I think.
I decide.
I feel.
I perceive.
I know all these
because I am conscious.
I know when I am awake.
I know when I have fallen asleep.
Even in dreams,
I see and feel things
as though they are real.
I relive the past,
recalling memories —
happy, sad, or angry.
I imagine the future,
anticipating what may come —
excitement, worry, or plans.
And yet,
Where is this “I”?
Where is the one
that thinks, feels, perceives,
and knows?
Suddenly this question
rocks my world.
Is it because there is a physical body
that there must be an owner?
Is it because thinking occurs
that there must be a thinker?
Is it because feelings arise
that there must be someone who feels?
Is it because perception appears
that there must be a perceiver?
Is it because knowing happens
that there must be a knower?
But where are they?
Where is the owner,
the thinker,
the perceiver,
the knower?
Was the idea of an “I”
constructed by the mind
to answer this question?
Or perhaps it arose
because clinging appeared —
Clinging to the body,
to thinking,
to feeling,
to perceiving,
to knowing.
And so an “I” was formed.
But then—
Can there be a body
without an owner?
Thinking
without a thinker?
Feelings
without someone who owns them?
Perception
without a perceiver?
Knowing
without a knower?
I do not rush to answer.
I simply look.
Where does this “I”
actually arise?
Reflection
At any moment,
there seems to be an “I” at the center of experience.
An “I” that thinks,
that feels,
that knows.
It is just there,
without question.
But if we pause and ask—
When a thought arises,
is there truly a thinker behind it?
Or does the thought simply appear?
When a feeling is present,
is there someone who feels it?
Or is it just felt?
When seeing happens,
is there a seer apart from what is seen?
Or is there only seeing?
Look carefully.
Right now—
Can the “I” be located
in the body?
In the thoughts?
In the feelings?
In the act of knowing itself?
Or are these simply movements
that arise and pass,
while the mind gathers them
and calls them “me”?
Sit a while,
and let everything flow.
Stay with the experience.
BodhiOcean
We are not here to accumulate ideas.
We are here to loosen what is unnecessary.
The ocean is already vast.
We are only learning not to cling to the shore.