The Highest Levels of Thinking Explained (it's not actually thinking)

SUMMARY

In a YouTube video inspired by PsychoMath's content, the creator explains escalating levels of "thinking" from first-person judgments to sixth-person pure awareness, transcending thought into beingness and enlightenment.

STATEMENTS

• First-person thinking treats others as mere objects without recognizing their inner thoughts or motivations, leading to superficial judgments and conflicts like seeing someone as an enemy based on surface actions.
• Second-person thinking acknowledges that others have different thoughts from one's own, but lacks deeper empathy or willingness to compromise, resulting in persistent disagreement.
• Third-person thinking involves reflecting on others' thoughts about one's own, fostering mutual understanding and empathy, which enables compromise even amid disagreements.
• Fourth-person thinking allows self-reflection in relation to others' perspectives, opening a world of possible identities and beliefs, but often leads to overthinking and analysis paralysis.
• Fourth-person thinking serves as the gateway to higher awareness by enabling conscious choice of perspectives and beliefs, free from indoctrination.
• Fifth-person thinking, or metacognition, realizes the self as an observer separate from the mind, allowing awareness of thoughts, emotions, and sensations without identification.
• The observer in fifth-person thinking is universal, observing all mental phenomena without labeling them as "mine," and practices like meditation help let emotions pass without attachment.
• Sixth-person thinking shifts beyond observation to pure "I" or beingness, encompassing all forms within awareness, where thinking becomes unnecessary and counterproductive.
• At higher levels, daily actions like driving occur subconsciously without active thought, revealing that life functions without constant mental engagement or identification with form.
• Enlightenment involves complete disidentification from ego and persona, leading to peace, detachment from life's "dream," and recognition that reality is a holographic projection within awareness.

IDEAS

• People at first-person thinking levels view others purely as obstacles, missing any depth of motivation, which explains many interpersonal conflicts.
• Acknowledging differing thoughts in second-person thinking marks a basic step toward social interaction but stops short of true connection.
• Third-person empathy emerges from mentally simulating others' viewpoints, transforming potential enemies into understandable beings.
• Fourth-person self-awareness reveals life as a menu of chosen identities, empowering personal growth but risking endless rumination.
• Overthinking in fourth-person thinking acts as a threshold to metacognition, where one steps outside the mind entirely.
• The realization "I am not my mind" unlocks observation of thoughts like external events, reducing emotional reactivity.
• Meditation trains the ability to let mental phenomena arise and pass without investment, conserving energy for purposeful action.
• Pure beingness, or the "I," persists even without thoughts or forms, suggesting awareness as the fundamental essence of existence.
• Subconscious habits, like driving, demonstrate how life operates efficiently without conscious thinking, challenging the need for constant mental narration.
• Reality as a lucid dream implies that awakening within it diminishes fear and attachment, fostering effortless engagement.
• Spiritual progress involves unhooking from ego projections that shape perceived reality, balancing enjoyment of the dream with disengagement.
• Desires fuel the "hedonic treadmill," but observing them as waves allows transcendence beyond endless pursuit.
• The ego's stickiness makes full disidentification challenging, yet partial detachment naturally reduces the pull of old paradigms.
• God or ultimate reality is all-pervasive awareness, with nothing existing outside it, redefining human identity as temporary forms.
• Transitional states between awareness levels can feel destabilizing, questioning the importance of forms like relationships and self.

INSIGHTS

• True empathy requires simulating others' mental models, bridging isolated perspectives into shared human understanding.
• Self-chosen identities emerge from relational reflection, liberating individuals from unexamined beliefs while inviting deliberate life design.
• Detaching from the mind as observer reveals thoughts as transient events, freeing energy from habitual emotional entanglements.
• Beingness underlies all phenomena, rendering constant thinking obsolete and highlighting awareness as life's silent core.
• Life's forms dance within formless awareness like a dream, where lucidity dissolves seriousness and reveals interconnected oneness.
• Spiritual unhooking from ego projections balances worldly engagement with inner peace, transcending the cycle of desire.

QUOTES

• "The first person thinking perspective, Steve just sees Bill. There's no more depth than that. Bill is in the way. He's really annoying and there's no more depth to any potential understanding of Bill's motivations."
• "I am not my mind. This is when an individual such as Steve realizes that there is actually an observer that is capable of observing the thoughts of Steve."
• "All things are taking place within awareness itself. Watching the mind become simply being."
• "Reality is a dream. And one day you will wake from the dream. You can become lucid within the dream if you'd like through practices."
• "It's a game of unhooking yourself, unplugging yourself from the holographic matrix that is reality."

