Watching the process of thoughts coming and going can be almost overwhelming when one first begins to practice it, however, in time familiarity with the process can allow one to automatically recognize the various “parts” of the process as unimportant when compared to the whole process itself. Example: observing the thought arising of a sexy image, not focusing on the image itself, but instead focusing on the “mechanics” of where the image came from in the mind, where it resides now, and where it disappears to. As you said, making an obsession out of mindfulness is a type of conditioning, and as such it is a loop, a trap. Achieving the ability to automatically recognize the true nature of thought process is much like adding a third dimension of perspective to an otherwise two dimensional landscape.

Arafin