Hi there, 
I have been doing mahasi noting practice for a month now and one day where I did 12 hours non-stop. I am planning to do another one-day retreat tomorrow and I had a question about the technique. My mind produces things to note all the time and when I note those things I feel I have to be busy with that and be in that 'space'. So I am making a big distinction between noting "rising" and "falling" and noting other things. In other words: it is hard to just focus on noting in general as opposed to noting things other than "rising" and "falling". I can't really focus on the rising and falling because I am so focussed on noting.
One factor that seems to contribute to this big distinction I am holding is that I have to think about the correct label and then I realize I am thinking so I say "thinking", but this is in conflict with the teaching that says: 1) note as fast as possible and 2) note every distraction from noting since I am not noting the original distraction. 
How specific do my labels need to be? Any other thoughts about this post? 
PS: I know I should just note all of this and "not get too neurotic about the labels I use" but any thoughts would still be appreciated.

Hi Koko,

Welcome to the DhO!

You should just note all your thoughts and concerns about doing the practice correctly! It's not possible to go wrong with noting ... so long as you are noting everything in awareness 

If things speed up to the extent that you can no longer note them individually, then you can just switch to 'noticing' or 'registering' them, or using some kind of arbitrary label like 'blip' if they are very fine grained senatations.

Best wishes for your retreat,
George

 

Hey Koko,

First of all: Even in the traditional Mahasi-technique, there is an important but often overlooked add-on to the noting: When your mind is clear enough, and noting speed no longer can keep up with experience, you should shift from noting to merely noticing – silently, that is.

And secondly: Noting/noticing can be done in a ton of ways. You can tailormake the technique so that it fits exactly where you're at. An example: At some point in my practice, it dawned on me that I didn't see the so-called vedana very well, and so for a period of time I worked with a noting system with only three notes: "pleasant", "neutral", "unpleasant". You can find inspiration about how to develop your noting/noticing practice in this excellent ressource.

Good luck!

four words
Seeing hearing feeling thinking
That covers most
notice anything that is you, permenent, and is satisfying.
Watch these closely and investigate.
Good luck
~D