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To witness is not to think about witnessing || Acharya Prashant (2016)
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5 years ago
Witnessing
Thought
Duality
Non-duality
Shri Krishna
Gita
Atman (Self)
Experience
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses the questioner's confusion about the experience of witnessing during daily activities like bathing. He states that there is nothing to be "managed" because what the questioner is describing is merely a thought. To truly witness the bath is to simply take the bath fully, without thinking about the act of witnessing. He humorously remarks that if one is busy thinking about witnessing in the bathroom, they will come out with shampoo still in their hair. He clarifies that witnessing does not mean thinking that one is witnessing. True witnessing is to be fully engaged in the action without extraneous thoughts. While acknowledging that the questioner's conceptual understanding—that the witness is untouched, similar to how Shri Krishna describes the Atman (Self) in the Gita as something that cannot be wetted by water or burned by fire—is not misplaced, he highlights a crucial difference. The words of Shri Krishna are not a product of thought, whereas the questioner's realization is a thought occurring in the bathroom. Their genesis is entirely different. Responding to further inquiries about the nature of the body and the experience of limitlessness, Acharya Prashant explains that any question that can be formulated by thought is a question that science can answer. Such inquiries belong to the domain of science, not spirituality. He asserts that any question emerging as a thought does not belong to spirituality. He further explains that experience and thought are inextricably linked. The moment one identifies and verbalizes an experience, it becomes a thought. Therefore, the experience of being limitless is also a thought, as are all experiences. Non-duality, he concludes, is not an opposite of duality; everything that can be perceived or thought of is dualistic thought.