Questions on Bardon (Meditation)

[Greatoutdoors]

I am hoping there are some Bardon experts here who can help with some questions.

Observe the train of your thoughts for five minutes, trying to retain it ... to allow the train of thoughts to be pursued and controlled without the slightest digression for a time of 10 minutes at least after a week's training.

This is a beginning level exercise in Bardon's“Initiation Into Hermetics" and it's a bit confusing.

Is he saying to just watch as your thoughts come and go, making no effort to control them? Do I just let thoughts come as they please and just try and keep a running commentary on what I'm thinking? Example:“Okay I just thought about going to the grocery tomorrow; now I'm thinking about not planting tomatoes in the same spot next year - my toe itches , etc I've practiced doing this and sometimes lose my concentration. I wind up thinking, “How did I get on this line of thought ? last I recall I was thinking about my toe!"

Or is he saying to control and limit the thoughts that rush in?

At the beginning, thoughts rush on to him, how rapidly they pass before him so that he will have difficulty to recollect the lot of manifold thoughts. But from one exercise to the next, he will see that thoughts come up less chaotic, moderating little by little, until at last only a few thoughts emerge in his consciousness, arriving, as it were, from a far distance.

I have spent more time working in this direction - just gently“swatting away' thoughts that come in and trying to keep my mind clear. The problem here is there is a strong tendency to go to sleep. He's right when he warns about that. However, when I succeed and stay awake is when I have my most productive meditations.

Any help in figuring out what I'm doing here is appreciated.