Wojciech Eichelberger (psychotherapist) presents a reflective TEDx talk exploring whether the boundary between "inside" and "outside"—the sense that the self is an inner observer separate from the world—is real. Using anecdotes (a Zen master showing a wristwatch, his own meditation training, and a teacher's question about sound) and a reference to Wittgenstein's critique of the "little man inside our heads," he argues that letting go of this inside/outside dichotomy leads toward oneness, compassion, and healing. The talk closes with a reassuring teaching—"you will never fall out of the universe"—and an invitation to test the insight during a drum concert.
Good afternoon, everybody. I want to share my personal adventure with the question, in and out or inside, outside? As you know, I'm a psychotherapist, and I'm very much into healing human souls, including my own. And I was especially eager to heal my soul. I'm still healing it, actually. But I was especially eager to heal my soul when I was about 30. So it was many years ago. And in the process, I found myself in an audience of the certain workshop or lecture that was given by Zen master, wise man, the master of life with a great reputation. And in the process of the workshop, suddenly he took his wristwatch, he showed it to the public, and he asked this question, is it inside or outside? I was shocked, as you are probably right now. I thought to myself, my God, this is an insult to my common sense. This is an insult to my intellect. And this is something that touches upon the foundation, the very foundation of my life. What kind of question is this? So everybody was speechless and sort of felt. Felt very uneasy about this question. But this guy, this man smiled and said, okay, okay, okay, take it easy. I'll give you a hint. And he said, okay, if you think. If your answer is that this watch is outside, you're wrong, I will hit you 20 times. It's a Zen way of telling somebody that he's, no, not right. But if you say that this watch is inside, I will also hit you 20 times. And this is not the end. If you say that this watch is inside and outside at the same time, I will hit you 40 times. That was unbelievable. You know, I didn't know what to do. I thought, what this man is trying to show us or to tell us, is he. Is he really putting aside all intellectual notions about inside or outside? Is he trying to tell us that a real perception of the world is behind the intellectual notions, behind any differentiation? I didn't know yet. But so to say, deep into myself, I felt in my soul that this question was really fundamental one. And I went home and I started to think and read and look. And suddenly I remembered that I had read Wittgenstein, famous philosopher, and I remembered one of his sentences that went like this, more or less, that all human problems start with the false notion that we embrace in our understanding, in our minds. And this false notion is that we imagine that there is a little man inside our heads that is looking out at the word through our eyes. It's listening to sounds through our ears, it's smelling through the nose, and it's touching the world with sensors which are Inside his skin. When I read this sentence, I didn't pay attention to it. I said, it's a kind of philosophical game, perhaps. But after this meeting, the Zen master, it came back to me very strongly. And I said to myself, perhaps this is it. I am not inside my head. I am not inside this body. So where am I? Who am I? Am I outside or am I inside? And this is a very fundamental question, I hope you agree. So when you're looking at me right now, ask yourself, is this man I am looking at outside or inside? And be honest with yourself. Open up and see. Don't think see. Can you really answer this question? Are you sure that I'm outside of your mind? Where am I? Am I in your head? Where is this picture of this person created right now? Do you follow me? So if the notion of in and out is false, let's suppose that this is false, what can we do? How does it change our perception? How does it change our way of being, way of living, way of relating to each other, way of relating to the world, to the world outside? What do you think? Does it bring you closer or further? Does it help us to get out of this feeling of separation or separateness that we are living in, that we have been living in for years? From the very beginning, I kept thinking, I kept looking, and I'm still looking. Quite frankly, this is kind of an endless journey. And one day I started to practice Zen meditation and I thought that now it will be kind of easy. And suddenly one day I come to my teacher and he asked me the question, he rings the bell and he asked me a question. Is the sound inside or outside? My God, again. So are you listening? Do you hear me? Is the sound of my voice inside or outside? We must agree that these are so called mind blowing questions, aren't they? So my mind was blown up. And how can you answer this question? I remember this workshop many years ago. If I say inside 20 times, if I say outside 20 times, if I say outside or inside and inside at the same time 40 times, how can I answer this question? So if I am to consider these masters, these teachers, a serious, wise, honest man, I must take another perspective. I must do something to get, so to say, inside their minds and see the world through their eyes, so to say, how can I do it? That was real, real question for me. How these people see the world? How do they relate to the world if there is no inside nor outside? And I looked and looked and watched them and I realized that they are very compassionate men. That they are very empathic and they never do anything to protect themselves or to make themselves more important or more visible or more special, whatever that there is. Were humble, so to say, but they were not humble. They didn't think they were humble. They were not interested in being humble. That was a natural way to be. So I understood that this is perhaps the way that since the the time immemorial, all religions in our civilization called have called for the same. They aspire to the same goal. And this goal is oneness, love, compassion. So I thought to myself, maybe this is the way. Maybe this is the only way. If I look at somebody and I will manage to get rid of this notion, this person is outside of me, or this person is something different, or this word, this tree, this mountain, this animal is something else is outside. And I'm looking at this thing, whatever it is, from inside my head. If I will be able to get rid of this notion, I will be free. And I will free this the world around me. So I tried and I tried and I tried and I made some progress and I am still in the process. So I just wanted you to know that the question of whether there is an insight, an outside is a fundamental, proper pronunciation, fundamental question that we can ask ourselves. So I remember at the end of one meditation session, which took several days, I was in a very bad state of mind, fearful and tense. And I came to my teacher and he said with compassion, Vojtek, don't worry. No matter what happens, you will never fall out of the universe. That was really something. I can see that you can and appreciate this. And so this is my message to you. No matter what happens to you, you will never fall out of the universe. Why? Because you are not different from the universe. You and the universe are not two hard to imagine, but it's easy actually. It's easy to experience. Just you have to get rid of the notions that there is an outside or inside. Where is your consciousness? Is your consciousness inside or outside? What's your consciousness right now? Who is conscious? Everybody is, hopefully, especially in this room. So these are very important questions. And. And it happened that after my short speech there will be a drum concert. So when you will be listening to these drums, ask yourself the are the sounds inside or outside? It will help you to heal your soul. Thank you very much.
