“Cognito, Ergo Sum” (Reimagined)

The following piece is an excerpt from my book, “Word, From Your Mother,” a daily guidance journal written for my children, Liv and Pierce-Gabriel. 

Excerpt #43

Did you know that life is a play of consciousness? Descartes had described it as, “Cognito, ergo sum “–I think; therefore, I am. Many of my teachers think that he almost got it right, though, in terms of consciousness awareness, he should have expressed it as, “I am, therefore, I think.” I’m not sure if I can fathom an explanation of what I’m trying to say, but it’s something like this. Suppose we are aware that we are aware (conscious). In that case, we can undo all the mental constructs that the thinking mind has created. Why? Because the thinking mind is ego-based, attached to thoughts, beliefs, ideas, concepts, etc. All of which are limited and unimaginative.

Therefore, if we are aware of such thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and concepts…and how they “play” out in our life, we can deconstruct them with our “I am presence.” Again, I’m pointing to the internal “I am,” or the formless part of who we really are. How do we deconstruct all those thoughts? Though it may seem complex from a “how-to” point of view, it’s pretty simple.

When you feel a thought arising, especially a negative one, catch it, observe it and say to yourself, “it’s just a thought.” Then, try to transmute it or replace it with a more positive one. This may be easier to do if the thought is, “I don’t look good.” You can catch it and say, “well, I look a bit better than yesterday,” or “you’re too hard on yourself, you look fine, besides it’s better to feel good than looking good.” Just go for the better feeling, thought.

This may seem pretty surface level in terms of deconstructing thoughts, but it’s a start. Sometimes, I’m so frustrated, I can only get to the level of saying, “it’s just a thought.” In other words, I acknowledge that that particular thought doesn’t define who I am. It’s just a bad habit of thinking, or as I mentioned before, you hop on the train of wrong thoughts.

If you want to go deeper, you really need to still your body and be mindful of internal sensations. In other words, divorce your senses (seeing, touching, tasting, and hearing) and go deeper into the true self’s intuition. Eckart Tolle offers the simple exercise of closing your eyes and trying to feel sensations in your hands. It may feel like a tingling or swirling. That is the energetic part of you or what he refers to as true essence. Then, try to feel sensations or sense perceptions in other parts of your body; your arms, legs, abdomen, feet, etc. Giving this undivided attention to your energetic body is key to divorcing all that we attach to the external world.

If you make this a daily practice, you won’t even need to close your eyes to feel such movement within. This is the quickest way to break down the ego state. Turning your attention inward strengthens awareness and leads to awakening and complete liberation.