Descartes, with his famous conclusion “I think, therefore I am,” had it backwards. Thought does not precede being, being precedes thought. Thinking a thought does not create beingness: existing beingness thinks a thought. Or perhaps more accurately, existing unlimited beingness “becomes” the experience of being a perspective that thinks a thought.
While we are here in the physical though, we often deeply “lose” ourselves in “enticing” yet shallow thought. We become almost completely wrapped up in the ideas of our minds: ideas of identity, ideas of responsibility, and beliefs. We think we are our identity, we think we are our responsibilities, and we think reality is just as we believe. None of that is fundamental.
That idea can sound frightening, because we are so wrapped up in the illusory identity, that when it is threatened we feel (incorrectly) that our very being is threatened. Ironically, it is only through being wrapped up in what is not ultimately real that we can even feel threatened! What we really are- that which we call spirit, or consciousness, or beingness- that can never be threatened. Beingness is that which gives rise to all the ideas of the mind, and to the entire physical experience. This allows it to engage in precious creation-expanding perspectives.
So next time you think that your thoughts or your beliefs make you you, or you feel fear or hopelessness as a result of them, remind yourself: your thoughts exist within you, you do not exist within your thoughts!
A Walk in the Physical 