In the vast spiritual heritage of Sanātana Dharma, there lies a timeless truth that resonates across all its philosophical schools and all paths of Yoga: “You are not your thoughts”.
The Bhagavad Gītā reminds us repeatedly that Mokṣa (liberation) begins with understanding the distinction between Manas and Ātman. Manas is the perceiving and thinking mind, while Ātman is pure consciousness — the True Self.
The mind, though an extraordinary instrument, is not the essence of who we are. Thoughts arise, fluctuate, and dissolve, but it is the True Self that witnesses these thoughts, remaining ever unchanged. Hence the True Self is also called Sākṣi (witness).
Thoughts by themselves have no inherent authority — they gain power only when we identify with them. From the standpoint of Sanātana Dharma, the process of disidentification with transient mental states is the beginning of self-mastery.
Understanding Thought
In the Bhagavad Gītā, the mind is described as both our greatest ally and our fiercest adversary. In Chapter 6, Verse 5, Śrī Kṛṣṇa declares:
“One should uplift oneself by one’s own Self, not degrade oneself. For the Self alone is the friend of the self, and the self alone is the enemy of the self.”
Here Śrī Kṛṣṇa distinguishes between two aspects of the ‘self’:
- The mind and ego, the material lower self
- Ātman, the purely spiritual higher Self
The mind and ego identify with thoughts and emotions. When this lower self dominates, man becomes enslaved by his thoughts. When the higher Self governs, man becomes free.
1. The Nature Of Thought
Scientifically seen, thoughts are energy signals that come from the brain’s electrical and chemical activity, rising and subsiding in the mind. From the Sanātana Dharma psychospiritual perspective, thoughts are of subtle material nature and are ever-changing. The Ātman is non-material; it is Caitanya, or purely spiritual awareness, witnessing the fluctuations of the mind.
Thoughts, in this light, are not the essence of the True Self; they are objects within consciousness, much like sensations or external perceptions. Thus, thoughts are not intrinsic to your being. They are movements within you, but not you.
In the worldview of Sanātana Dharma, the mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation. When attached to objects, it leads to bondage; when detached from them, it leads to liberation.
2. Thoughts And The Guṇa
Prakṛti is the material nature. The Bhagavad Gītā explains that all mental phenomena arise from the interplay of the three Guṇa (qualities) of Prakṛti :
- Sattva — purity, harmony, illumination
- Rajas — activity, passion, restlessness
- Tamas — inertia, ignorance, delusion
In Chapter 14, Verse 9, Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:
“Sattva binds by attachment to happiness; Rajas binds by attachment to action; Tamas, verily, by negligence, deludes all embodied beings.”
Thoughts too are coloured by these Guṇa. A Sāttvika thought may be peaceful, compassionate, and clear. A Rājasika thought may be driven by desire or ambition. A Tāmasika thought may be rooted in fear, laziness, or confusion.
However, the True Self — the observer of these thoughts — is beyond all three Guṇa. In Chapter 14, Verse 23 Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes the liberated one as:
“he who sits like one indifferent, undisturbed by the Guṇa, knowing that the Guṇa alone act”
This line directly reflects the core insight: thoughts arise from the Guṇa, but the Self is not touched by them.
3. The False Identity With Thought
The bridge between pure awareness and thought-identification is Ahaṅkāra — the ego principle. In the Sāṅkhya philosophy, which underlies much of the Gītā’s teaching, Ahaṅkāra is the function of mind that says “I am this” or “this is mine.” It is the mistaken identification of the Self with the body, senses, and mind.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa points to this delusion in Chapter 3, Verse 27:
“All actions are performed by the Guṇa of Prakṛti. One whose mind is deluded by ego thinks, ‘I am the doer’.”
The same delusion applies to thoughts. The mind produces thoughts due to conditioning, habit, and the play of the Guṇa. But when the ego says “I am thinking this,” it claims ownership over something the Self does not originate.
The Yogic task is not to stop thoughts — for that is impossible — but to see through their illusion of ownership.
The Stance Of The Witness
The Bhagavad Gītā presents Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Consciousness. Every individual soul has His essence, possessing a natural and eternal consciousness that is veiled in our material existence, witnessing every experience.
In Chapter 13, Verse 3, Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes the Kṣetra (the field of experience) and the Kṣetrajña (the knower of the field):
“Know Me as the Knower in all fields, O Bhārata.”
The ‘field’ includes the body, senses, mind, and thoughts — everything that can be observed. The ‘knower’ is consciousness itself. To realise that you are the Kṣetrajña and not the Kṣetra is to awaken to your true identity.
When you say “I am sad” or “I am angry,” you identify the Self with a passing mental state. But when you shift to “There is sadness in the mind” or “Anger is arising in the mind,” you stand in the position of the witness. This subtle shift marks a quantum leap in spiritual evolution.
