Published 2026-06-18
Tags: #book-notes
Consciousness is the ever-present field in which sense of self and thoughts can transiently show up. To practice mindfulness is to realize this frequently.
I’m more instrumentalist than the author, partly because I didn’t have the interest / stamina to dissect words like “illusion / reality” hah. Why this mind judo trick is useful to me: If thoughts / selves get in the way of my goal, I have the option to emphasize the impermanence of them, have less attachment to them, and suffer less / see clearer / respond to other humans better / appreciate the present more. Apparently there is also a wealth of evidence to show its benefits to mental health, though I didn’t bother doubly verifying.
For each question below, I attach my personal answer, along with the book quotes that helped me think through the question.
My answer. Self is an illusion, a sticky default that shows up in consciousness. The catch: it’s “real” enough in some way that you can feel it, but it dissolves if you seek for it carefully, just like an optical illusion. I personally choose the practical angle - I can flip flop between the two modes: purposely indulging myself in the illusion of self (e.g. when I want to empathize: “yeah I know what humiliation feels to me, so I feel for you”, or in romantic love - “you chose me”) v.s. deconstructing the illusion (when I do flowy activities like playing sports, or enjoying nature, or when I unnecessarily suffer from recurring negative thoughts)
Just consciousness. Subjectively speaking, there is only consciousness and its contents; there is no inner self who is conscious.
Illusion, a feeling of “I”. The feeling that we call “I” is an illusion. There is no discrete self or ego living like a Minotaur in the labyrinth of the brain. And the feeling that there is— the sense of being perched somewhere behind your eyes, looking out at a world that is separate from yourself— can be altered or entirely extinguished.
Thinking without knowing you are thinking. The feeling that we call “I” is itself the product of thought. Having an ego is what it feels like to be thinking without knowing that you are thinking.
Not necessary for consciousness. The claim that we can experience consciousness without a conventional sense of self— that there is no rider on the horse— seems to be on firm ground neurologically.
What self is not. many scientists study things such as spatial cognition, voluntary action, feelings of body ownership, and episodic memory. While these phenomena greatly influence our experience in each moment, they are not integral to the feeling that we call “I.”
The thinker-of-thoughts delusion, vs noticing consciousness as the bigger picture. Taking oneself to be the thinker of one’s thoughts— that is, not recognizing the present thought to be a transitory appearance in consciousness— is a delusion that produces nearly every species of human conflict and unhappiness.
From neuroscience: split brain. What is most startling about the split- brain phenomenon is that we have every reason to believe that the isolated right hemisphere is independently conscious. … split- brain phenomenon proves that our subjectivity can quite literally be sliced in two.
My answer. The field in which present experiences (such as transitory thoughts and the sense of self) appear.
The context for current experience. consciousness is the context in which the objects of experience appear— the sight of this book, the sound of traffic, the sensation of your back against a chair. There is nowhere else for them to appear— for their very appearance is consciousness in action.
Awareness of current experience, free of self. It is, however, possible to notice that consciousness— that in you which is aware of your experience in this moment— does not feel like a self. It does not feel like “I.” What you are calling “I” is itself a feeling that arises among the contents of consciousness. Consciousness is prior to it, a mere witness of it, and, therefore, free of it in principle.
Mirror to house thoughts, and more. In the teachings of Dzogchen, it is often said that thoughts and emotions arise in consciousness the way that images appear on the surface of a mirror. This is only a metaphor, but it does capture an insight that one can have about the nature of the mind. Is a mirror improved by beautiful images? No. The same can be said for consciousness.
You are consciousness itself. In subjective terms, you are consciousness itself— you are not the next, evanescent image or string of words that appears in your mind. Not seeing it arise, however, the next thought will seem to become what you are.
My answer. One of the many transient things that can appear in the canvas of consciousness.
Transient appearances in consciousness. learning to recognize thoughts as thoughts— as transient appearances in consciousness—
My answer. Consciousness is the canvas. Thoughts can transiently appear on the canvas. Some, but not all thoughts, result in the feeling of self. Both thoughts and feeling of self are transitory appearances.
My answer. Realize that they are transient, and that you have the option to not submerge yourself in them. Notice / wake yourself up when you are immersed in a thought from time to time. For me personally, I sometimes still want to immerse myself in my thoughts. What’s important is knowing that I have the option to get out of the thought pool.
Notice you are thinking. The problem is not thoughts themselves but the state of thinking without knowing that we are thinking.
Notice, don’t suppress. Meditation doesn’t entail the suppression of such thoughts, but it does require that we notice thoughts as they emerge and recognize them to be transitory appearances in consciousness.
