When I was young, about 20 to 25 years ago, I was taught by a school of thought that said you could understand things simply by observing your thoughts. There was no organizational structure, so I was just learning. They taught that you could quickly understand things by simply observing your thoughts and looking at yourself from behind. I attended or learned at that place.

Now that I think about it, it was like the beginning of Vipassana meditation, or perhaps a less structured form of Vipassana teachings. However, it seemed to be classified as a spiritual practice related to the universe.

At the time, I thought, "That's interesting," and I was taught to consciously observe not only my thoughts but also my daily life, turning every aspect of my life, including meals and actions, into meditation.

It's like Vipassana meditation today. It's a teaching that emphasizes turning every aspect of daily life into meditation, such as walking meditation and mindful eating.

Now that I think about it, it was correct in its own way, but it seems that the preparatory stage was completely missing.

In traditional religions and schools of practice, there is a preparatory stage, often called "Kegyo," before embarking on serious training. This is to ensure that those who are not prepared can start with basic training.

The school I attended when I was young claimed that you could quickly understand things simply by observing your thoughts, and that long training like other schools was unnecessary. However, in reality, it seems that this is only true for those who are already prepared. Those who are not prepared still need to go through the preparatory stage before they can start serious training.

This tendency is particularly noticeable in spiritual practices related to the universe. Statements like "You just need to do this" often omit the necessary preconditions for that stage. While it may be true that extraterrestrials have already cleared those preconditions, most people on Earth have not, so "You just need to do this" does not apply to them.

At the time, I vaguely felt something like that, but now I clearly understand it.

What they taught, "just observe your thoughts," seems to correspond to the "Yoga" stage of maintaining a state of Samadhi and practicing in daily life. Therefore, it seems that skipping that preparatory stage and simply imitating the observation of thoughts will not lead to enlightenment.

Be cautious of organizations or spiritualists who make claims like "If you just do ◯◯," because while it might be true for them, in reality, very few people can actually do it.