Observing Thoughts Liberate Themselves

We notice that we've been caught up in thinking during meditation. We rarely observe thoughts coming into being, because they're sneaky. But we can observe how thoughts disappear. We might not always notice when they disappear, but we can recognize that a thought that was present is now gone. To do this is very encouraging!

We come to see that thoughts liberate themselves. We don't have to get rid of them, because they will do that all on their own!

Transcript

So at the beginning of the practice,

Sitting with dignity,

Sitting at ease,

Softening the eyes as you settle into your meditation posture,

And we allow the muscles around the eyes to soften.

And we also allow the focus within the eyes to be soft as well.

So just seeing if you can have a feeling in the eyes as if they're slightly unfocused.

With soft eyes comes a softer,

More receptive and open field of inner attention.

So opening up to whatever's arising from the body,

And in particular to the sensations and movements of the breathing.

So as you're observing the breathing,

You'll sometimes notice that thoughts keep being created,

And sometimes we get a little frustrated with that.

But just as thoughts simply arise,

So they simply disappear.

For every time that a thought arises,

That thought ends.

So noticing this is a very useful counterbalance.

Just as we can become frustrated by observing how thoughts keep arising,

We can be relieved,

Grateful and encouraged by the fact that they just vanish again.

So noticing this,

So every time you notice a thought has been present,

Be aware that it will end,

And notice that thought disappearing,

Ending,

Or notice it has disappeared.

So you can just continue sitting,

Observing thoughts ceasing to be.

All thoughts liberate themselves.

Reviews

A helpful meditation. Bell at the end. Don’t fall asleep. 8/24/25

Calm and spacious with helpful words. Thank you 🙏