As the Upaniṣad declare: “Draṣṭā dṛśye bhavān nāsti” — the seer and the seen are never the same. When you realise this, thoughts lose their grip.
Choosing Your Lived Reality
The Gītā teaches us to observe thoughts without being carried away by them. This witnessing state is not indifference but clarity — the recognition that thoughts are phenomena, not identity. The mind may produce thousands of thoughts daily, but only those you choose to energise become part of your lived reality.
1. Viveka: The Power Of Discernment
Sanātana Dharma does not teach passive detachment; it teaches active discernment. The human mind is capable of Viveka — the discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the Self and the non-Self.
When you recognise that you are not your thoughts, you gain the freedom to choose which thoughts to align with. This is not suppression but mastery. In the Bhagavad Gītā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes such mastery in the Chapter 6, Verse 26:
“Whenever the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, let him restrain it and bring it under the control of the Self.”
Every time the mind wanders into thoughts of anger, fear, or craving, you must bring it back — not by force, but by understanding.
Thus, while thoughts arise spontaneously, identification is a choice. You can choose peace over disturbance and awareness over reactivity. In doing so, you transform from being the victim of thoughts to being their conscious governor.
2. Karma Yoga: Acting Without Identification
The Gītā’s grand vision extends to action in practical daily life. Karma Yoga teaches us to act without attachment to the fruits of action — which is, in essence, to act without being bound by thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.
The Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 2, Verse 47 states:
“You have the right to action, but not to the fruits thereof.”
When the mind is freed from the compulsion of thought-identification — “I must succeed,” “I must be praised,” “I must not fail” — then action becomes pure, selfless, and divine. The Karma-Yogī works through thoughts but is not bound by them. He chooses only those thoughts aligned with Dharma (righteousness), letting all others pass like clouds.
This is the practical application of the principle: you are not your thoughts unless you choose them. Choosing them consciously, with awareness and righteous intent, transforms thought from bondage into liberation.
3. Jñāna Yoga: Knowledge That Dissolves Thought
The culmination of the Gītā’s wisdom lies in Jñāna Yoga — the path of knowledge. Here, the seeker transcends not only negative thoughts but the entire structure of thought-based identity.
In Chapter 18, Verse 20, Śrī Kṛṣṇa declares:
“That knowledge by which one sees the one imperishable Reality in all beings, undivided amidst the divided, know that to be Sāttvika knowledge.”
In the light of such knowledge, the endless fluctuations of thought lose their significance. The seeker realises that thoughts are like ripples on the surface of consciousness — transient, insubstantial, and ultimately unreal. The Ātman remains untouched, silent, and luminous.
This is why the sages of the Upaniṣad proclaim: “Neti, neti” — “not this, not this.” Every thought, emotion, and concept is negated until only the pure awareness remains. To realise this is to awaken to the truth that you were never your thoughts; you were always the witness.
4. The Practice Of Non-Identification
In practical terms, the Gītā’s message translates into daily mindfulness. When thoughts arise, observe them without judgment. Ask, “To whom does this thought occur?”
You can practice this in three stages:
- Dṛṣṭi, or observation: Notice thoughts as movements in the mind.
- Vivekabuddhi, or discriminative intelligence: Distinguish between helpful and unhelpful thoughts.
- Saṅkalpa, or choice: Consciously affirm thoughts aligned with Dharma and release the rest.
Over time, the mind becomes tranquil, and the True Self shines forth effortlessly. In Chapter 6, Verse 25, Śrī Kṛṣṇa assures Arjuna:
“Little by little, let one attain quietude through the intellect held firmly.”
When we stop identifying with thoughts, we stop suffering. Thoughts may come and go, but they no longer disturb the peace of the Ātman.
Conclusion
“You are not your thoughts unless you identify with them” encapsulates a core tenet of Sanātana Dharma: the sovereignty of consciousness.
Thoughts arise from the interplay of nature, but you, the Ātman, are beyond nature. The Gītā’s discourse on the entire spiritual journey — from confusion to clarity and from identification to liberation — rests on this understanding.
As Arjuna learned, freedom does not come by controlling the world or silencing the mind, but by recognising, “I am not the doer, not the thinker, but the eternal witness.” Thus, every seeker is invited to practice the art of conscious choice — to let thoughts arise, observe them, and choose only those aligned with truth and righteousness. This is not suppression or denial of thoughts but liberation from their crippling grip.
Choosing to act through Sāttvika thoughts, the mind becomes purified through Sattva, and the Self begins to shine through it like sunlight through a clean transparent window. The seeker realises what the sages always knew: “Thoughts come and go, but I remain — the silent, blissful, eternal Self.’ And in that realisation lies the fulfilment of life.
© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.
Sujata Khanna’s book, ‘The Eternal Law’, explores Sanātana Philosophy in its elemental form. Available on Amazon worldwide: India, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherland, Poland, Sweden, Japan
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