Staring back at thoughts

I have a new book. Awakened Joy by James Baraz has a foreword by Jack Kornfield, and a preface by Ram Dass. This is what caught my attention when I ordered it from the library. I picked it up a few days ago, did not particularly like the graphics on the cover, and left it sitting on my bed table. This morning I decided that I should at least take a look at it before I returned it to the library.
I love this book. It is a book about real human life. I gives no great understandings about how to face the moment of death with calm abiding; no sutras translated by many scholars debating the origins of Tibetan words. Just what to do when you are overwhelmed in the moment; how to be just as you are; how to engage in the joy of loving others; how to have a grateful, and joyful heart. I guess that will due for me, for now. I want to share some of the information in this book with you, and will be writing the sections that grounded me.
In March 2000, the Dalai Lama met with a small group of prominent neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, and Buddhist scholars to discuss the origins of negative emotion and the beneficial effects of spiritual practices. In his book, Destructive Emotions, Daniel Goleman narrates the proceedings of this gathering, highlighting significant moments of dialogue. This excerpt is from Matthieu Ricard, who earned a doctorate in genetics in France and later became a Buddhist monk.
"At the beginning when a thought of anger, desire, or jealousy arises, we are not prepared for it. So within seconds, that thought has given rise to a second and a third thought, and soon our mental landscape becomes invaded by thoughts that solidify our anger or jealousy---and then it is too late. Just as the spark of fire has set a whole forest on fire, we are in trouble."
"The basic way to intervene has been called 'staring back' at a thought. When a thought arises, we need to watch it and look back at its source. We need to investigate the nature of that thought that seems so solid. As we stare at it, its apparent solidity will melt away, and that thought will vanish without giving birth to a chain of thoughts. The point is not to try to block the arising thought---this is not possible anyway----but not to let them invade our mind. We need to do this again and again because we are not used to dealing with thoughts in that way.....Finally, a time will come when thoughts come and go like a bird passing through the sky, without leaving a trace".
Staring back, being the witness of the solidifying of the thought, being amazed at how skillful we are at believing it is solid. Then we create a reality from this believed thought. We are all magicians, creating the illusions we call our lives.