How do I remain aware of my thoughts?

[Wisebaxter]

I understand that thoughts themselves are comprised of awareness, but can you ever get to a stage where you can maintain a conscious awareness of the fact that you're thinking? I'm thinking in specific about meditation, or self enquiry, where you're trying to observe your observation when all of a sudden you snap out of a train of thought in which you were just completely lost, almost like a dream. In a way, you were actually back there in that place, the memory etc and you lose all awareness of your surroundings. I find this jarring and very frustrating. I can remain aware of awareness if I hear a sound, or feel a sensation, but thinking is completely seductive. I just can't see the damn things arriving. It's like they're little stealthy thought ninjas I never see coming. Can we ever get to a stage, through meditation, where we can stop awareness being obscured by a thought, where we can consciously watch them rising up? I can't stand getting sucked into these damn stories all the time. 

[GromHellScream]

Same. Practice is the only thing that helps me, and if i stop practicing for even a few days i notice a decline drastically. I LOVE TO THINK, im a THOUGHT ADDICT. If there was a Thoughts anonymous i would be definitely join that group.

If you can manage do do your yoga and meditation religiously every day for a few months you should see yourself catching the paragraphs before they turn into stories.

David Hawkins said " First you begin to surrender stories, then paragraphs, then sentences, then words, then letters.." I have seen this to be true. 

Oh and - Stop jerking off, really!! I've noticed that the constant stream of sex fantasies puts me in a state of constant meditation practice which really helps these things.  

[Wisebaxter]

11 hours ago, GromHellScream said:

Same. Practice is the only thing that helps me, and if i stop practicing for even a few days i notice a decline drastically. I LOVE TO THINK, im a THOUGHT ADDICT. If there was a Thoughts anonymous i would be definitely join that group.

If you can manage do do your yoga and meditation religiously every day for a few months you should see yourself catching the paragraphs before they turn into stories.

David Hawkins said " First you begin to surrender stories, then paragraphs, then sentences, then words, then letters.." I have seen this to be true. 

Oh and - Stop jerking off, really!! I've noticed that the constant stream of sex fantasies puts me in a state of constant meditation practice which really helps these things.  

@GromHellScream Oh so it is kind of possible, that's good to know. I did some research on the topic last night. Adyashanti says you get to a stage where the recognition of a thought occurs almost at the same time as the thought, but even he has what he refers to as 'sticky thoughts' every now and again, that he may get briefly lost in. 

Rupert Spira made an interesting point. He said that there is no difference between a thought you're lost in and one that says 'I'm aware of thinking.' Both of them are still just thoughts. A thought that says 'I'm aware of thinking' is still just another thought. The substance of the object is still the same, that of a thought, just the content is different. Also, I can't see how you could be having a thought that says 'I'm aware of this' and another, more normal one, say of doing the dishes. Really, the two couldn't exist simultaneously right? It would be like having two thoughts at the same time. Perhaps for a thought to even arise at all, a lack of awareness of is a prerequisite. Because, I've noticed, when I sit there waiting for a thought to arise, nothing happens, until I lose awareness. Again, this could be because two thoughts just can't exist at once. We always perceive them as hapenning in a linear fashion

I like that quote from David Hawkins. Perhaps the best we can do learn to become aware of thoughts really quickly. If we were able to watch them arise, we would never have to have an unwanted thought again. 

Catch the paragraphs before they turn into stories. Well said. 

As for quitting jerking, that really makes a difference eh? Interesting. I'll give it a go. My balls ache after a couple of weeks of nofap though. Do you get that issue? 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Wisebaxter

[GromHellScream]

You can think consciously or you can think unconsciously. 

If you wake up from a thought dream, you were unconscious. 

If you try to solve a math problem in your head your thinking consciously. 

The blueballs go away after a while, mine did.