Viktor Valentin Norlander Högman:
Thank you very much for three good answers. The last two weeks I have kind of stopped the noting.
I'm unsure how this has influenced the awareness, but I suspect that my thoughts have profited on that... I think I've started to get lost in thoughts again. So it might be a good idea to begin noting all the time again, I guess.
That all depends on what the thoughts are about. If you're examining the five aggregates, for instance, and the thoughts that you are having relate to that subject matter, then they are worth pursuing for their value as insight! This is what insight contemplation is all about!
Just because your meditation seems to become sidetracked by arising thought doesn't automatically mean that those thoughts are to be ignored. Insight contemplation is about seeing
deeper into the subject matter being examined and evaluated. Without the arising of additional information in the form of thought about these subject matters, you may be throwing out the baby with the bathwater to ignore them.
Think about this. Seriously.
Also, consider, for beginners who have not yet managed to gain control of their mind enough to consciously direct it toward the subject matter that they wish to examine, they may still be plagued with "monkey mind" wherein the mind directs itself, subconsciously, outside the parameters of the owner's wishes. In that case, it may profit one to ignore the the arising thoughts and to discipline the mind by returning to the meditation object (such as the breath and noting practice, for example).
This latter is an example of the process involved in the re-training of the mind to follow one's intended directions. However, if you are fairly certain that you have been able to compete this process of re-training, and have gained control of your mind to the extent of its obeying your commands, then you may want to consider just where the mind is going before you ignore the pathway that it is taking you down.
Meditation and contemplation are a dynamic process. If you are unfamiliar with the practice and cultivation of reconditioning the mind using these tools, then without proper guidance (in the form of a dedicated meditation guide or teacher), you could be setting yourself up for years of just spinning your wheels without going anywhere! And that truly would be sad, indeed.