If you can observe it, it is not you.
When you look at an object and recognize what it is, in that instant of recognition something of great significance happens.
When the mind understands what an object is, it recognizes it as not-self. (If you can observe it, it is not you.)
And when the mind creates not-self, that by necessity implies self. You can't have not-self without self.
That is how the mind creates the sense of self. Moment after moment, perception after perception, recognizing objects it sees, hears, tastes, smells, touches, etc. which imply a self because of the recognition of objects that are not-self. Like the frames of a movie, each recognition is distinct but because they happen so fast one after another, they blur together to create the illusion of continuity, the illusion of the continuity of self.
Try looking around at objects when your mind is made quiet by meditation and try to experience what consciousness is like without making that recognition. Try to experience what consciousness is like before it makes self and not-self. Just look at things. Let your quiet mind be quiet, not thinking about what it is seeing, but just seeing.
A Zen master called this "The before thinking mind".
It won't necessarily be a huge realization the first time you try it. You might just get an inkling of a feeling of experiencing reality in a different way. But if you can get a glimmer, then with practice you can grow the experience.
First try this with one object at a time. Then try to do it with your whole visual field.
And don't just practice with seeing. Practice with all the senses: hearing, taste, smell, bodily sensations etc.
You can do this while sitting and meditating, or standing in the kitchen washing dishes, and at other times.
The same Zen master said, "When seeing just see. When hearing just hear."
Try doing that.
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