[snowyowl]

Originally Posted by thisguyscott

I begin to wonder if the act of observing is a thought or just being. Is my true self just the observer or is it a thought process to. Is there a layer beyond the observer I guess. Anyone else practice that type of meditation? If so. Anyone have any opinion on it?

To me this sounds like the difference between dual and nondual states of mind. Some folks regard the attainment of a nondual state as the main point of meditation, and I think you can reach it from any technique. In this approach, the 'true self' is discovered when the duality collapses into unity, the observer and observed merge into One. Thought is seen as just one function among all the others and no more special than breathing or growing your hair, for example. This is connected with Buddhist ideas of no-self too, in which case the true self is the whole, the unity, the entire universe!

I suppose I don't practice meditation for this specifically, but I can see a place for both modes of awareness, moving between having a separate self/observer for regular type of everyday life; and merging with the infinite whole occasionally, as a reminder that I am part of a greater spiritual whole. Or small self / big self if you prefer that language.