I think therefore I was?

Descartes summed up the Buddha's description of the previous cycle's raison d'être. " You are your thoughts" was actually "You were what your thoughts are." A closer look reveals the nature and the reason why this was so, as well as why it had to be so.

Any thought is just a rumination. A rumination is a redo or a "going over again" of some form or energy state. It is a pale imitation, derived from the essence of your activity (be it mental or physical) and stored for further reference. The problem lies in the actuation of the memory associated with the thought in question. As the thought is energized, it detracts from that source of energy whatever it needs to present it's contents to you. That original energy was intended for you to use it to be CREATIVE and not regurgitative.

The reactive memory contains the reference material that the intellect analyzes and compares to the current status of the ego so that the ego can "echo-locate" it's presence in the material plane. That presence is the "I" that presents itself to you for your own valuation. You need to consider yourself in the first person? You are not already in existence, without need for confirmation? Strange but vital when you lack conscious awareness that allows you to be in the present moment. Unfortunately, this habit has stuck with us and desperately needs to be removed from our internal mechanisms.

Not that the "I" is such a terrible concept, only that it is superfluous to your existence and therefore is a hindrance to the energization of your potentials and the expression of your intentions. Only once we cease the deleterious thought-provoking mechanism will we be able to "speak" our minds. That will be the ultimate proof of our presence as we will no longer require a mental buffer and we will be able to elucidate and elaborate all of our needs and requirements without impediment.