We identify with all our thoughts and our beliefs – when we want something, we think ‘I really like this’; our desire for it grows. When we don’t like something, we think ‘I really don’t like this to happen’; our aversion grows. We buy into it, right? We would see it as the mind thinking.
It’s because when we buy into this idea of self, and every time we buy into it, our defilements grow, the unwholesome qualities of our mind grow – we get more greedy, or adverse, or deluded. That’s why that way of thinking is called wrong view because it brings on more suffering.
Whenever there is wrong view, we’ll find that whatever unwholesome quality that we’re holding gets worse.
When we approach meditation, we will come across all these qualities of our mind, and if we’re going to identify with all these things that we start to notice, it can be a terrible experience – it can be very trying if we identify with what we’re observing.
Whatever we’re observing, whether we’re observing the breath, our thoughts, our feelings, or our movement, remind yourself that it’s just nature. Don’t think of it as my breath. Just try it.