Why am i so damn involved in my thoughts and not other senses?

[luckieluuke]

Hi, long time no see

Precursor to my question:
I am asking this cause I feel like the answer could be one of main the reasons why I so stubbornly identify myself with ideas of myself (ie the ego) rather than my awareness? And if I want an answer first thing is to ask the right question

While meditating we try to not get carried away by our thoughts which is easier said than done as we all know here.
In meditation I can seperate "my true self/awareness" from my sensory experience. Like if it tickles in my feet I can feel the tickling and simultaniously feel the pure unaltered awareness of the tickling wich allows me to seperate the awerness of the tickling and the tickling itself.
Ofcourse this seperation is in the end only imaginary since there ultimatly is no seperation but im getting ahead of myself since I am still in everyday life identifying myself as this body this is where my focus is before I can continue my journey.

The question:
Why do I get so carried away by my thoughts? It´s like I start dreaming and forget even where I am?!
Other senses like the tickling in my feet or even emotion like anxiety I can seperate "myself" from.
So what is the difference between a thought and sensory stimuli? Why does the seperation of awareness and the physical world dissapear when i start thinking deeply?
I mean it´s like this: im meditating and all is fine, I can feel the tickling, the anxiety and stay grounded in awareness and sense it come and go while I remain. But as soon as a thought comes along I loose control! like I loose my conciousness and am taken for a rollercoaster ride and not until the ride is slowing down I regain my conciousness and realise that "I" have been taken for a ride. 
When I am very deep in meditation sometimes I still can stay grounded when deep thoughts arise but that is unfortunately rare.
Do you know what I mean? is it similar for you? and why do you think/believe that is?
 

Edited April 14, 2022 by luckieluuke

[Raze]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsyP80BydV4

[luckieluuke]

Thanks! That´s a great basic meditation technique and I have those.
My question however is more to gain some insight in what makes thougths different mainly in how captivating they are as opposed to sensations and even emotions. It´s hard to put into words ;-) 

[RickyFitts]

I remember a few years back when I was wrestling with thought, a question arose in my mind: What would it be like if I couldn't think? It was an interesting question to contemplate, to notice what sorts of emotions arose in response to the question - helped me to better-understand the role of thought in my life.

[BipolarGrowth]

1 hour ago, luckieluuke said:

So what is the difference between a thought and sensory stimuli?

The thought that there is a difference attached to a story which reinforces the interpreted differences is the only difference. 
 

I have a suggestion. Allow the thinking mind to do its thing however it wants during meditation and focus your attention on how thought is correlating with changes in your field of experience. 

[Osaid]

I think it's just more useful in terms of survival to focus on thinking instead of not thinking. It's more comfortable to think. You're more used to it. You've been using it to navigate your entire life, so it's second nature now.

[WelcometoReality]

2 hours ago, luckieluuke said:

The question:
Why do I get so carried away by my thoughts? It´s like I start dreaming and forget even where I am?!
Other senses like the tickling in my feet or even emotion like anxiety I can seperate "myself" from.
So what is the difference between a thought and sensory stimuli? Why does the seperation of awareness and the physical world dissapear when i start thinking deeply?
I mean it´s like this: im meditating and all is fine, I can feel the tickling, the anxiety and stay grounded in awareness and sense it come and go while I remain. But as soon as a thought comes along I loose control! like I loose my conciousness and am taken for a rollercoaster ride and not until the ride is slowing down I regain my conciousness and realise that "I" have been taken for a ride. 
When I am very deep in meditation sometimes I still can stay grounded when deep thoughts arise but that is unfortunately rare.
Do you know what I mean? is it similar for you? and why do you think/believe that is?
 

It's just the way we are conditioned. If you get caught by a thought just recognize what's happened and re-"ground" yourself. That practice can be used anytime all the time and eventually no thought will cause you to "loose control".

[luckieluuke]

@RickyFitts Nice, good question

@BipolarGrowth "The thought that there is a difference attached to a story which reinforces the interpreted differences is the only difference."

Thats an interesting thought. So Maybe its because there is some sort of a loop where the thought reinforces itself that it is so engaging and I loose myself in it. Like the thought is based on so many thoughts that are the basis of my Ego so the thought is much more important to the ego than a tickle in my feets or the feeling of angre.

@Osaid Well im also used to feeling stuff in terms of survival. Like pain. And that is quite interesting because if the pain is strong enough i loose the conept of "I" in similar ways that I do when thinking.

@WelcometoReality Yea I get the practice of basic mediation. Im just exploring what differentiates a thought from other perceptions.

 

[Osaid]

14 minutes ago, luckieluuke said:

Well im also used to feeling stuff in terms of survival. Like pain. And that is quite interesting because if the pain is strong enough i loose the conept of "I" in similar ways that I do when thinking.

Pain is related to survival, but not in the same way as thoughts. Pain is something that is avoided, whereas thoughts are something that's constantly perpetuated and is basically essential to survival.

[WelcometoReality]

3 hours ago, luckieluuke said:

what differentiates a thought from other perceptions.

A thought. ?

[Breakingthewall]

7 hours ago, luckieluuke said:

Why do I get so carried away by my thoughts? It´s like I start dreaming and forget even where I am?!

I think because we have seen tens of thousands of hours of stories on a screen and we have read millions of words in books, so we have created a mind that tells stories non-stop. It is not easy to throw back all that conditioning acquired from childhood. The problem is that all these stories are nonsense without any meaning other than getting into the collective ego, and tying us to our imaginary personal history. Only the present is real, and words veil it, although they are also in the present and are the present. what veils the present is the attachment to the meaning of those words. Understand that are meaningless is the key

[Kamo]

As with most answers here, its mainly conditioning. The mind has developed a pattern of processing information for survival and the outcome is a constant stream of thoughts. Its become reliant on the process of thinking as if its necessary. So its become automatic, the mind finds it more comfortable to remain in that stream of thinking as it generates its own momentum and sustains itself as relating to the ego.