answer:@LostInParadise: “but I can’t imagine that I can think of something and at the exact same time observe myself thinking.” I’m not sure I have every experienced this either. But there have been times when the lag between a thought arising and becoming aware of the fact that the thought just appeared can be minimized. When my mind is still and there are moment when I can observe thoughts arise almost as soon as they do. If we sit and observe sounds from the “outside” world, we will gradually become aware of more and more sounds. The sounds hasn’t just appeared – it’s that we’re aware of it. When we are busy and our attention is on other things, we just don’t notice it. To me, this seems to be the same with our thoughts. They appear just as other sensations do. But the tricky thing about these thoughts is that we get trapped in them and can only identify them for what they are if we are able to step out of them. You say that you “eventually become aware of it and be able to recall what I had been thinking about”. What if the time between the beginning of thought and awareness that it is a thought were to shrink? At what point would it be real-time or real-time enough? @LostInParadise: “There is not one of me thinking and another of me observing me thinking.” This raises the whole question of consciousness and the concept of the self, which I will admit I am actively struggling with. But when “you” see a thought (or recognize that you were engaged in though), you’re also likely able to recognize that you are now currently thinking about how you witnessed your mind lost in thought. And there are emotions/thoughts that arise around that, and again about this. And this. @LostInParadise: “Is there really something to this idea of being observer and observed at the same time, or is it just a matter of reducing the time between having a thought and then becoming of aware of it?” I suspect that what people mean by observing a thought as it arises is that when we are the most attentive, it’s possible to limit that time between thought arising and observation of that happening to such a degree as to provide some sense of relief. I suspect it is different for everyone.