HABITS

• Practice meditation to observe breath and sensations, noticing them arising within awareness without attachment.
• Engage in mindfulness to watch emotions and thoughts pass like clouds, choosing not to invest energy in them.
• Rest in the observer state daily, detaching from mental narration to allow subconscious patterns to handle routine actions.
• Pose self-inquiry questions during quiet moments, such as "What is aware of this observation?" to deepen into pure beingness.
• Balance dream-like engagement with disengagement by focusing work on truths that remind of formless awareness.

FACTS

• Subconscious embedding of behaviors, like driving after initial learning, allows complex actions without conscious thought after about a year of practice.
• The mind thinks constantly, but engaging with only 10% of thoughts suffices for goal-setting and world interaction.
• Awareness persists even in dreamless sleep or without observable forms, as the foundational essence of existence.
• All phenomena, including God concepts, describe an all-pervasive awareness through which everything arises and exists.
• Ego identification creates a "hedonic treadmill" where achieving desires leads to new ones, perpetuating dissatisfaction.

REFERENCES

• PsychoMath's YouTube video on levels of thinking (levels 1-9).
• Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now."
• Ram Dass's "Be Here Now."
• Buddhist teachings on desire for becoming and the nature of forms.

HOW TO APPLY

• Begin with basic observation: Sit quietly and notice your breath's sensations, recognizing they occur within a field of awareness, without trying to control or label them.
• Progress to emotional watching: When anger or frustration arises, pause and observe it as a passing mental event, allowing it to dissolve without reaction or story-building.
• Practice self-inquiry: After observing thoughts, gently ask, "Who or what is aware of these thoughts?" Avoid seeking a thinker; rest in the awareness itself.
• Integrate into daily routines: During habitual tasks like driving, notice the absence of active thinking and extend this non-engagement to other activities for reduced mental load.
• Cultivate beingness: Set aside time to simply be, without agenda, letting the sense of "I" emerge behind all experiences, gradually disidentifying from ego pulls.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Transcending thought levels into pure awareness unlocks disidentification from ego, revealing life as a dream within eternal beingness.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Cultivate metacognition through daily meditation to observe thoughts without attachment, reducing reactivity in relationships.
• Embrace fourth-person reflection to consciously choose beliefs, avoiding indoctrination and fostering authentic self-development.
• Practice mindfulness in routines like driving to recognize subconscious efficiency, freeing mental energy for meaningful pursuits.
• Engage self-inquiry to access the "I" beyond observer, balancing dream engagement with detachment for inner peace.
• Focus creative work on awareness truths to sustain lucidity amid life's projections, aiding personal and others' unsticking.

MEMO

In a reflective YouTube exploration, the video creator delves into the architecture of human cognition, inspired by content from PsychoMath. What begins as a breakdown of "thinking" levels—from superficial judgments to profound self-awareness—evolves into a spiritual manifesto. The presenter argues that true elevation isn't more thinking but a quiet stepping beyond it, into observation and being. This framework, drawn from everyday conflicts like a dispute over smoking in a home, illustrates how misunderstanding breeds enmity, while deeper perspectives foster empathy and freedom.

At lower tiers, first- and second-person thinking casts others as obstacles or mere holders of alien opinions, devoid of nuance. The third level introduces empathy through mutual mental simulation, enabling compromise in a divided world. Yet it's the fourth, where one contemplates personal identity amid societal views, that risks paralysis but unlocks choice. Here, the individual Steve—or any of us—becomes a deliberate architect of self, unmoored from rote beliefs. This overanalysis, however, signals a pivot: the doorway to metacognition, where the self disowns the mind.

The fifth level heralds the observer, a universal witness detached from thoughts and emotions, much like watching clouds drift. Meditation emerges as the key practice, training us to let mental storms pass without grip. But the pinnacle, sixth-person beingness, dissolves even observation into pure "I"—awareness itself, encompassing all forms. Thinking, once exalted, reveals itself as a tool, not the essence; subconscious mastery of life, from driving to breathing, proves existence thrives sans inner monologue.

This progression mirrors ancient wisdom, echoing Eckhart Tolle and Buddhist insights, yet feels urgently modern amid information overload. Transitional destabilization—questioning loved ones as dream characters—underscores the challenge, yet promises liberation. Reality, the presenter posits, is a holographic dream; lucidity within it erodes fear, turning life's treadmill of desires into observable waves. For those seeking awakening, the path demands unhooking from ego's projections, balancing joy in the play with rest in the formless.

Ultimately, these levels invite a radical simplicity: no need to take the dream seriously. Practices like breath awareness and inquiry beckon, offering not escape but presence. In an era of constant mental churn, this vision of effortless being challenges us to unplug, recognize our shared awareness, and awaken while still dreaming.