Since René Descartes famously declared, “I think, therefore I am,” Western culture has treated the thinking mind as our core self. We have been taught that we are our minds, our thoughts. This perspective has become so ingrained that we rarely question it.
But there is indeed another way to look at it.
Eckhart Tolle, in his 1997 book The Power of Now, follows many spiritual and contemplative traditions from throughout history in pointing to an awareness behind and beyond thought — something that observes thought, the part of us that remains even in the absence of thoughts, the part of us that is inherently calm, peaceful, present.
Imagine yourself as the Earth, the sky, and the Sun.
The Earth is your body. It’s the part of you that takes action in the world. It’s main function is doing.
The sky and weather are your mind. It’s the part of you that makes stories, plans, and beliefs about the world, that directs the body. It’s main function is thinking.
The Sun is your awareness. It’s the steady, quiet observer above and beyond the clouds, totally unaffected by whatever passes through the sky, whatever happens down on Earth. It’s main function is simply witnessing, being.
When your mind is agitated, when the sky is gray and the storms are blowing harder than ever, when there is chaos and war down on Earth, the Sun is always there shining as brightly as ever. It remains totally unfazed by anything that happens down below, totally at peace.
It’s not always easy or natural, but the clarity and peace of that awareness is always available to you, even in the worst of times. You can simply witness the storminess below and shine your light down on it with genuine care and attention without being swept up by it.
If you’re skeptical, try it for yourself. It is available to you, right now.
Put the book down. Close your eyes. Allow yourself to be there in stillness for a minute or two. Simply notice your thoughts arising and passing, floating away like a cloud. Notice that you didn’t decide to have a thought. Notice that you cannot control your thoughts. But you can choose to let them pass by. And when you do, they are gone. No longer with you.
You are not your thoughts. They are part of you. But you are something far vaster, far more mysterious.
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book The Antihero’s Journey: From Burnout to Real Contribution in Polycrisis Times. To read other excerpts, go here.
