By Remez Sasson
Someone wrote to me a few days ago, saying that he read the article You Are not the Mind, but the article made him feel uncomfortable. He couldn’t accept the idea that he is not his mind. He asked, “What does the word mind mean? How can it be that I not my mind? Can you give me more information about “who I am,” and what is the mind? I don’t see the difference.”
For people who have been meditating for a long time, and for people conversant with Sri Ramana Maharshi and with the teachings of nonduality, this is not a strange idea.
The brain is the physical vessel of the mind. The mind creates thoughts, and thoughts manifest as words. Different thoughts pass the mind all the time. Can you say that you are these passing thoughts?
The mind is composed of the thoughts you think. What happens when you stop thinking, such as when in deep sleep? Where is the mind then, and if you are the mind, where are you? Did you cease to exist?
Did you try to get out of this small world, to expand your consciousness beyond it? You don’t need money to do so, or travel to some distant place. You may have had a glimpse of this inner expansion if you practice meditation.
