Question:

Dear Ektaji, for witnessing subtle projection to gross manifestation, doesn’t the balance of witnessing get tilted when multiple vichara create a story? Is my observation missing something?

Answer:

Let’s first understand the meaning of ‘balancing on the rope’ as the Witness. Then we will dive deeper into projection => manifestation. Finally, we will arrive at the answer.

Balancing on the rope is an analogy for pure witnessing:

Witnessing means to quit pretending to be the Waker and rest in quiet ease with the absence of an individualistic identity. Tilting to either side of the rope would mean grasping an identity of ‘this’ or ‘that’. Balancing in the center means being identity-free, as that is the only way out of suffering.

Only being centered reveals the truth. Only the Witness can see the truth.

The truth is that all is born of a subtle desire or subtle projection that transforms into a gross manifestation with the power of attention.

Let’s look at the first projection that occurs daily when moving out of deep sleep:

• • The desire to exist projects the ‘I-thought’.
  • The desire to experience projects the imagination of ‘I am this or that’.

Evidently, the Dream character and the Waker are gross manifestations of the subtle desire to exist and experience:

• • The Waker is a manifested arising itself.
  • That which is an arising itself cannot recognize another arising.
  • The Waker can never see that the preceding subtle desire of which it is born,
  • The Waker is the manifested gross product of the subtle Vasanaatmic state of mind, ‘I am the body’.

Hence, the Waker cannot grasp a subtle desire and project it onto the gross level. It is the Witness that forgets itself, that desires, and projects a false identity. 

When the Witness realizes its true nature of witnessing, it denies pretending to be the Waker. This prevents it from tilting to the right or the left.

• • The subtle desire arises and dissolves. The Witness knows.
  • A previous subtle desire manifests as a gross manifestation. The Witness knows.

There is a clear recognition of the already manifested arising being related to the previously craved subtle desire. This is like realizing that every waking instance is a manifestation of a desire or a fear. Don’t believe blindly. Experiment and see.

Here are simple examples:

• • A thought of a strawberry appears and disappears. You go to the dining hall and are surprised by strawberries on the menu. The mind labels it as a coincidence, but it is actually the manifestation of a subtle projection.
  • A thought of vacationing in a foreign land arises and falls. You pick up your phone, and it displays a 3-day getaway family discount package for that specific country. The mind labels it as a coincidence, but it is actually the manifestation of a subtle projection.
  • A happy feeling associated with the memory of a friend appears and disappears. The next day, that friend gives you a surprise visit. The mind labels it as a coincidence, but it is actually the manifestation of a subtle projection.

Experiment and understand the phenomenon of projection. There is no story in it. You perceive only what you project. Nothing outside of your projection can ever be perceived. Projection is inside out. Perception is inside out, too!

Happy self-exploration!