Do Thoughts Shape Reality?
We commonly perceive thoughts as distinctly ours, as products of our individual minds. This leads to the intuitive conclusion that my thoughts, driven by my choices, directly influence my reality. While this feels correct, the belief in separation is a false belief.
From a nondual perspective, all thoughts, without exception, arise spontaneously within a unified field of awareness. They are not manufactured by a separate entity called “me.” Just as waves are an activity of the ocean, thoughts emerge from an ocean of awareness. They appear in awareness, are known by awareness, and ultimately dissolve back into awareness. There is no independent entity within awareness that possesses its own private thoughts. The very experience of having a thought is itself an activity of this fundamentally indivisible awareness.
Where does choice come from, then?
From the perspective of the apparently personal self, there is a compelling illusion of free will, a feeling that “I” deliberate and then “I” choose. But the entire process of deliberation, decision-making, and the feeling of having chosen are all phenomena arising within and as awareness. Of course, after a decision is made, the activity of the mind is quick to take credit.
But thoughts arise spontaneously, and the “chooser” is a function of awareness, not a separate entity. How then do thoughts shape reality? The shaping occurs because awareness, in its infinite creativity, expresses itself through countless forms, including the form of a finite mind. So it is the activity of awareness in the form of a finite mind that chooses and shapes reality, not the temporary activity of the mind which claims authorship.