--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you are aware that you are thinking…" description: "\"“When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness is not part of thinking. It is a different dimension of consciousness. And it is that awarene..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/eckhart-tolle-81_dream_when-you-are-aware-that-you-are-thinking_3073816.jpg" --- # When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness… ![“When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness is not part of thinking. It is a different dimension of consciousness. And it is that awareness that says “I am.” If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn’t even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn’t know…” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/eckhart-tolle-81_dream_when-you-are-aware-that-you-are-thinking_3073816.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/eckhart-tolle-81_dream_when-you-are-aware-that-you-are-thinking_3073816.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/eckhart-tolle-81_dream_when-you-are-aware-that-you-are-thinking_3073816.jpg) > ““When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness is not part of thinking. It is a different dimension of consciousness. And it is that awareness that says “I am.” If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn’t even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn’t know he is dreaming. You would be as identified with every thought as the dreamer is with every image in the dream. Many people still live like that, like sleepwalkers, trapped in old dysfunctional mind-sets that continuously re-create the same nightmarish reality. When you know you are dreaming, you are awake within the dream.”” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Awareness of thinking is separate from thought, revealing a deeper consciousness that distinguishes self from mental activity. **In simple terms:** Notice thoughts without being them. Key Takeaway Practice observing thoughts to awaken. Themes mindfulness consciousness awakening Mood calm reflective Type spiritual practical When to use this quote - meditation - therapy - stress reduction - creative work Key Concepts metacognition non‑attachment presence Questions to Reflect On - What does it feel like to watch thoughts pass? - How can this awareness reshape daily habits? A Different Perspective Awareness alone may not change entrenched patterns without actionable change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aware Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aware-thinking-489799/) [Awareness Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness-thinking-3014905/) [Consciousness Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness-awareness-1502717/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Know Dreaming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-dreaming-1225814/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thinking Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-awareness-470864/) ## Related quotes > [What is the relationship between awareness and thinking? Awareness is the space in which thoughts exist when that space has become conscious of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/what-is-the-relationship-between-awareness-and-thinking-awareness-is/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-without-awareness-is-the-main-dilemma-of-human-existence/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Instead of being lost in your thinking, when you awaken you recognize yourself as the awareness behind it. Thinking then ceases to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/instead-of-being-lost-in-your-thinking-when-you-awaken-you-recognize/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Create a gap of no-mind in which you are highly alert and aware but not thinking. This is the essence of meditation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/create-a-gap-of-no-mind-in-which-you-are-highly-alert-and-aware-but/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Instead of 'watching the thinker,' you can also create a gap in the mind stream simply by directing the focus of your attention into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/instead-of-watching-the-thinker-you-can-also-create-a-gap-in-the-mind/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn't even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/if-there-were-nothing-but-thought-in-you-you-wouldn-t-even-know-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Although most of us don't spend time thinking about our thoughts, increasing your awareness of your thinking habits proves useful in building resilience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-morin/although-most-of-us-don-t-spend-time-thinking-about-our-thoughts/) [Amy Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-morin/) > [“Awareness is not the same as thinking. It is a complementary form of intelligence, a way of knowing that is at least as wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/awareness-is-not-the-same-as-thinking-it-is-a-complementary-form-of/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Here's one from me: 'You have to be aware that everyone else is thinking far too hard about themselves to be thinking about you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/here-s-one-from-me-you-have-to-be-aware-that-everyone-else-is/) [Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/) > [You sort of have to be always aware, even when you're not thinking of shooting. That's when the best stuff happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-maisel/you-sort-of-have-to-be-always-aware-even-when-you-re-not-thinking-of/) [Jay Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-maisel/) > [When you walk into a room, you assess it instantaneously, habitually, before you're even aware of it. I mean, you make sure there's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-irwin/when-you-walk-into-a-room-you-assess-it-instantaneously-habitually/) [Robert Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-irwin/) > [We need to realize that we are observers and creators, and in every moment that we are observing our world, we're constantly remaking it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-mctaggart/we-need-to-realize-that-we-are-observers-and-creators-and-in-every/) [Lynne McTaggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-mctaggart/) > [Become aware of what you are thinking and you will recognize a law between your mood and your surrounding circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neville-goddard/become-aware-of-what-you-are-thinking-and-you-will-recognize-a-law/) [Neville Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neville-goddard/) > [If I knew then what I know now, I would still be dreaming BIG today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-storey/if-i-knew-then-what-i-know-now-i-would-still-be-dreaming-big-today/) [Tim Storey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-storey/) > [The closer you get to the meaning. The sooner you'll know that you're dreaming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-sabbath/the-closer-you-get-to-the-meaning-the-sooner-you-ll-know-that-you-re/) [Black Sabbath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-sabbath/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Dream quotes > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Academically, I was never that interested. I skipped classes. My biggest dream was to have a coffee shop, but I had no idea how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-espinosa/academically-i-was-never-that-interested-i-skipped-classes-my-biggest/) [Daniel Espinosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-espinosa/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/his-dream-must-have-seemed-so-close-that-he-could-hardly-fail-to/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) [Browse all 26,527 Dream quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness is not part of thinking. It is a different dimension of consciousness. And it is that awareness that says “I am.” If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn’t even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn’t know he is dreaming. 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