The Witness and the Witnessed

The Practice of Witnessing

द्रष्टा दृश्यविवेक (Drashta Drishya Viveka)
Discrimination between the Seer and the Seen

In Advaita Vedanta, one of the fundamental practices is discriminating between the witness (the seer) and the witnessed (the seen). This is called viveka, or discrimination.

What Can Be Witnessed?

यत् किञ्चित् दृश्यते तन्न आत्मा (Yat Kinchit Drishyate Tan Na Atma)
Whatever is seen is not the Self

Everything that can be observed is an object of consciousness:

• Thoughts come and go - you witness them
• Emotions arise and pass - you witness them
• Body sensations appear - you witness them
• The sense “I am” appears - you witness it
• Even the absence of experience (deep sleep) is known

Who Is the Witness?

साक्षी (Sakshi) - The Witness

The witness cannot be witnessed. Just as the eye cannot see itself and fire cannot burn itself, awareness cannot be objectified.

You are not what you observe. You are the observing itself.

The Shift in Identity

Most people identify with what is witnessed (the body-mind), but investigation reveals:

• The body changes, but you remain
• Thoughts come and go, but you remain
• States change (waking, dreaming, sleeping), but you remain

What remains constant is the witnessing presence itself.

Practical Inquiry

When any experience arises, ask:

• “To whom does this appear?”
• “Who witnesses this?”

The answer is always: “I do” or “I am aware of it.”

Then ask: “Who is this ‘I’ that is aware?”

In investigating the witness, you come to realize that the witness is not a separate entity but consciousness itself—and that is what you are.

Beyond the Witness

Advanced Advaita teaching points out that even the witness-witnessed duality must be transcended. In the ultimate realization, there is only pure awareness—no separate witness, no separate witnessed, just the seamless totality of being.

The Story of King Janaka’s Dream

जनक स्वप्न (Janaka Swapna)

King Janaka, the enlightened ruler, once had a vivid dream. In it, he was dethroned, lost everything, and wandered as a beggar, starving for days. When he finally found food and was about to eat, crows snatched it away. In despair, he cried out.

At that moment, he woke up. Lying in his royal bed, surrounded by luxury, he was deeply troubled: “Which is real—the beggar or the king? Was I a beggar dreaming of being a king, or a king dreaming of being a beggar?”

The sage Ashtavakra answered: “You are neither. Both the beggar and the king are dreams. You are the consciousness in which both states appeared and disappeared.”

The Teaching

• The waking state is like a dream that lasts longer
• In both waking and dreaming, you are the witness
• The witness is not the character in the dream
• You are the unchanging awareness witnessing all states

The Three States Analysis

त्रय-अवस्था विचार (Traya-Avastha Vichara)

Vedanta analyzes three states of consciousness:

1. Jagrat (Waking)

   • You witness the external world
   • The “I” identifies with the body-mind
   • Subject-object duality is strong

2. Swapna (Dreaming)

   • You witness a dream world
   • The dream “I” seems real within the dream
   • Upon waking, dream objects vanish

3. Sushupti (Deep Sleep)

   • No objects, no thoughts, no world
   • Yet upon waking, you say “I slept well”
   • Someone witnessed even this absence

What remains constant across all three states? The witnessing awareness—that is what you are.

The Seer Cannot Be Seen

द्रष्टा दृश्यते न (Drashta Drishyate Na)

Just as:

• The eye cannot see itself
• The finger cannot touch its own tip
• Fire cannot burn itself

Similarly:

• Awareness cannot be objectified
• The witness cannot become the witnessed
• You cannot step outside consciousness to observe it

This is why the Self is called अप्रमेय (aprameya)—“that which cannot be known as an object.”

Practical Witnessing Meditation

साक्षी ध्यान (Sakshi Dhyana)

A powerful practice for establishing yourself as the witness:

1. Sit quietly and observe

   • Notice thoughts arising and passing
   • Don’t engage, just watch
   • Like clouds drifting across the sky

2. Identify the witness

   • Ask: “Who is aware of these thoughts?”
   • Notice: “I am”
   • Rest in that awareness

3. Witness the witness

   • Even the thought “I am aware” is witnessed
   • Who witnesses the thought “I am”?
   • Rest in that which cannot be witnessed

4. Dissolve into being

   • No separate witness remains
   • Only witnessing without a witness
   • Pure consciousness, aware of itself

The Levels of Witnessing

Gross Level: Witnessing external objects (sights, sounds)

Subtle Level: Witnessing thoughts, emotions, memories

Causal Level: Witnessing the sense of “I” itself

Ultimate: No separation—pure awareness beholding itself

The Witness in Daily Life

Throughout the day:

• Before reacting to any situation, pause
• Notice: “I am aware of this feeling/thought/sensation”
• This simple recognition creates space
• Freedom emerges in that space

अहं साक्षी (Aham Sakshi)
I am the witness

The more you rest as the witness, the less you’re affected by what’s witnessed. Problems don’t disappear, but your relationship to them transforms. You realize you are the screen on which the movie plays, not a character in the movie.

The Final Understanding

द्रष्टा अद्वैतम् (Drashta Advaitam)

In the end, even the witness is transcended. There is no separate witness watching separate objects. There is only consciousness—appearing as all things, experiencing itself through infinite forms, yet remaining forever one, undivided, whole.

The wave realizes it was always the ocean. The witness realizes it was always the one reality, playing at being many.