Observing the Thoughts

[Ibnezubair]

Whenever I practice to observe the thoughts coming in and going out of my mind, my mind becomes blank. The thoughts cease to appear in my mind. The reason seems to be that I cannot divide my mind into two:one for the thoughts and the other to observe them.
Is it okay even if it is different experience than others?

[Peter]

Hi Ibnezubair,

That's no problem at all. It's very common.

The more effort one puts into 'catching' a thought, the more the thoughts stay away (when the cat is there, the mice won't come *wink*).

Over time one learns to be mindful with less effort, which makes it a lot more natural, and makes it easier to be aware of thoughts.

Peter

[JonW]

'The reason seems to be that I cannot divide my mind into two:one for the thoughts and the other to observe them.'

That's brilliantly put and one of the main keys to mindfulness.
Another way of putting it is that, when a thought is held in awareness, it loses its power over us. It's the difference between awareness of thinking as a passing mental event and being lost in the content of thoughts.
All best,
Jon