Antahakarana: Confusion vs Clarity… what witnesses both?
We come together, to “just sit”. We listen to the silence. We listen to our thoughts, We listen to our feelings and emotions. Not concentration, only awareness of all the arisings…And catch glimpses of a gap…a silent gap between two thoughts. Too many thoughts, the monkey mind, veils the gap. Multiple methods and techniques in various traditions are all aids to “settle the mind” so we get established in steadier glimpses of the “gap”, the sky behind the clouds, the screen behind the movie, our true nature. When we “just sit”. We just BE the witnessing awareness.
Antahakarana: Confusion vs Clarity…what witnesses both?
Antahkarana refers to the whole psychological process, including emotions. levels of the mind, both the intellect (buddhi) and the middle mind or mental body (manas).
According to Vedanta literature, antahkarana consists of four parts:
- Manas (mind) – the rational part of the mind that connects with the external world
- Chitta (memory) – the consciousness where impressions, memories and experiences are stored
- Buddhi (intellect) – the decision-making part of the mind
- Ahamkara (ego) – the attachment or identification of the ego, also known as “I am-ness.”
Having this understanding empowers us to choose the lens we perceive and experience with. How much separation is there between the object and subject? (Sharing an illustration from Ayurveda Institute)
“Just sitting”, silent meditation, reveals the layers and the gap between these layers, a glimpse of the background, the ground of awareness, and we rest in our true nature that is the witness to all experience.
