I Know the Mind Arises in Awareness — So Why Is It Still as Loud as Ever?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekWMMMDTgmQ

Video Summary

There is a common place seekers arrive at and get stuck: I understand that the mind arises in awareness. I am not my thoughts. And yet — the noise hasn't stopped. The thoughts keep coming. They still bother me. Why? The assumption buried inside this frustration is that understanding should have quietened the mind. But that is not what understanding does. Thoughts arising is not the problem. Thoughts have never been the problem. The only problem — ever — is paying attention to a thought that then develops into a trail, a feeling, an identification. A thought that arises and is not followed simply subsides. It comes and goes without leaving a mark. It is the thought that receives your attention that develops into suffering.

There is also a crucial distinction being missed between witnessing thoughts and becoming aware of them. Witnessing is passive — you sit back, observe, and let the thoughts come. The sky watching the clouds. Useful, but it leaves the duality intact: I am awareness, and thoughts are arising in me. Becoming aware is different. When you turn your attention directly toward the next thought — not to witness it but to catch it arising — it doesn't come. Not because you suppressed it, but because an appearance cannot appear in full awareness of itself. This is not a technique for silencing the mind. It is a direct demonstration that the thoughts were never yours to begin with. When awareness is fully awake to itself, there is no gap for a thought to fill.

What remains after this recognition is a simple, practical freedom: you now have a choice about which thoughts receive your energy. Not all thoughts need to be followed. Not all thoughts need to be fought. Necessary thoughts — even uncomfortable ones — can be thought completely, without identification, and released. The ego that used to claim this is happening to me was never real. The thoughts belong to the person, to the mind, to the body-mind mechanism. They do not belong to what you are. If thoughts are still genuinely bothering you after this recognition, something at the level of emotion or sensation still carries a subtle identification that hasn't been seen through yet. That is where the next layer of inquiry lives. If this points to something you've glimpsed but can't stabilise — a Clarity Call is where we look at it directly together.

Full Transcript

There's the duality of I am awareness — and the thoughts are arising. When you witness, the thoughts will still arise. But when you become aware — thoughts cannot arise. Because when I become aware of the thoughts, none of them appear. The thoughts that arise are not mine.

Becoming aware is a function of the mind — you can only become aware of. You can only become conscious of. The suffix -ness means the quality of the word that precedes it. The assumption that thoughts should stop — that's the problem. When you pay attention to a thought, it develops. That's the thought that would bother a seeker. That's how suffering happens. Now you have a choice — think all the thoughts you need to think, without identification.

So — I understand that the mind arises in awareness. So why is the mind still as loud as ever? That is the question.

Let's take a look at what the question is assuming. I understand that the mind arises in awareness. Understanding is a part of your intellect. I understood something. So now — why is the mind still as loud as ever? Why do thoughts still keep coming? The assumption is: I've understood that the mind arises in awareness — so now the thoughts should stop coming. Why is the mind as loud as ever? Why are there so many thoughts still flooding the mind?

There is a distinction between witnessing the mind and really examining what the mind is. I tell you all the time — become aware of what your next thought is going to be, and you find that the next thought will not come. There is a difference between witnessing your thoughts and becoming aware of your thoughts. One is passive — one sits back, observes, and lets the thoughts come.

And that creates a separation — like the question says: I am awareness, and I find thoughts arising in it. I am not the thoughts — but there's still duality. I am awareness, and the thoughts are arising. Two things.

When you witness, the thoughts will still arise. But when you become aware — thoughts cannot arise. And we'll take a look at why, experientially.

So — in the thought experiment where you become aware of your thoughts, the next thought does not come. The moment you stop being alert, awake, and aware of what your next thought is going to be — thoughts start coming up again.

So the recognition here should be: thoughts are arising on their own. They are not mine. That's one big recognition — I am not thinking them. Because when I become aware of the thoughts, none of them appear. So number one: the thoughts that arise are not mine.

Now — when you become aware of what your next thought is going to be — aware is a function of the mind. You can only become aware of. You can only become conscious of. That's why in nonduality we use the words awareness and consciousness. What can awareness do? It can only become aware. What can consciousness do? It can only become conscious. And you as a human being with a mind can only become aware of something.

