new dimensions to you senses.

It's nice to know that other people have whispering thoughts also. Thank you very much for that practice! I do like to work on my sense perception awareness. I have a detailed walking sound meditation exercise I created I might post on here one day.

Hi skykisser i have a few questions for you. I am novice meditator suffering from excessive negative thoughts. I have thoughts of people taunting and teasing me. Whatever i do a voice in my head starts teasing me.
1. Were your thoughts mostly negative?
2. Has negative thoughts reduced since you started practising now?

I am practising presence but it is early days. The flow of negative thoughts has not reduced so far.

My thoughts were also negative at the time. I still have them from time to time it's called the pain body. Negative thoughts feed the pain body or emotions and the pain body produces more negative thoughts. Watching or observing my thoughts and feelings played a huge role in what is called dis-identifying from the mind. This is one of the most single important accomplishments you can do in life. When you dis-identify from the mind you realize you are not the mind. You can do this anytime but it does take some time to see benefits but not too long. During meditation tell yourself you are going to watch your thoughts , even say to yourself what is the next thought that is going to enter my mind. You will probably notice a gap in the stream of thinking when you ask this question. Then "watch or listen to your mind like a cat waiting outside a mouse hole , very very alert. Here you are meditating and here is thoughts passing by like clouds in the sky. So you create some distance from you and your mind and just observe it. You can do kind of the same thing with the pain body-emotions. Notice how your thoughts suddenly start becoming negative. Know this -- you are not what your thoughts say , you are something far far greater than thoughts or the mind or the body. Pay close attention to the gap in between thoughts. That still Ness. Those gaps in the stream of thinking will grow longer if you practice observing thoughts and go into the breath the gaps will grow longer over time. That gap of no mind holds the key to who you are.

Another thing is listen or follow your breath. Feel every sensation about the breath. This is very helpful in slowing the mind down and getting rid of unwanted thoughts. Feel the air coming into the nostrils. Feel the abdomen rise and then fall again slowly and then there's the pause in-between breaths notice that. Be the breath. I hope some of this helps buddy.

Relax all thoughts or simply give away thoughts for 2 to 5 seconds and in that gap notice that you still exist.

Now, ask yourself "Where will my next thought come from?" (Frank Kinslow)

Thankyou for your kind advice. I am practicing presence actively and intentinally. What i understand from your reply is that the flow of negative thoughts may not reduce but by practising presence we would not be drawn into them as much as before. Is my understanding correct?

When the negative thoughts start recognize that it is the ego or pain body. Observe the thoughts in the practice and over time certain thoughts won't bother you anymore. Don't judge or analyze what you are observing because that would be the ego coming in through the back door.

Do you have a negative emotion along when the thoughts start or is it just annoying,,?

When I first started observing thoughts I would put on my headphones and play some instrumental music and just see what thoughts would pop up for about 10 or 15 minutes. Remember to try not to follow or grab at the thoughts.

Yes i have guilt and anger when thoughts of the past play in my mind. It is repepitive in nature.