"Unlike the preceding ones, these exercises do not begin with the
idea for the day."
What does this mean?
Maybe I'm supposed to laugh at the thought the editors, whoever they
were, couldn't resist the urge to uniformity by putting the "idea
for the day" first, in the lesson title, as it is with all the other
lessons.
"These thoughts do not mean anything," is the idea for the day, and
there it is right at the beginning of the lesson page in the book
I'm looking at.
It's possible to look at it as if it were a joke or a lie, but why
bother? Let's take it seriously.
This exercise does not begin with, "
these thoughts do not mean
anything." It begins with "
noting the thoughts that are
crossing your mind."
The implication is that
you are
not your thoughts.
The suggestion is that thoughts just happen. They appear, move
across your mind, and disappear. Like clouds in sky.
For some, this may be a novel idea. Some have realized this
intuitively, or recognize it from another source.