That's why the suffix -ness. Awareness. Consciousness. It's the quality of being aware — without the mind. The quality of being conscious — without the mind. The suffix -ness means the quality of the word that precedes it.

I understand that the mind arises in awareness. So I observe, I witness — and the mind arises, and I am not that. So why is the mind still as loud as ever?

The assumption that thoughts should stop. No. Thoughts arise. They are not yours. That's the direct answer to the question. Thoughts arise — they are not yours.

So why are they as loud as ever? Here is what is bothering the seeker.

Thoughts would arise — they only bother the seeker when the seeker pays attention to those thoughts. A thought arises, and if you don't pay attention to it — that thought subsides. It arises and subsides. It does not bother you or anyone.

But a thought arose and you paid attention to it and you followed it. This happened, then I went there, I ate this, and this is going to happen, and that's going to happen, and I need to do this — it's a whole trail of thoughts. And now that is bothering you. Because you're paying attention to those thoughts.

When you pay attention to a thought, it develops. When you don't pay attention — the thought arises, subsides, goes away, does not bother you. You will never have a problem with thoughts that arose and came and went. You will only have a problem with thoughts that arose, made you feel something, created a sensation or an emotion — and then left you with that residue.

I know I am not my thoughts — yet thoughts are still coming up, and I seem to get bothered.

And if you say I am getting bothered — then the initial identification with the thoughts is not completely seen through yet. Because I say I am not my thoughts — but then when a thought comes and I experience it as though I am going through it — the ego is subtly identified with that emotion, with that thought. And that can be a pleasant experience or a painful one.

That's how suffering happens. You're imagining things that could happen in the future — things that are not happening right now — and you identify with them. Sadness occurs. I am sad.

In the same way with thoughts — it's because you're paying attention to those thoughts. Now you have a choice. If you know you are not your thoughts, and thoughts still keep arising — realise you have the choice and the power to pay attention to the ones that you want to.

When you realise that — you stop paying attention to negative thoughts. Any thought is a belief, anyway. You can have a thought about what happened in the past, a thought about what's going to happen in the future. You can't have a thought in the present moment. A thought is about the future or the past.

Now you can identify with that thought and say I went through this or I'm going to go through that. The identification is the problem. And when that is seen through — why would you identify yourself with any negative thought? Why would you pay attention to those thoughts?

And for necessary thoughts — something next week that is not good, that is going to happen, that you need to think about — it may not be positive, it may be negative, but you need to think about it. Think about it. Think without identification. Pay attention to it. Do what needs to be done — without identification.

Think all the thoughts you need to think — without identification.

The entire problem arises when the identity, the ego, claims: this is happening to me, and I am not in control. Like the questioner says — why is the mind still as loud as ever? That means: why is it not in my control? It is not in your control as the ego — because the ego is not there to begin with. It is imagined. It's not real.

Let's take three to five minutes to experience this directly, instead of just talking about it.

You — as awareness — let's just settle down. Let the mind calm down. Let silence reveal itself. Let all the noise of the mind go down.

Now — if you're just abiding as awareness in the passive way — observing what's going on in the mind, or what's going on around you — witnessing — you can see a lot of things may be going on around you, or thoughts still coming.

This is what the questioner said: I understand that the mind arises in awareness. So in awareness right now — thoughts can come up. You can also witness things that are happening around you. The realisation here is: they are not your thoughts. You are not the thoughts. The identification you earlier had — I am experiencing what the thought is — that is seen through. Yet thoughts did not stop coming — but your identification with them should have stopped.

And like I said — only the thoughts where, as they arise, the ones that are worth paying attention to — you have a choice to pay attention to the important ones.

So in this witnessing state — you're witnessing or observing thoughts and things happening around you. Now if we pay attention — not witness, not observe — pay attention. Become alert, awake, and aware of what your next thought is going to be.

It doesn't arise. It doesn't come.

So just to answer the question: when you realise that all your thoughts arise in awareness, and you are none of them — the identification with the thoughts drops, or is seen through. The thoughts arising do not stop. That belongs to the mind. They belong to the person — not to you. The I that used to claim ownership of them has been seen through.

Anything that is bothering you after awakening means there is still a subtle sense of identification — with either emotions, thoughts, or actions — that still needs to be seen through.

We'll leave it at that.