I think, therefore I am NOT

So Descartes was wrong. He said that he could doubt everything about himself except that he was thinking.
That proved that he existed.
The word "I" is the central point here. What does it mean? Perhaps we are sure that we know the answer. Is it the thoughts? In that case - where are you when you aren't thinking? Is it your job, your title? In that case - what happens if you loose your job or change job? Is it your house, your nation?

Under my course to be a mindfulness instructor, the teacher, Ola Schenström, made us ask to each other;
"Who are you?" After each answer the question was repeated by the questioner.We soon discovered that there were no end to the answers - or maybe an adequate end could be; "I don't know."Or maybe; "It seems I have no essence."
Other thinkers have come to the same conclusions; Buddha, Sartre and more recently Damasio and Parfit.
Sartre, for instance, has said that we are the sum of our actions. We have no essence - you can be whatever we like - we are condemed to be free (even if he on older days where not so sure....)
Buddha would probably say; that´s right but you have to include the thoughts and maybe the feelings and smiles too - that's your karma.
Derek Parfit, the well known philosopher, would say; a person is like a nation:  It's the sum of it's inhabitants - and they will of course change, die and immigrate and so on. The borders and the regime will change  - but there are no central director; no ghost in the machine.

In Buddhism a central aspect is that we have no separate and permanent self. Everything changes and are interdependent of each other. For instance, you could say that Buddhism is only made of non-Buddhist elements. Buddhism exists, but it is empty of a separate existence - and so are we...



Comments

  1. Unknown10 January 2017 at 04:02

    Great blog - very deep and extremely important. Descartes Cogito has stood the test of time. However, the present moment experience when we are not in thought, is existence in its purest form. Very much the opposite of what Descartes says. This is the most fundamental thing we can say about our existence and its great that more and more people are finding out these truths

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    Replies
    1. Unknown24 December 2018 at 02:05

      great blog and talks about what I love.

      Delete
    2. Tomas Johansson5 January 2019 at 13:53

      Thank you - I like your blog too!

      Delete
    3. Tomas Johansson5 January 2019 at 13:55

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

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