Witness, but don’t get lost. That which is aware of sadness is not sad. That which is aware of fear is not fearful. The moment I am lost in thought, however, I’m as confused as anyone else.
Distraction, suffering, dreaming, not knowing. In the East, especially in contemplative traditions like those of Buddhism, being distracted by thought is understood to be the very wellspring of human suffering. From the contemplative point of view, being lost in thoughts of any kind, pleasant or unpleasant, is analogous to being asleep and dreaming. It’s a mode of not knowing what is actually happening in the present moment.
My answer. What works for me is to imagine somebody looking at me, and I try following their gaze. Then something feels funny, like the “self” in my head suddenly becomes more diffuse.
Look for the looker. The gesture that precipitates this insight for most people is an attempt to invert consciousness upon itself— to look for that which is looking— and to notice, in the first instant of looking for your self, what happens to the apparent divide between subject and object. Do you still feel that you are over there, behind your eyes, looking out at a world of objects?
Imagine you have no head, glimpse. As you are looking out at the world, simply imagine that you have no head. … The view of headlessness is right on the surface of consciousness and can be glimpsed the moment you attempt to turn about. Pay attention to how the world appears in the first instant, not after a protracted effort. Either you will see it immediately or you won’t see it at all. And the resulting glimpse of open awareness will last only a moment or two before thoughts intervene. Simply repeat this glimpse, again and again, in as relaxed a way as possible, as you go about your day.
Follow another person’s gaze to you. see if you can let your attention travel in the direction of the other person’s gaze.
Meditate eyes open, together. like nothing more than a ramification of the very feeling of being a self. For this reason, open- eyed meditation with another person can be a very powerful practice. When one overcomes the resistance to staring into another person’s eyes, the absence of self- consciousness can be especially vivid.
Start with vipassana. For beginners, I usually recommend a technique called vipassana (Pali for “insight”), which comes from the oldest tradition of Buddhism, the Theravada. One of the advantages of vipassana is that it can be taught in an entirely secular way.
My answer. Not quite sure. See “open questions” below. There are at least 3 flavors.
You’re watching the screen. teachers I know, likens this shift in awareness to the experience of being fully immersed in a film and then suddenly realizing that you are sitting in a theater watching a mere play of light on a wall.
Gap between thoughts, but still conscious. One must be able to pay attention closely enough to glimpse what consciousness is like between thoughts— that is, prior to the arising of the next one. Consciousness does not feel like a self. Once one realizes this, the status of thoughts themselves, as transient expressions of consciousness, can be understood.
Selflessness isn’t deep. selflessness is not a “deep” feature of consciousness. It is right on the surface.
Maybe not that amazing? Unless a person has spent some time seeking self- transcendence dualistically, she is unlikely to recognize that the brief glimpse of selflessness is actually the answer to her search. Having then said, “So what?” in the face of the highest teachings, there is nothing for her to do but persist in her confusion.
Rest and witness. When you are able to rest naturally, merely witnessing the totality of experience, and thoughts themselves are left to arise and vanish as they will, you can recognize that consciousness is intrinsically undivided. In the moment of such an insight, you will be completely relieved of the feeling that you call “I.” You will still see this book, of course, but it will be an appearance in consciousness, inseparable from consciousness itself— and there will be no sense that you are behind your eyes, doing the reading.
My answer. When one says “I want to practice mindfulness”, they probably mean I want to practice feeling / realizing the definitions of “consciousness, transitory thoughts, transitory selves” at a deeper level, and you do so by opening to the present / the consciousness as a whole, rather than attaching to a transient thought.
Focus on consciousness: find what’s common to all states. true meditation isn’t an effort to produce a certain state of mind— like bliss, or unusual visual images, or love for all sentient beings. Such methods also exist, but they serve a more limited function. The deeper purpose of meditation is to recognize that which is common to all states of experience, both pleasant and unpleasant. The goal is to realize those qualities that are intrinsic to consciousness in every present moment, no matter what arises to be noticed.
Clear, nonjudgmental attention. That is why vipassana is now being widely studied and adopted by psychologists and neuroscientists. The quality of mind cultivated in vipassana is almost always referred to as “mindfulness,” and the literature on its psychological benefits is now substantial. There is nothing spooky about mindfulness. It is simply a state of clear, nonjudgmental, and undistracted attention to the contents of consciousness, whether pleasant or unpleasant.
Experience more, think less. Being mindful is not a matter of thinking more clearly about experience; it is the act of experiencing more clearly, including the arising of thoughts themselves.
