Can an eye ever see itself? Can a leg ever kick itself? Ever seen a hand that grabs itself, or perhaps, a tooth that takes a bite at itself? If you are “it” then you cannot exist out of what you are.

So tell me how can you be defined…by the thoughts alone that ring in your mind? For surely you have at least once or more…heard a voice within that observed your own.

When in fits of anger, it appealed to you for calm. When driven by hate, it spoke to you of charm. When in depths of jealousy, it reminded you to be grateful. When embroiled in revenge, it rid you from being spiteful.

On days mundane, we let our senses observe the drama around. On better days, we observe the senses for every sound. But what happens when the observer and the observed are sitting on the same mound?*

In that moment when we watch our own self, we see choices beyond the daily grind. In that moment of being present, we are a bit more than our mind. In that moment of self-awareness, we are one with the divine.**

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* दृग दृश्य विवेक (Drig Drishya Vivek): Advaita Vedanta text on inquiry into the distinction (vivek) between the “seer” (drig) and the “seen” (drishya), making a case for divinity in all of us by establishing our ability to observe our mind as if watching a third person.

** तत्त्वमसि (Thou art that): One of the four Mahavakyas or great sayings of the Upanishads, it express the insight that the individual self which appears as a separate existence, is in essence part and manifestation of the whole.

Don’t believe every thought
Don’t act on every emotion

Don’t opine in every debate
Don’t react to every instigation

Don’t chase every desire
Don’t succumb to every fear

Don’t rave every win
Don’t agonize every loss

Don’t yearn for every memory
Don’t fantasize every dream

You may think you are
The doer in every act

You may sense the world
As another separate fact

Don’t.