' Self disappears in the ego-thought '...

That which IS, by its very nature, is out of time--while thinking involves a series of points in time.

Thinking is finite and limits awareness to finite objects. Therefore, to contact the infinite we must go beyond thought. Because human intellect is too finite, it follows that our thoughts cannot encompass it.

Since that which IS cannot be taken hold of by thinking of any kind, a part of the essential requirement for contact with it is the non-acting of the thinking function.

The mind must be emptied of all its contents in order that its true nature--awareness--should be revealed.

At present, it is always entangled with some thought so that awareness by itself is lost in that thought.

Self disappears in the ego-thought, and the "I" mistakes the object for the subject--whether the object be the world outside it, or thoughts inside it.




-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 7: Contemplative Stillness > # 154
Paul Brunton