Children, even trivial incidents in the outer world can affect our mind. Some incidents make us happy whereas others make us sad. Some people wonder how one can remain poised between these two extremes, like a detached witness.
All of us have the capacity to step back and see everything as an observer. However, we rarely recognize this capacity or use it to our advantage. When other people face problems, we are detached and can even offer practical advice. But when we face the same problems, we crumble. This defeat is caused by the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
Once, a disciple asked his Guru, “O Master, it’s difficult to see everything with the attitude of a witness. How is it possible?”
The Guru did not answer. Instead, he began to describe some careless mistakes, saying that another person had made them. The disciple listened with a smile. Suddenly, the Guru said, “He didn’t do any of those things. It was you who made all those mistakes!”
Hearing this, the disciple’s face turned pale and he hung his head in shame. The Guru then said, “When I pointed out your mistakes, you became sad. But when I blamed someone else earlier for those mistakes, you were able to receive it with the attitude of a witness. Therefore, you have the capacity to be a witness.”
When you realize that whatever you now associate with ‘I’ is not the real you, you will be able to summon the attitude of a witness. We have the capacity to observe our own thoughts and actions constantly. If you can cultivate this awareness further, you will attain sakshi bhava and remain a witness in all circumstances, accepting everything with a smile. Nothing will be able to affect your mental equilibrium.
In sakshi bhava, there is bliss alone. It’s not that emotions don’t come. They will manifest, but you see them as if from a distance, and they will not affect you. So, when anger begins rising up in you, you are able to see it very clearly. You witness it and this helps you to remain calm and not translate that emotion into action.
Understanding the nature of the world and its objects, you will see things as they are and accept them. Just as there are waves in the ocean, there will be thoughts in the mind. But once you know how to swim, you are able to get in the water and blissfully move with its rise and fall.
Experience the truth that there is nothing other than you, and there is no scope for disturbance. You always remain peaceful. At present we are totally identified with our individual mind. We need to expand: from the individual mind, to the societal mind, to the mind of the entire universe. You may feel as if you are just a seed, but there is a tree dormant in every seed. Realize that and become the tree.