THOUGHTS AS OBJECTS

To the witnessing mind (Atman), thoughts are objects.  This is the teaching of Vedanta’s ancient text Drg Drsya Viveka:  An Inquiry into the Nature of the Seer and the Seen.

Our eyes see the exterior world, in which case our eyes are the subject and the world is the object.
 
Our eyes are observed by our mind, making our eyes the object and our mind the subject.

Our mind becomes the object when it is observed by the witnessing consciousness, the Atman.  

What the witnessing consciousness sees when it observes our mind is thoughts.  In this instance, the witnessing consciousness is the subject and our mind the object, making our thoughts objects.

(Swami Sarvapriananda notes that there is a distance between the witnessing consciousness and our mind, which makes the observation of thoughts possible.)

The witnessing consciousness can never be an object, however.  It is the eternal subject.  The seer cannot see itself.