I Think....Therefore I Am.....NOT!

Hello to all,

In the last few weeks I have been aware of, and practicing, a realization from my studies with spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle. This realization has allowed me to feel more awakened, more enlightened, and more at peace. Naturally, I wanted to share this with all of you.

I use to love the famous quote by the philosopher, Descartes, "I think, therefore I am". However, my recent realization has led me to question this ever famous quote. I think a more appropriate quote would read "I think...therefore I am human", or an even more enlightened person may say "I think...therefore I am experiencing life through a human form".

Regardless of where you fall, or what you believe, nearly every single one of us thinks. Also, most people today believe that everything we do and feel requires us to "think". For example, when we wake up in the morning many of us may think about how we just slept, or how our new day will begin. During the day, we may think about how the morning went, what we got done, or didn't get done. Then many of us may think about how the evening will go and what plans we have, if any. In the evening we may think about how our entire day went, and how our evening will finish up.

Thinking is a function of our minds and I truly have come to believe that thinking is something that happens to us as human beings, and not something that "is" us. For instance, I know someone who is interviewing for a new job. They had received a call from a Recruiter who wanted to set up an in-person interview. The Recruiter was impressed with the candidate's resume and as a result felt they might be a good fit for the company. The candidate was interested, however they were leery of the drive, and rightfully so. They expressed this to the Recruiter, but also mentioned that they would like to set up the in-person interview. However, when the candidate called back with a date and time, they got the Recruiter's voice-mail and left a message. As time began to pass, and no call was received, the candidate started to think about the Recruiter and the call over and over again. Their mind just went into worry-mode. They started to doubt the Recruiter's interest and then they even started to doubt their own abilities. The candidates thoughts went from "I am an impressive candidate" to "I may not be good enough for the job after all".

Now, in reality this same candidate had gotten many accolades for their work and even won an "Employee of the Quarter" award. In fact, if you really want to get deep into the scientific explanations, physicists state that in reality we are all made up of billions and billions of atoms, which further boils down to energy.

Never the less, it is when we start to believe in our negative and compulsive thoughts that we get into trouble. However, if we truly see thinking as a function that occurs to us as humans, and not who we truly are in reality, then we can free ourselves from some of the limited prison walls that our thinking minds have enclosed around us from years of unconditioned labeling.

Please take the time, as often as possible, to do the following exercise. This exercise will help you to see that thinking is a function that you can use as a powerful tool versus believing that you are what you think.

Free your identity from your thoughts exercise:

1) Start to begin to listen to your thinking mind, possibly a voice inside your head that judges, complains, compares, likes, dislikes, and speculates.

2) Become aware, or the watcher, of your mind and thoughts.

3) Pay special attention to those thoughts that are repetitive.

4) Try not to judge those thoughts, just notice them.

5) As you notice the thoughts, some of them may begin to weaken and lose their power since you are not feeding them with more thoughts or identifying with them.

6) A deep feeling of presence from within you may then arise and you may feel a true sense of joy and peace.

Please be patient with yourself when doing this exercise. Over time, you should see and feel a shift happen deep within you.

ENJOY......AND PEACE TO ALL!