The second stage of meditation is often described as the stage of "insight." This usually develops quite naturally, but it is a stage that can be quite vexing. As long as we have the simple task of following our breath, all seems very straightforward. But we are also charged with "getting to know our minds," this without analysis or following thoughts to their logical conclusion or trying to find out where they came from. We are told that we can develop a non-judgmental awareness about what is happening, without trying to decide whether it is good or bad.
At first this seems to be rather abstract. "Whatever are they talking about?" we may ask. But then, in the midst of the usual trivial buzz of thoughts and feelings, we seem to enter a space where everything is present simultaneously. We see not only this thought and that thought, this feeling and that feeling, but contradictory thoughts and feelings, seemingly all at once. Furthermore, we find that we do not have to identify ourselves with these concepts and emotions. Thoughts, as it were, come and go; they elevate emotions, they depress them, but awareness is there no matter what the thoughts are doing. Things begin to slow down; we find that we can pay attention simply to the events of our daily life. Finally, we can realize that the "me" that was so involved in all these projects is itself somewhat questionable. This is the beginning of the discovery of egolessness.