Is there a 'Doer'?

Written by Mike Graham, 25 Jan 2008, last edited 14 Feb 2008

It is true that "We are Lived", "Life Lives Us" and "We are an expression of the One Life".

Does this mean that we are not the 'Doer' of anything?

Actions arise, things get done - there is no doubt about that.

The question remains - Who or what is the 'Doer'?

We only have two candidates nominated as the 'doer'.

Awareness / Aliveness / Consciousness / Presence-Awareness / Intelligience-Energy / God.

The 'me', the ego, the reference point.


Looking in more detail

Awareness / Consciousness / Aliveness.
Awareness / Intelligence-Energy is Omnipresent - which means that it is Present in every possibly location in the Universe, without being 'more Present' in some places and 'less Present' in others.

There is no possible separation that can exist - and all apparent separation is an illusion. One is All. There is no room for a separate 'god' and no room for a separate 'you' or a separate 'me'.

There cannot be a separate 'doer'.

Some hold that "Consciousness is the 'ultimate doer' ", but that is Dualistic. There is no separation between Consciousness and anything else, even an 'ultimate 'doer'. The 'ultimate doer' is just a concept, a label, an abstraction. The actuality is there is only DO-ing but no separate 'Doer' except in the mind as a thought.

Everything arises in Consciousness in the immediacy of the Present Moment. It does not arise from a 'separate Doer' or a 'separate Source'.

Consciousness is non-personal - there is no entity that can be a 'Doer' or a 'Source'.

Everything just arises. That is it.

There is only Consciousness / Awareness / Intelligence - Energy. God.

The 'me', the ego
The ego is just a thought. The 'me' is just a thought. It has no power at all in it's own right.

The 'me' cannot be the 'doer' but it certainly claims to be.

Awareness sees and the 'me' says "I see". Awareness hears and the 'me' comes in and says "I hear".

The seeing and the hearing have already occurred before the thoughts "I see" and "I hear" arise.

These thoughts are 'after thoughts' - occurring after the event to which they refer.

Thoughts have no power of themselves.

Thoughts cannot be the 'doer'.

The understanding is that there IS NO DOER AT ALL. Everything just arises in consciousness.

We are Lived. Life Lives us.

But what then of the statement 'I am not the doer'?

This statement is flawed for two reasons - the assumptions on which it is based.

There is an assumption that a 'me' or an 'I' actually exists as a separate entity. So there is a belief in a non-existent 'me' which denies being the 'doer'.
That entity, when investigated is found not to exist, at which point the issue of 'who is the doer' is no longer an issue.

The 'doer' actually does not exist anywhere else other than thought. It is an abstraction. What happens is DO-ing, which is a Movement of Consciousness in the immediacy of the Present Moment.

The mind (which likes to divide and separate) latches onto this and describes it in terms of a DOER and something that is DONE - but in fact there is only DO-ing.

So the statement "I am not the doer" is correct except that there is no 'I' and there is no 'doer'.

How about "there is no doer and people should not be blamed for what they apparently 'do' and nor should you blame yourself either ".

This statement is seriously flawed as well, in addition to the reasons above, which equally apply to this statement

In blaming yourself there is an implicit belief in the 'me' that is doing the blaming and the same 'me' that is being blamed. So it is the Ego blaming the Ego. Total mind stuff. None of this exists except in the imagination.

Whether there is blaming or not is not the issue - the issue is the solid and steadfast belief in the existence of the 'me' in the first person. There is a similar belief in the separate entity of others (their 'me'). All are illusions. None actually exist.
If there is no 'me' here - how possibily could there be a 'me' over there?

When the 'me' is seen through - seen for the fiction that it is - the subject of blaming does not arise. It is a red herring.



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