Let’s get to know each other a little better. What’s your name?
And if… we took that name away, who would you be?
A doctor, a teacher, a salesperson, a secretary… That’s just the job you do. And if we leave that aside, who are you?
A wife, a husband, a parent, a brother, a single, a grandmother… That’s just your place in your family and society. And if we leave that aside, too, who are you?
A musician, a runner, a basketball player, a writer… That’s just something you’re good at and enjoy doing. And besides that?
A tall, middle-aged blonde woman, a healthy young man…? That’s not who you really are, either. You have a body, but you are not your body.
A sad, lost person or a confident, clever, successful person? This is temporary, it changes often. You are not that either.
Your emotions, thoughts, mind? Notice them now. What emotions do you feel, what thoughts arise? Can you notice that?
So you are an observer of thoughts and emotions, and you are not an emotion or a thought, right?
In that case, who is this observer who observes thoughts?
The soul? Pure consciousness? The Higher Self?

Even if you think now, “aha, I am an observer,” it will be a thought that is noticed by… who?

Here comes the key point. The observer is not something you can see. It has no shape, place, or boundaries; you cannot “catch” it with your attention. Why? Because the observer is the very ability to experience. Just as the eye cannot see itself.

Discovering yourself through observing your thoughts

Here comes the key point. The observer is not something you can see. It has no shape, place, or boundaries; you cannot “catch” it with your attention. Why? Because the observer is the very ability to experience. Just as the eye cannot see itself.
Discovering yourself through observing your thoughts

Sometimes you feel that your thoughts, emotions, and daily reactions carry you away like a rushing river. You wonder why it is so difficult to simply feel calm. What we often overlook is the fact that we are not what appears in our heads. The concepts of “I” that you keep repeating in your mind – “I am stressed,” “I am tired,” “I am this or that” – are just content that flows through your consciousness. What you really are is something that sees these thoughts but is not limited by them.

The observer of thoughts – is not what you think

Imagine that your thoughts are movies playing on a screen. You are the screen on which they appear. You can notice every thought, emotion, or sound that arises, and you don’t have to get involved in the story your mind creates. The observer is not another thought or voice in your head. It has no form, no story, and no intention. It is pure awareness of the fact that something is appearing. When you begin to notice this, a micro-space suddenly appears—a place where you are not automatically drawn into a reaction.

Why the question “Who am I?” is so effective

Ramana Maharshi, one of the masters of Indian philosophy, gave one simple practice: the question “Who am I?”. It is not about seeking an intellectual answer or creating a new state. It is about shifting your attention from the content of the experience to the one who notices it. Every time a thought arises, you ask, “To whom does it come? Who is the one who notices it?” In this way, you begin to dissolve your false identification with the mind and body, and the space of awareness becomes obvious in itself. This does not mean that you suddenly stop having thoughts or emotions, but they cease to define you.

A simple way to deal with everyday difficulties

The practice of noticing is extremely practical in moments of tension. When stress arises, we typically fall into an automatic whirlwind of thoughts and reactions, and the body tenses up under its influence. All you need to do is pause for a moment, name the thought or emotion – “this is fear, this is tension, this is a thought” – and take a short break. You are not trying to fix the situation or change your state. This micro-break acts as a switch: you are no longer caught up in the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, and your mind and body can relax naturally. This simple noticing can dramatically change your reaction and allow you to make decisions with greater clarity.

The real self and enlightenment

When you reach impersonal consciousness, where there is no attachment or fear, when you stop identifying with your thoughts, emotions, and suffering, that is actually enlightenment in practice. In Ramana Maharshi’s teachings, enlightenment is not something you achieve or attain. It is not a state of ecstasy or constant happiness. Rather, it is the recognition of the truth that the real self is not what is changeable, that you are not what you think, feel, or what surrounds you. Enlightenment is visible in everyday life as a subtle freedom from identifying with suffering, automatic reactions, and fears. The question “Who am I?” leads directly to this recognition because it removes the false center that is confused with the real you.

Alan Watts also distinguished enlightenment from “achieving something” in the sense of success or reward. He said that people seek spiritual experiences as they seek rewards, but true awakening is understanding that there is nothing to be gained.
“Enlightenment is seeing that there is no ‘you’ to enlighten, because you have always been what is.”

One of Alan Watts’ most characteristic features is the lightness with which he approached spirituality. He did not treat practice as a heavy duty or something mystical to “achieve.” He repeated that life itself is already full of wisdom, and that the question “Who am I?” or the observation of thoughts are ways to stop getting caught up in the drama of the mind.

“You are not an observer of life, you are life observing itself.”

This sentence perfectly captures the essence of what we have been talking about: it is not about creating a special state, but about recognizing the true nature of who you are.

Just notice

You don’t need hours of meditation or special conditions. All you need is a few minutes when you can sit or even stand quietly. Notice the first thing that comes to your awareness – it could be a thought, a sound, a tension in your body, or a feeling. Name it with one word: “thought,” “sound,” “tension.” Then let it be for a moment, without deepening it, without judging it. When the next thing comes up, do the same. Don’t try to stop your thoughts or create a state of silence – just observe. This simple exercise teaches you that the experience arises and you don’t have to be drawn into it.

What’s the point of all this if nothing is happening?

At first, it may seem that nothing is happening, that “what’s the point of all this?” It is precisely this “nothing happening” that is key – in this space, you discover micro-freedom from the automatism of thoughts and emotions. In everyday life, in stress, in decisions, in relationships, there comes a moment when you can act consciously rather than react reflexively. This is the foundation on which, over time, you naturally recognize your true self and the subtle freedoms that spiritual traditions call enlightenment.

In the modern world of spirituality and personal development, we often feel a strong need to discover “amazing” methods and effective techniques. We want something spectacular to happen, we want to have visions, conversations with beings from other dimensions, extraordinary experiences. All of this is possible and can be fascinating, but it is not the most important thing. These experiences are like decorations on a stage – they can add color to life, but they do not show the foundation. True self-discovery is about what happens when you stop entering into thoughts and emotions and begin to notice that something is observing them. This observation, although it may seem simple and “does nothing,” is in fact the most powerful tool because it reveals the true self.

This is not an attempt to become someone else

This whole practice is not about getting rid of your ego, running away from your emotions, or achieving a state of eternal peace. It’s not about stopping thinking, not feeling fear or anger, or “fixing yourself.” Thoughts will continue to arise, emotions will continue to come, and life will continue to present challenges. The difference is that, over time, you stop treating all of this as the definition of yourself. The real you does not take away your humanity, but deepens it. Instead of distance from life, there is greater presence, more attentive listening, fewer automatic reactions, and more space inside. And importantly, it’s impossible to do it wrong. The very moment you notice that you think you’ve gotten caught up in a story or that you’re returning to the present after a stressful day is already practice. It’s not training for perfection, but a gradual recognition of something that has always been there, even when it seemed completely lost.

Would you like to explore this topic further? Try reading “The Untethered Soul” by Michael A. Singer.