Becoming The Witness

What does it mean to becoming the witness? Why is it that we, as humans, engage in questioning? I couldn’t possibly answer those questions but I’ll play with them a bit for fun, but first let’s look into the Yogic philosophy of existence…

In short, we are all having an individual experience, which is made up from two things referred to as Shiva and Shakti. Consciousness is Shiva, which can be described as pure awareness. Manifestation is Shakti, the energy of everything that exists. So what does that even mean? Well, it means that there are two energies playing a role in this experience we call life. One energy is always moving, changing, flowing and growing which is the ride of life, the other energy is the witness of the entirety of the experience. To become the witness, we become conscious of the roles we play, we see through the eyes with purity and clarity of this reality. We detach in those moments from the stories and energy of the always moving Shakti into stillness, in both body and the mind. Throughout our day to day life we have flashes or moments of this present moment but often our mind is either running to the past or into the future. So this dance is being played out throughout life in every moment. Is our practice to actually bring these two energies into an effortless dance?

The mind has allowed me to ask these questions. To seek deeper truth about this existence. The burning curiosity to know and understand this process of life will bring so much desire, you will begin to question everything. This is the incredible power that the mind holds. The questions we ask are no more than subtle energy that the mind begins to observe, as we begin to look inward, the mind becomes the greatest tool. Soon after this curiosity took place, I found myself asking the question of what purpose does this mind serve. After experiencing what felt like losing my mind, the challenge was to understand beyond the mind without the idea of insanity.

I understand there is a great deal of resistance around experiencing things beyond our own microcosm, beyond the individual. The role of this body is for the individual to play out the experience but also an opportunity to embrace the discomfort of the unknown, to seek beyond our limited perspective. As we create this world inside and out with all our filters that we attach our individuality to, we can begin to fail at bringing the awareness into life, chasing the Shakti energy, typically we get lost in this life, this play, game, dream or whatever you prefer to call it. The failing process is again part of the process of awakening. We must remain courageous and continue to awaken the depths of being. The most uncomfortable things have great lessons, the process of surrendering is the softening of the heart and becoming aware of the mind’s limitations. Resistance to the process is the greatest teacher, with awareness we can invite ourselves to witness the discomfort and invite it in, allowing it to flow through us. A typical reaction might be to not allow ourselves to engage in the unknown and that unfamiliar space, but witnessing this energy from a non attached viewpoint allows us seek deeper understanding of our individual limitations. The most incredibly beautiful thing about it all is that it’s actually happening all the time and we get to be a part of this dance of energy and life. This is a very rare chance, to live life and experience it as a human. To have the capacity within us to be conscious and to obtain the understanding of the ultimate reality through the individual experience.

Namasté,

Resa