A few days ago, while meditating, I had this realisation:
I don’t lose mindfulness because my thoughts appear. Rather, thoughts appear because I lose mindfulness.
For me, the implication of this discovery in terms of simplifying and clarifying my practice is huge. There is just this one thing to do in meditation: awareness of the air entering and leaving the body. Such an egoless practice. Like withered leaves falling through the cold air.
Or as Deepak Chopra would randomly put it: “Nature is reborn in total acceptance of belonging”.