Question:

Dear Ekta, How can I clearly distinguish between the mind’s attention and the witness?

Answer:

Let’s start with an analogy.

When you stand in front of the mirror, you see a reflection of yourself there. Go on and experiment in front of the mirror now! Go on!

1] Look at the face in the mirror carefully.

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Do you recognize that you have forgotten that the reflection in front of you is separate from you? This is happening at a very subtle level. You feel that the reflection is ‘I’. This outward-going ‘I’ is actually not ‘I’, it is the mind’s attention. Look at your reflection again and study the mind’s attention.

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2] Now, keeping your eyes on your reflection, turn the focus exactly 180 degrees to actually recognize the true ‘I’. You cannot see the true ‘I’ but you can feel the true ‘I’, you can sense the true ‘I’, you can BE the true ‘I’. This is called the ‘sense of I AM’ by Nisargadatta Maharaj. This is Awareness/Witness.

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Shuttle a few times and study the outward-facing [bahirmukhi] mind’s attention & the inward-facing [antarmukhi] Awareness.

Now discard the mirror’s reflection and just remain steady with the sense of I AM. It is also called Witness Consciousness or Awareness. Remember, it is not possible to see the true ‘I’. You can only BE you, you cannot see yourself 🙂

Now ask yourself, am I aware? You will notice the thought disappear into a silent search. An answer will arise from the silence in the form of another thought saying ‘Yes’. That silent gap between the question and the answer is Awareness! Experiment!

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If you have arrived at this point in your recognition of Awareness, now turn back 180 degrees to the reflection of yourself in the mirror.

Do you notice the following differences?

Happy Self-study [Swadhyay]!

#AtmaNirvriti #AtmanandaKrishnaMenon #AdvaitaVedanta #Non-duality #Nisargadatta Maharaj