Read the Entire Series – Journey To Knowing
Observing the Self and Bearing Witness
Various meditation techniques strongly emphasize the importance of calmly observing the self in acquiring the real knowing of who we are, where we come from and what actually motivates us to thought and action. The term ‘mindfulness meditation’ is the most commonly used in this context. It’s one that almost everyone on the inner journey recognizes, regardless of path or tradition. In aiding our understanding of who we really are, as opposed to who we think we are or would like to be, it is incomparable.
Of course it takes practice and patience to park our schedule-fixated self long enough to relax into the non-aligned rhythms of the breath and blood that regulate our physical self, the one that provides us with the operational base from which our adventures into the mysterious otherness of everything else can be conducted. It’s just that those adventures, the planning, excitements and recall, can totally obscure the one who is doing the questing. We forget who we are as we experiment with duties, commitments and what used to be called follies. We identify with the personas and characters that are developed for each adventure; we think we are the masks used in the theatre of life and forget we are the soul holding the mask.
Observing the masks, and the thoughts and emotions which accompany them, can be one of the most rewarding challenges on the inner journey. Stripped of the games we play to suit the demands of family and society, we can glimpse the knowing we are striving towards, and rest assured that we shall, with practice, become, once again, one with that serene intelligence sitting quietly within us.
In some way, we are bearing witness to our real self, just as we might bear witness in the biblical or historical sense. We are seeing and speaking of the trauma of history, the wickedness of deception and the bearing of false witness. The history of the self, the history of the world: is the latter composed of the former? Are the scars of the traumatized selves the source of protective deceptions? Does the hand raised in defense become the dagger that strikes in pre-emptive fear? I would argue Yes, but it is only one of many insights to be gained from observing the self in meditation.
July 11, 2021 @ 6:23 pm
Lovely article, Gordon.
The simple act of observing oneself is so powerful. It can be the genesis of beautiful open-ended questions: If I’m observing myself, then which is the true me? Am I the observer or the one being observed? What if both are true? What does that mean? Can we be in two places at once?
Once we let go of the preconceived notions that we are physical beings, we can begin to expand outside of the world of physicality. This is where true wisdom lies. This is where we gain different perspectives on the lives that we thought we knew so well. And….it all begins with the simple act of observing yourself. ?
July 12, 2021 @ 10:41 am
Thank you Candice. Yes, the paradox of Am I the observer or the observed? is fascinating. I tend to the both/and option rather than the either/or. If executed propely the observer will be calm and neutral while the observed will be reacting to emotional and mental stimuli, the leaf in the wind situation. Despite years of practice I still see myself in this paradox regularly. Is the obsever as aspect of the soul or higher self? Or maybe the causal or buddhic body? Good question. One can spend much effort on that one!
I have a couple of longer essays on this theme. One is “I Watch Myself” (on my “anotherwordofgord wordpress.com” blog, which is also reprinted in the book “Embracing Your Divinity Instead Of Your Doubt” (pp125).
And yes, when we expand we begin to see who we really are.