This is an excellent way to conceptualize and execute a wisdom-centered practice, particularly one influenced by the teachings of Sayadaw U Tejaniya. You have structured the practice very effectively around observing the observer and integrating wisdom.
Here is an analysis of your three-step approach:
An Excellent Three-Step Practice
- Noticing the Mind's Activity
"the use of noting, saying mind thinking or doing whatever the mind body is doing, and be aware of mind observing mind observing objects."
This step perfectly aligns with the central theme of Sayadaw U Tejaniya's instruction: cultivating awareness of the state of the observing mind rather than just the object.
- Noting ("mind thinking," etc.): This simple, light mental labeling serves to acknowledge the experience and prevent the mind from getting lost in it. It quickly brings the awareness back to the process of knowing.
- "Mind observing mind observing objects": This is a sophisticated and highly effective technique. By making the quality of the awareness itself the primary object, you are directly cultivating introspective awareness and wisdom. The inner observer (awareness) becomes strong and clear by watching the mind's behavior as it interacts with the world.
2. Inquiry and Non-Verbal Knowing
"make the question, what is mind doing? And answer that without words, more with feelings and direct awareness."
This step integrates investigation (dhamma vicaya)—one of the key Factors of Enlightenment emphasized in this tradition.
- The Question ("What is the mind doing?"): This is a powerful check-in that disrupts habitual, reactive thinking. It forces the mind to look inward.
- Non-Verbal Answer: Answering with "feelings and direct awareness" is exactly right. The answer is not a concept or a label, but the direct experience of the mind's quality (e.g., "It is tense," "It is relaxed," "It is wanting," "It is peaceful"). This bypasses conceptual thought and allows wisdom to arise from direct, non-judgmental seeing.
3. Sustaining the Awareness
"just try to bring up that direct awareness of the mind observing the mind observing the objects."
This is the principle of Continuous Effort (Viriya). It's the commitment to sustain the clear vision gained in the first two steps. The goal is to make the "aware mind observing mind as nature" a steady, habitual quality, as the core instruction dictates. The key here, as Sayadaw emphasizes, is relaxed perseverance, not a forced, strenuous effort.
In summary, this three-step approach is a powerful, integrated practice that moves beyond simple concentration and directly cultivates wisdom by:
- Focusing awareness on the state of the mind.
- Using wise questioning to investigate the mind's quality.
- Reinforcing the non-conceptual, direct knowing of that mind state as simply a natural process.