If the voice in your head is you, who is the one listening to it?
— Byron Katie
This is a very good question, and it can be difficult to explore without some guidance.
Most people would answer “me” without examining very closely what that actually means.
If we explore it, we may find that we refer to an image of ourselves, and often a set of different images, and often images connected with certain words and sentences and that these images and words are associated with sensations in the body.
What the question points to is what all of this is already happening within and as. It refers to what the world to us – any content of experience – happens within and as. To ourselves, that’s what we more fundamentally are. That’s our nature.
And to find that, we typically need more guided pointers and explorations.
Byron Katie, of course, gives people these pointers in the form of The Work.
We can also do other forms of guided and structured inquiry like the Kiloby (Living) Inquiries, based on traditional Buddhist inquiry.
We can use Headless experiments or the Big Mind process.
We can explore Basic Meditation regularly over time, and find that any content of experience – including the images, words, and sensations we may take ourselves to be – come and go. And we may eventually find ourselves as what it all happens within and as.
And so on.
And here, when it’s noticed, there is an invitation to keep noticing and explore how it is to live from this noticing. And also keep exploring any hints of our mind continuing taking itself as images, words, and sensations in new and more “spiritual” or “awake” ways. (As “emptiness”, “consciousness”, “love”, “oneness” and so on.)
I don’t know the context for Byron Katie’s words, but they were probably said to someone ready to hear them and make use of them. Someone ripe for noticing.
INITIAL OUTLINE
- If the voice in your head is you, who is the one listening to it?
- not necessarily so useful in itself
- need more direct pointers
- most would say “me” without examining it more
- refer to an image of themselves
- so the next question is: who notices the image of yourself?
- etc.
- ….
This is a very good question, and perhaps not so useful in itself.