Watch moods pass. Become sensitive to these interruptions in the continuity of your mental states. You are depressed, say, but are suddenly moved to laughter by something you read. You are bored and impatient while sitting in traffic, but then are cheered by a phone call from a close friend. These are natural experiments in shifting mood. Notice that suddenly paying attention to something else— something that no longer supports your current emotion— allows for a new state of mind. Observe how quickly the clouds can part. These are genuine glimpses of freedom. The truth, however, is that you need not wait for some pleasant distraction to shift your mood. You can simply pay close attention to negative feelings themselves, without judgment or resistance. What is anger? Where do you feel it in your body? How is it arising in each moment? And what is it that is aware of the feeling itself? Investigating in this way, with mindfulness, you can discover that negative states of mind vanish all by themselves
Cutting the illusion of self. Deepening that understanding, and repeatedly cutting through the illusion of the self, is what is meant by “spirituality” in the context of this book.
Be free in this moment, not all the time. In my view, the realistic goal to be attained through spiritual practice is not some permanent state of enlightenment that admits of no further efforts but a capacity to be free in this moment, in the midst of whatever is happening.
My answer. It’s a useful option that I can take to (1) suffer less, (2) see things more clearly so that I can respond better, rather than be tugged along by the strong whims of fleeting emotions and thoughts – which btw, makes you be a better human to be around, or (3) appreciate the beauty of the present even more. Apparently there is also a wealth of evidence to show its benefits to mental health, though I didn’t bother doubly verifying.
Measurable health benefits. A review of the psychological literature suggests that mindfulness in particular fosters many components of physical and mental health: It improves immune function, blood pressure, and cortisol levels; it reduces anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and emotional reactivity.
Train your mind. Your mind is the basis of everything you experience and of every contribution you make to the lives of others. Given this fact, it makes sense to train it.
Attention shapes your life. How we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the character of our experience and, therefore, the quality of our lives.
Nothing is intrinsically boring. One of the first things one learns in practicing meditation is that nothing is intrinsically boring— indeed, boredom is simply a lack of attention. Pay sufficient attention, and the mere experience of breathing can reward months and years of steady vigilance.
Respond better, behave better with other humans. To make this shift is to interrupt the processes of rumination and reactivity that often keep us so desperately at odds with ourselves and with other people.
The concept of self, not realizing its impermanence, is the root of suffering. According to the Buddhist teachings, human beings have a distorted view of reality that leads them to suffer unnecessarily. We grasp at transitory pleasures. We brood about the past and worry about the future. We continually seek to prop up and defend an egoic self that doesn’t exist.
See clearly, stop suffering. by seeing things as they are, we cease to suffer in the usual ways,
My answer. Treat it like an optional action in your mental toolkit. I am still free to think and use thoughts to steer the future.
Thought as a parallel antidote to mindfulness. We can address mental suffering of this kind on at least two levels. We can use thoughts themselves as an antidote, or we can stand free of thought altogether. The first technique requires no experience with meditation, and it can work wonders if one develops the appropriate habits of mind.
E.g. of thought antidote: gratefulness. it can be very helpful to manufacture a feeling of gratitude by simply contemplating all the terrible things that have not happened to you, or to think of how many people would consider their prayers answered if they could only live as you are now. … thinking about what one is grateful for increases one’s feelings of well- being, motivation, and positive outlook toward the future.
Change yet accept now. The paradox is that we can become wiser and more compassionate and live more fulfilling lives by refusing to be who we have tended to be in the past. But we must also relax, accepting things as they are in the present, as we strive to change ourselves. … If a problem needs fixing, we should fix it. But how miserable must we be while doing good and necessary things?
My answer. When I take my morning walks, realize: “Ah I’m thinking this thought, I’m dreaming, but now I’m observing the canvas of consciousness.” Then, this reaction will hopefully be more frequent and one that I can invoke even in the face of emotionally-strong thoughts.
When I notice and say “Ah this thought arose again”, I’m pretty sure the “I” is felt here” – it’s a detached “I” from the one that was immersed in thought, but I still feel the “I”.
Am I not doing this right? Who cares? This “I”-full witnessing is already helpful to me (shrugs)”.
Apparently there’s a way of witnessing thoughts w/o this separate-observer feeling. Claude said
Idk my head hurts. Oh oops, that’s a thought. I noticed it a few seconds after typing it, and separate observer doesn’t actually feel the hurt anymore :P
I’m not sure if I’m doing this right. There are at least three flavors, and I’m not quite sure which one Harris was referring to.