We all have a concept of ourself which is encapsulated in the I-thought. The I-thought, for the sake of our Vedantic analysis here can be looked at, as of 3 types.
1. The I-thought which is associated
with the past time, place and thus containing the qualities of the past. It is
the remembered I-thought or ahankara and it has qualties associated with the
past like “I was young and energetic’ or in case of childhood trauma, “I was
helpless”, “I was a victim”.
2. The I-thought which is the present
experienced ahankara, which is associated with the present time and place and
thus having qualites of the present..
3. The I-thought which has in it the
sense of being the same I which in the past, which is the same I which is now
in the present. This I-thought we can call as the familiar or known I.
Now in this
familiar ‘I’, the past remembered I is being equated to the present experienced
I. Can you see the error taking place? How can one equate the past remebered
‘I’ or ahankara with the present experienced I or ahankara? One cannot because
there is the difference of time, place and qualties between the two. Yet we
cannot deny the sense of being the same I.
To arrive
at what is that same I between the two, what is
common between the two, the differences or contradictory features
between the two must be let go off (in Vedantic language, apply bhaga-tyaga
lakshana ), retaining in our understanding the only common factor, which is the
witness of both the past ahankara and the present ahankara, who is the
witness-consciousness who we call as SAKSHI CHAITANYAM.
The
witness-consciousness is not a part, product or property of the ahankara or any
thought or the mind-body complex. It is an independent principle that pervades
every thought, illuminating, enlivening them and yet is not limited in any way
by the nature of any thought. Consciousness is the adhishthanam, the
source of all thoughts, that is always
present, even when thoughts are not there. This witness consciousness is the real
I, atma, the Self, the illuminator of every thought and the sarva-sakshi, the
witness of everything in the universe.
Om Tat Sat