What Itlandm said is very true Speedy !
I sometimes think of the mind as a computer that is constantly trying to find useful thoughts for the situation you are in at that time. As this is done on a sub-concious level, your brain will not discriminate the thoughts. If it seems relevant, it will produce the thought.
Kind of like that thingy in Google, when you type some search-word slightly wrong , it will say " Did you mean to say .....? "
Often this is very useful, but sometimes it is just rediculous. Mind can't judge that. It is up to you to conciously decide if it is useful or not.
In the meditative state, thoughts will eventually slow down. Most people think that this is what meditation is about, willing your thoughts to stop, but one can only do that for a certain amount of time and it takes great effort.
When meditation requires effort, you are doing something wrong, it kind of is the golden rule in meditation.
But how can one stop thought effortlessly ?
Well, you can't, at least not directly.
The method that Michael teaches is to observe your thoughts as if they are clouds, or like Itlandm poetically said, raindrops on the outside of your window.
See them come up, and see them disappear again.
You don't have to act upon every thought, if you leave it alone, it will gently and effortlessly disappear. You see, if you act upon that thought, treat it with attention, that will be a trigger to the mind that you want to know more about that topic, and it will continue to produce more thought for you. You requested it after all by giving that thought attention. So, when you have no intention to react to a thought, your mind sees no need to continue on the topic at hand.
That is all there is to it. Now this may take some practice, as we have been taught to act upon thoughts right away every time one appears.
You will inevitably find yourself immersed in a daydream at a certain point.
And that is ok. Don't be mad or annoyed that you allowed yourself to drift, but instead be glad that you noticed this, and use your mantra to guide yourself back into effortless attention without intention.
After some time, your mind will notice that the thoughts are being left alone, and it will slow down or, like Itlandm said, occasionally it will even stop for a while. This however is rare, and not the goal of meditation.
In fact, there is no goal to meditation other than meditation itself.
I hope this was useful for you
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