Unsent Letter #8: Witnessing

February, 2004

Dear Friend

The concept of witnessing causes a lot of confusion, which is inevitable as long as the mind tries to understand it. The ego-mind wants to be able to witness itself, while it is functioning, which is impossible. How can the mind step outside of itself? The mind is a closed system, and within its scope is everything that can be objectified. Witnessing, however, is pure subjectivity. It cannot be objectified, and so it is outside of the scope of the mind.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj said that witnessing happens to the absolute. The absolute, or Parabrahman, is that which is beyond knowledge, beyond the manifest, or objectifiable, world that we can see or conceive. Witnessing happens when there is something to witness. Being alive means that there is something to witness for the absolute. You might say that it has taken a form for that purpose. Where there is life, there is always awareness, witnessing, of what is happening. For example, you just read the previous line of this letter. The fact that you know, you agree, that yes, you did read that line, shows that witnessing was occuring at that time. So witnessing is the awareness that is always present. This awareness even witnessed your deep sleep state.

There is no question of anyone "doing" any witnessing. Witnessing is simply the natural action of knowledge. It is already going on, all the time. The only thing is that until Self-knowledge happens, one does not know that one is the witness; one assumes that one is an individual person.

There is no witness apart from the witnessing. Of course, what is witnessed is not true, it is only an appearance, or the reflection of the absolute. The witnessing is consciousness, and in the play of consciousness all things appear and disappear. The trick of the absolute is that everything is contained within this witnessing knowledge. Because of the appearance of knowledge, witnessing happens to the absolute, but the absolute is not affected by it.

If you understand this, you can forget all your worries.

A.