The Illusion of Being the Doer

We all walk around with a powerful and persistent feeling. The feeling that we are in charge. I chose to get up this morning. I decided to drink coffee. I am the one writing these words and you are the one choosing to read them. This sense of personal authorship feels as real as the ground under our feet. It is the engine of our ambition and also the source of our anxiety.

This feeling of being the doer is the root of a lot of our trouble. When things go well we feel pride. When they go badly we feel guilt. We worry about making the right choices for the future because we believe the outcome rests entirely on our shoulders. This constant burden of doing and choosing is exhausting. We are like little managers running a very complicated company called 'My Life' and we are always afraid of making a mistake.

Vedanta offers a radical alternative. It suggests that this feeling of being the doer is an illusion. It is a trick of the mind. The actions happen but you are not the one doing them. This sounds like a crazy idea. It seems to deny our most basic experience. But if you look closely it starts to make a surprising amount of sense.

The mind has a function called Ahamkara in Sanskrit. It literally means the 'I-maker'. Its job is to create the sense of an individual self. It does this by claiming ownership of thoughts feelings and actions. When a thought appears Ahamkara says 'That is my thought'. When an action happens it says 'I did that'. It creates a story of a central character who is the hero of our life.

The Real You is the Witness

If you are not the doer then who are you? The answer from Vedanta is that you are the witness. You are the silent unchanging awareness in which all of this activity happens. Think of it like a movie screen. A movie can be a comedy a tragedy or a thriller. The screen allows all of it to play out but the screen itself is never affected. It does not become sad during a sad scene or happy during a happy one. It is just the space for the movie.

You are that screen. Thoughts feelings sensations and actions are the movie. The feeling of being the doer is just one of the more convincing characters in that movie. But you are the space in which the character appears not the character itself. This witnessing consciousness is called Sakshi.

The sense of 'I am the doer' is the bondage.

This is a fundamental shift in perspective. Instead of identifying with the character you start to identify with the screen. You realize you are not the wave frantically trying to get somewhere. You are the entire ocean out of which the wave arises and into which it subsides.

This Is a Practice Not Just a Theory

Understanding this idea intellectually is one thing. Experiencing it is another. The way to experience it is to start observing your own mind without judgment. Journaling is a perfect tool for this. Instead of writing about what 'I did' today try to describe what happened from a more detached perspective.

Notice the chain of events. A feeling of hunger arose. A thought appeared 'I should eat'. The body moved to the kitchen. An action of making food happened. When you break it down like this the sense of a single 'I' making it all happen starts to dissolve. You see that actions are often just reactions to a long chain of causes and conditions that came before.

You can observe the impulse to act. Before you speak or make a move can you feel the energy or the thought that pushes it? Where does that impulse come from? Is it really yours or does it just appear in your awareness? You do not need to have an answer. The simple act of looking for the source of the impulse is the practice.

This Is Not an Excuse for Inaction

A common objection is that this idea leads to fatalism. If I am not the doer why should I do anything? This is a misunderstanding. Actions will continue to happen through the body and mind. They are programmed by past experiences genetics and the environment. A river does not need a 'doer' to flow to the sea. It just flows according to its nature.

Your body and mind will also act according to their nature. The shift is not in the action but in your identification with it. When you are not attached to the results of the action as a reflection of 'me' the action itself becomes more spontaneous and intelligent. You are free from the anxiety of getting it right or the guilt of getting it wrong. The car keeps driving but you have moved from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat where you can finally relax and enjoy the journey.

The real work is not to become a better doer. It is to investigate the doer itself and see that it is a phantom. This seeing is freedom. It is the end of a heavy burden you never needed to carry. Try writing about a recent action you took and see what you find.

— Rishi Banerjee
September 2025