Cogito Ergo Sum ("I Think Therefore I Am")

We have for your consideration a classic philosophical truism - or so it seems. What if we consider the opposite?

"I do NOT think therefore I am NOT"

This can actually be seen to be true with practice. Hear me out:

What you are is not the "self" you think you are. Which part of "you" is your "self"? If you lose a leg, is what is left "you"? Why is your leg not "you"? What if you lose all of your limbs are you still "you"? What about your torso? What if you were a brain in a vat? Are you "you" then?

What if we take away your history? Your future? What happened 5 minutes ago? Your hobbies? Your favorite color? Are you still you?

We could keep going, but I imagine you see the point.

At it's core, what "you" are is awareness. Awareness of what is happening in this moment, since all other moments are as good as fiction in this one.

So, where do all the body image/personal history/tastes/etc. come from? We can examine this, and the proposition above with a little effort.

If we learn to relax the mind, we can see that our thoughts are near constant. They narrate everything we do after the fact. You pick up your toothbrush and think, "I should brush my teeth", or "I should make a left hand turn on 9th Street" as you start to signal for the turn.

If we watch this process carefully we begin to see that there is a space between out thoughts where there is STILL awareness, but the thinking mind is not present. From this position we can see that our thoughts are arising independent of our awareness of them - OR, that we are NOT out thoughts.

If we are not our thoughts, since they are something what WE are can observe as NOT us, then what ARE we? What IS this awareness?

This is a question you must answer for yourself. :D