Be the thinker, not the thoughts

Dear friends,

I never thought I’d mention the French sculptor Rhodin’s The Thinker and the ancient spiritual philosophy of Vedanta in the same breath.

That is, until I heard the head of our spiritual center remind us this past weekend, “I am the thinker, not the thoughts.” I find this simple, yet profound reminder so essential to my daily life, that I thought I’d share its beauty and utility with those of you unfamiliar with it.

We are not our thoughts.

A student of Vedanta is constantly reminded of the key premise that we are not the Body, Mind, and Intellect (referred to in short as the BMI) that we confuse ourselves with constantly. See this BMI chart, key to understanding the Vedantic philosophy.

The root cause of our suffering in life comes from identifying with (1) our physical Body’s ailments and embellishments; (2) our Mind’s dejections and elations; and (3) our Intellect’s downfalls and accomplishments.

Since these three entities are in a constant state of flux, identifying with them takes us on a ride of highs and lows in life. We want a thinner body; we want to be happier; we want a better job; and so on and on.

We are not our thoughts.

My favorite explanation of the Mind’s working—and incidentally the one that got me hooked to Vedanta back in 2012—comes from a lecture by Swami Chinmanayananda, who was responsible for bringing the Vedanta to the Occidental West (and who was responsible for creating the BMI chart).

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He said, “The Mind is like a river—it requires quantity control of our thoughts with Karma yoga or our daily work routine; quality control of our thoughts with Bhakti yoga or spiritual practice of some form; and direction control of our thoughts with Gyana yoga or the pursuit of knowledge that betters your life.” Just like a horse that needs to be trained, the mind needs to be tamed, to harness its powerful by-product—namely the thoughts it produces every second—to prevent us from going awry.

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We are not our thoughts.

So, if we are not our Body, Mind, and Intellect, then who are we? The process of arriving at the answer to this question is precisely the goal of our spiritual quest, and while it’s about the journey as much as the destination, Vedanta does have a definitive answer to this question: the only thing that always remains unchanged in us is our awareness of things, and therefore, that is truly who we are. We are pure awareness or the divine consciousness or the Brahman. Therefore, the true “I” or the “Self” is pure awareness, not our BMI.

What? When I first heard this, I’ll admit, I was a little underwhelmed. I was expecting “I” to be something more elaborate, a grander reveal I guess, than just…awareness?

But after years of taking moments here and there to understand this belief and practice it, I realize that being in this space of awareness is both humble and majestic, as the quietude of being aware, allows you to discover who you truly are.

On a practical level, all it’s asking you to do is, to be a witness (Sakshi in Sanskrit) to our life experiences and maintain a distance from them. That’s it, and that’s it! Our spiritual quest therefore, is to undertake this journey of constantly distancing ourselves from our Body, Mind, and Intellect, and work towards identifying ourselves with our neutral awareness of things.

Think of it as dusting the cobwebs off something, in this instance, the Body, Mind, and Intellect. The layers and layers of thoughts, opinions, and beliefs accumulated over the years peel off, to reveal a part of you that is and that risks being buried under this conditioning—the true Self. Note, the “S” in caps, distinct from the self (BMI) we confuse ourselves with everyday. The true Self sparkles.

On a daily basis, for example, you can become a Sakshi or a witness by acknowledging what you are experiencing: I am aware I am crying, I am aware I am shouting, or I am aware I am feeling sad.

The closer you align to simply being aware, the more distant you feel from the emotion you are experiencing. When you mentally acknowledge that the emotion is not you, the calm awareness of it fortifies you with its strength and its wisdom, helping you maintain neutrality in the ever-changing world around us.

We are not our thoughts; we are a witness to them.

So, the next time you experience sadness, say, “My mind feels sad, not I am sad.” When you have a fever, say, “My body is sick, not I am sick.”

We are not my Body, Mind, or Intellect. Our true Self is just awareness, the realm we should live in to be a Sakshi or a witness to our ever changing experiences.

After the discourse, I made a concerted decision to look at Rhodin’s The Thinker in my study every day as a visual reminder of being a Sakshi. There’s a reason why the statue looks so peaceful. After all, he is the Thinker.

Rhodin’s The Thinker on the ledge of my study window. I purchased it a couple of years back from the Rhodin museum in Philadelphia, PA.

What do you think of being the thinker, and not the thoughts? How do you relate to this concept? Does it resonate with you as much as it does with me? Do you think it can become a useful tool in your daily life? I’d love to hear your thoughts (yes!) from your perch as the thinker.

Meaningfully yours,

Anu

PS: For an introduction to Vedanta, watch the video featured on this page.