The challenge is to observe your mind wandering, not criticise, and just lead it back".
With some difficulty, I could observe my mind overshooting the mark, zooming past accuracy toward the sublime or the tragic.
I began to observe my mind more deliberately during the years I cared for my mother with Alzheimer's and saw her lose every memory she had — including who I was.
When I raised my heart rate, I was able to observe my mind from another perspective.
Shakamuni's comment that we should observe the Mind Only heaps up obstructions.
Then you see the image gradually dissolve, leaving you to observe a mind that is completely empty of thought again.
When we don't know the answer right away and engage with patience, we observe the mind at work -- questioning.
Sometimes, the only thing to do is to step back and observe your mind thinking its overblown thoughts.
By taking a few minutes each day to observe the mind in the way described above, we start to see our thinking and the ego much more objectively.
There is no quick fix for this unfortunate, but fairly common, pattern because rooting out unskillful ways of thinking requires time to objectively observe the mind's activity.
