The thinker of a thought is just another thought
Hrb Notes:[1608202502]
🔍 1. Conventional View vs This Philosophy
Conventional View:
We usually assume:
- I am the thinker.
- Thoughts come and go, but I am behind them.
- I choose, I think, I decide.
This Philosophy:
It challenges that:
- The “I” who claims to think — that sense of a thinker — is itself a thought.
- It’s not separate from thought but part of the thought process.
🧠 2. What is a “thinker”?
When you introspect:
- Can you find a separate entity called the “thinker”?
- Or is the sense of a thinker just another mental appearance, like a thought saying “I am thinking this”?
According to this view:
The “I” that says “I am the thinker” is just another thought arising in consciousness.
🪞 3. Practical Example
Imagine this chain in your mind:
“I’m thinking about dinner.”
“I should cook pasta.”
“I am thinking this.”
“I am the one who thinks.”
Now, pause. Ask yourself:
- Isn’t every one of those just a thought?
- Including the one that says “I am the thinker”?
You’ll realize:
- No thinker is independently found.
- Only thoughts about a thinker are found.
🌊 4. Implication: No Separate Self
This leads to a radical idea:
- There is no separate self controlling thought.
- Just a flow of thoughts, and within it, the idea of a “self” or “thinker” also arises as a thought.
This is similar to David Hume’s insight:
“I never can catch myself without a perception, and never can observe anything but the perception.”
Or as Buddhism puts it:
“There is thinking, but no thinker.”
🧘 5. Why is this important?
- It deconstructs the ego — the sense of a central, controlling self.
- It’s a pointer toward non-dual awareness — where thoughts come and go in consciousness, but there’s no one at the center owning them.
- It invites freedom from identification with thoughts.