had a cool experience the other day with "mind is not me" frame/game, where I found myself noting that all sorts of generalizations about oneself stop making sense if applied to "this animal in the room". eg identity stuff like "I am an atheist".
The 'mind is not me' frame and identity
7 tweets · January 2026 · 15 likes · 0 retweets · read on Twitter
"I am an atheist (or believer)" stops making sense when I="this present animal" we can talk about the phrases this animal utters, or its stance of heldness in relation to the cosmos, or whether it has memories of going to church or imagines plans to go to church again
in the frame/game where I'm this present animal right here, not a self-icon, then I can't say "I met her in June". I need to say "I have a memory from June, in which I meet her": anything outside-of-now is an experience I'm having NOW of recalling/planning
thus this frame/game, where you don't let your mind call itself "I" and instead you take it as object, might be a means by which to just directly intervene on your depression or anxiety. "I am here in a room. I am in this room, while my mind spins up worrying memories & images."
I had previously noted that one of the main things it doesn't make sense to say in such a mode is "I got lost in thought", like what? this animal was in the room the whole time! so what DID happen? well... my mind... generated thoughts, and lost track of everything else
the animal, with the mind factored out, doesn't do identity. it has the mind as a tool, with which it can use the subtool of identity, for some purpose and this is cumbersome, but a powerful teacher. your mind may insist it is you (it phrases this as "but I am my mind!"). yet...
this technique does not directly get you out of the car, but it can be THE DOORHANDLE.
