Brother Richard

And we begin to notice our thoughts.

We can begin by asking ourselves, what have I given mental time to today?

Another way of asking this question is, where have I been mentally today?

What have my thoughts been doing?

Sometimes I may have been really aware, thinking deeply, consciously about things.

But for most of us, most of the time, the brain occupies itself with its own background babble of thought.

Simple associations, reactions, even inspirations that appear, are present, perhaps cause a reaction of some kind.

and then disappear from our awareness.

So ask yourself gently, what have you been thinking about today so far?

And if you can, try and come to rest on a thought that you gave a lot of time to.

or that had significant impact within your body, within your mind, within your heart.

This can be positive or negative, joyous or sorrowful.

For the moment, we do not judge the thought, whether it is good or bad.

We simply notice it.

And having noticed the thought,

ask yourself, what conditions allowed this thought to arise within me?

What conditions allowed this thought to arise within me?

At first, it may seem almost impossible to tell where the thought is coming from.

And so we can delve a little deeper.

We can ask, where in my body did I feel a reaction to this thought?