This is something all meditators discover: I do not necessarily choose to think; thoughts just seem to think themselves!

You may have noticed this even if you have never meditated. Perhaps you wake during the night and cannot get back to sleep because you have started worrying about something or ruminating on an issue. You may also notice that the stronger the emotional charge of a thought or idea, the more readily it carries us along with it.

When sitting in meditation, we suddenly discover that we have become carried away into a daydream or stream of thought without noticing, perhaps until several minutes have passed. This gives us a clue as to why we cannot simply stop thinking. Much of our thinking is habitual and arises without conscious intention, particularly when fired up by emotion.

From the Buddhist point of view, this discovery also raises a deeper question about the nature of the ‘I’ that claims ownership of these thoughts. But we do not need to solve that question in order to meditate.

For now, when awareness arises that we have become distracted, simply develop the habit of gently but firmly returning to the object of meditation: the out-breath and the count.