Ok, forgive me for the clickbait-y title. But that was my reaction as I read the below passage:
The eighth-century Buddhist adept Vimalamitra described three stages of mastery in meditation and how thinking appears in each. The first is like meeting a person you already know; you simply recognize each thought as it arises in consciousness, without confusion. The second is like a snake tied in a knot; each thought, whatever its content, simply unravels on its own. In the third, thoughts become like thieves entering an empty house; even the possibility of being distracted has disappeared. – Sam Harris, Waking Up
I appreciate reading such clarity in a practice (meditation) within a tradition (Buddhism) where there often isn’t much. I think about the passage often. Like thieves entering an empty house…