Hello,

If I am not wrong, according to the MCTB, you can note 5 times per second, does that mean noting 5 different things like, thinking, smelling, feeling, vibration, hearing.. or is noting the same thing considered 5 times noting per second as well? thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking (same though or image)?

Another question,
When I note I note everytime, so many times there is a lot of hearing and thinking, but sometimes I direct my attention more to the body so I have more vibrations, sensations to note, is that more important that brings more result?

Noting the same thing counts.

Also it is not important to label the thing verbally.

So for eg. instead of noting  'thinking thinking sound'. You can make single syllable notes like 'tha tha tha' etc.

The important thing is that you are renewing your atttention on the sensations rather than getting lost in discursive thoughts and fellings.

This sort of bare attention is the more subtle form mindfulness. And what you need to get stream entry.
Paying attention to sensations that make up the sense of 'self' or 'body' will be more fruitful IMO, than noting thoughts and their content. Though if you have thoughts, you should note them so you don't get caught up in them.

There is no same thing, as everything is already gone by the time you note it, so while you might be noting a recurrence of something like the now-vanished previous object, it is a fresh new sensation that is gone by the time you note that general category of sensations again.

Thus, anything you note is already gone. Anything you note is a valid thing to note, as that is what just happened, and what is happening is what you note, regardless of what it is. Very simple. Very straightforward.

Hello Julian,

I would like to add that sometimes is not clear for people that noting mind and mental labeling is not the same. 
Noting mind arise when you are present with the experience (noting mind=present=mindful etc.).

Labeling is a technique which helps you to be aware of the object. (and as you do labeling that time noting mind arise on your labeling voice...)
In this way it also helps to "cut off" from the object (as Dru Val sad it helps not to get lost in the content, so it is doesn't matter how-what you label)
So you can be mindful without labeling only labeling makes things easier. It helps to make your action-mind-speech and get concentration.
It is not important to label but it can help a lot when mind get crazy (and it also produce energy (effort)).
(but with to much labeling you can get also crazy). You have to try what works you better and find the balance. 

 

Every phenomena is build up from smaller parts. As your mindfulness gets stronger noting mind can arise on more subtle sensations.
This is the whole technique about. In this way mind can realise that no "I" in the process only sensations and the mental note. 

Noting mind can arise more higher then 5/sec...but you can hardly label 2-3 times in a sec (if you label like "hearing, feeling etc.).
You don't need to get crazy with this and start to count. It will arise naturaly from the mindfulness practice. 
Sometime you perceive more sometimes less phenomena. It is also stage related. More on this you can find clear in MCTB.

Thanks for the replies all! very informative!

There are 2 approaches I can take on noting, I am not so sure if they should be considered the same or one should bring more progress/results than the other.

1. On the background I can "sense" many sensations, thoughts/images, sounds at once, at this point I jump/put closer attention and note in a fast pace everything that's "available" to me on the background, do I hear 5 different sounds in the background? I jump one by one and note them WITHOUT staying on them until they dissolve or my mind bounches automaticly to the other sounds. I simply note 1 sound and jump to the next which is available on the background instantly.
in this approach usually I note quite fast, sometimes to the point I feel intense vibrations building up in my body.

2. When my attention is on a thought, I note "thinking" I stay on the thought until it goes away or something else popups/or my attention automaticly jumps on another sensation or thought, this approach in noting is a little bit slower usually as my mind staying on the thought without anything else poping up can take time..

Any opinions? what approach should bring to stream entry faster?

I personally think your first approach sounds more promising, because fast noting is incredibly powerful if done correctly. If you want to get to stream entry quickly, note fast! 

It doesn't matter what you note as long as you are accurate, diligent, and quick. If you can note all that background stuff without getting lost, keep it up. Some practitioners are better at more choiceless awareness type practice, and some are better with more restricted practice, such as noting the sensations that make up the breath.

I see, thanks!

To speed up noting even more by willfully placing attention on different body parts such as my hand (feeling) my ankle (feeling) back of the head (feeling) in a very fast pase but willfully, can that count as genuine noting as well?