Who Knows I Think?

René Descartes gifted philosophy with perhaps its most famous proposition: "I think, therefore I am." But what if this celebrated insight reveals something quite different from what the great philosopher intended?

Consider the radical implications hidden within his declaration. "I am" represents pure is-ness — existence without qualification, condition, or limitation. Yet the moment we append anything to this spotless state of being, we've sullied its essence.

"I think, therefore I am" transforms boundless beingness into something specific: a thinker. We've morphed from untainted "I am" into "I am this" — this thinking entity, this cognitive processor, this mental apparatus generating thoughts.

In effect, Descartes might have more accurately stated: "I think, therefore I am no longer purely I am."

Thought superimposes objectification onto abstract essence. Through thinking, we've created a name-and-body self — an object existing in a world of other objects. What was once formless awareness has seemingly solidified into a bounded, separate entity navigating physical reality.

But let's probe deeper. When we declare "I think," who is it that knows this thinking is occurring? Clearly there's an "I" generating thoughts. But there's also another I — one that witnesses the thinking while remaining completely untouched by mental content.

This observing presence, what we might call the capital-S Self, doesn't think. It simply knows. It knows that thinking is happening. It knows that emotions arise. It knows that experiences unfold. Yet this knowing essence itself remains pristine, peaceful, perpetual.

Everything we consider "real" about our personal self — thoughts, reactions, preferences, and concerns — are simply movements within this aware space. Like dreams appearing to a sleeping mind, our entire sense of selfhood is comprised of thoughts arising in awareness.

As A Course in Miracles illuminates: "You are the dreamer of the world. No other cause it has. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed."

But rather than trying to control or eliminate thoughts, we can use each one as a pointer back to the source: Who is it that knows I think? Deeply contemplating this Self-inquiry will lead us home.

Join me in Thursday's class where we'll explore the profound shift from thinking to knowing and discover the incomparable peace of pure awareness. I look forward to seeing you then.