To know what is beyond the many distorting thoughts, habits and reactions in our mind we practice gathering attention on something simple like seeing. We can let seeing happen and know it is happening.
 

Choose a small object that you like or love: a photograph; a stone, dried flower, or leaf; a candle; a piece of jewelry. Use the same object in each meditation. Place your object far enough away so that your neck is not strained—usually 2-3 meters.

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Notice how little effort is needed for vision to happen. Rest the eyes while seeing: relax whenever tension in the body-mind becomes noticeable. Pressure on the eyes can cause unusual visual effects, such as seeing colors or losing focus. Blinking the eyes helps.

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Neither fight with nor entertain any images that seem to appear in the object.  But if you see disturbing images from the past, then stop and focus on something else, like sound, instead. Sometimes you may pinpoint the vision on a detail of the object.

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In the first few days, you may notice that the energy to keep returning to "just seeing" runs out after 10-20 minutes. Just take a mental break, while staying physically still and relaxed for a few minutes, and begin again the practice of continually returning the attention to simple seeing.

Once the mind can gather and rest just for a couple of minutes, then we are much better equipped to continue our inner journey.