On separating from the thoughts

We hear from spiritual circles that "you are not the thoughts".

We are talking about conversations so intimately tied to us. The voices that nobody else hears and images nobody else sees. So how do we separate ourselves from these thoughts? There are books and entire theologies dedicated to this. Below is a simple representation which could help lessen the mental masturbation.

Picture, if you will: You are are stood at a train station.

There are trains shooting past at varying speeds.

They pass by the station all day long. Some faster than others.

Some stop, some shoot straight through.

Think of these trains as the thoughts you encounter.

The untrained mind is lured onto train and before he knows better, ends up at a station miles from home. "How did I get here?" it might ask, as you snap out of your mental projection when you were reading a book a few moments before - and then try to find your way back to where you were in your ready (back to your train station).

You, as the watcher in your meditation train yourself to smile at the trains passing by and pull yourself back from getting on.

Try to start to look at thoughts as trains.

Your job is to stay on the platform.