The Heart of Meditation is Witnessing. How to Attain It?*

It is both very simple and not so simple. It is simple, because witnessing resembles naturalness, health, relaxation and comes after these phenomena. It is not simple, as witnessing is the foundation, an entryway for all the mysteries and miracles. A small child witnesses. The entire nature witnesses also. A child is not yet interested, attached. Therefore, he is impersonal and in the state of witnessing. He does not even know that it is possible to be interested, attached. This kind of witnessing is unconscious, but it already holds a germ of witnessing from which he will evolve into meditation.

Only consciousness may witness and only the higher consciousness is capable of witnessing the lower one. A thing may not witness another thing, an animal – a man. A thing may not witness an animal either. A thing may not even observe an animal. A germ of witnessing is hidden in observation. An animal may observe a man, however it is not capable of witnessing him. Only a man, or consciousness, can witness. This happens only in the moment when he disidentifies from the body, becomes flowable, non-judging. It is easier to witness a body as it is easier to disidentify from it. It is slightly more difficult to witness the mind as it is subtler, and it is slightly more difficult to see it as well as to disidentify from it. The mind becomes silent, calmer during the act of witnessing. Reaction of the mind to outer impulses, actions and judgment is absent in witnessing. Having disidentified from the mind at least once, we become aware that we are not a body, mind and feelings.

A key to witnessing is totality. If you are able to do something with total engagement, totally, not as a consequence of reaction, but consciously, then witnessing may happen. Totality is the key to meditation. You will not get lost here. There is no judgment in witnessing. Understanding comes during witnessing like seeing does when looking. If you want to see a bottom, water surface must be waveless. If you want to see the inner sky, waves – thoughts must not cover the surface of your consciousness. In witnessing we understand the nature of things. The truth is experienced when witnessing. You might have experienced relaxation and witnessing after a long and intense search, when your mind got tired and you became totally relaxed, silent, but the search and awareness remained. At that moment the vital energy reached the body through the calm mind and flowed back to the spirit. You could understand what needs to be done, where the answer lies, without realizing how this happens. It is seeing, inner vision. Witnessing requires seeing, not thinking, and consciousness, not the mind. Thinking prevents witnessing. Only you can witness, nobody else. In fact, even you disappear when witnessing; only the witnessing remains. It brings fear to believers and egoists. They are afraid of disappearing. Some people fear disappearing, disappearing of the ego, thus they suffer from insomnia. But the truth and blissfulness are revealed only in witnessing, after the ego has been dropped.

A scientist observes, while a mystic - witnesses. Witnessing is inaccessible to a scientist because he concentrates while thinking, this requires efforts, and thus, he may not relax, witness. A scientist does not see how he understands, therefore he tries his best. The same is with eyes. Only relaxed eyes see well, however, people tense them in order to see. They tense their eyes, thus they cannot see well. It is a paradox, nonetheless, the truth. The truth always contains a paradox. A subject who is witnessing and an object being witnessed both disappear in the act of witnessing, their dividing wall disappears and the truth uniting them appears. This mental wall is like an eggshell, like a seed shell or an ego of a soul. A wall had its purpose, it was useful, but there is no need to attach ourselves to it, to hold onto it and be afraid of losing it. A wall is a dogma. The time will come when it hinders. Then let it go, disidentify from it. I let go of all the dogmas, traditions and doctrines and then love, blissfulness and truth opened up to me. This is the inner experience, the existential truth, which does not change or disappear, neither with the governmental changes, law, sleep, nor even with death. The truth does not follow the law. The opposite should be true.

* - Quote from book "Meditation: Sharing of Soul" by Prembuddha. You can purchase it on the internet at www.ezoterika.lt, and Lithuanian bookshops.

Updated on 05-01-2016