The 'watcher' or 'witnessing' of 'thoughts, feelings and whatever arises' without judgement, assessment, anaylsis. Without a value assigned such as this is good or that is bad and so on. It's a useful practise for cultivating detatchment and its essential in many meditation traditions such as in Buddhism - on the 'path.'
Chip, a wonderful teacher, recommended the same to me some time ago and it was appreciated. The least line of resistance for many to cling to anything. People, thoughts, feelings, experiences, memories, roles as parent or child, high flying career person and often making it into something 'we' like, enjoy and want more of until boredom or need for change kicks in and them another object sticks to mind.
Whilst the 'watcher' is useful there is a subtle point that is easily be overlooked. For years during Buddhist practices, assuming the 'wisdom' of the 'watcher' was a given - as wise teachers and sages recommended it - 'thinking' well there's must be something to it.
Ironically I'd overlooked this insightful point made by 'no1wakesup':
"Yes, ...the mind is very good, if not awesome at hiding the absurdity of itself as an authentic existence. Even if we "watch our thoughts" aside from the temporary and fleeting( and dualistic)"gap' that one experiences, there is still a "choice" to be made.
Choice is a part of what actually hinders the un obstructive view where no choice exist. Choice is a primordial aspect of duality. It offers a good and bad or right and wrong "choice." The very foundation of choice lies upon the back drop of either gaining pleasure or avoiding pain...all of the mind. Of course, on the surface, choice seems to be a very rudimentary necessity to the apparent life one lives...it seems practical. But where you believe a real or calculated decision was needed...it never was.
The natural way is always in front of you but unconsciousness turns it into a struggle, a great task or simply something that "I" have to determine. Thought or the process of thought which we are so identified with has deeper roots. For this reason, " the veil is lifted from that which hides behind thoughts" is usually that which is seldom seen in it's totality. "Who" would want to go to that place where the conceptual and time bounded me is no where to be found. Arriving at this precipice is the psychological equivalent of jumping off a plane without a parachute. Death is fully accepted. Then it is seen by no-one that death was itself only a myth or an idea."
Seems there are no limits to the subtle tricks of the mind. Whilst the 'watcher' or 'witness' is essential on the path as an antedote to attachments as Trungpa Rinpoche quoted a sage once with:
"There must be liberation even from the antedote."
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1 comment:
Thanks theotherway,
Agree with everything you've said re the "watcher" "it's an observer only" and and am not criticising - it's essential as noted. There's nothing wrong with it.
The point re choice is where's there's not ONLY watching. Something added. Where's there's the added misconception there is a ME who is actually CHOOSING when to employ the 'watcher' to deal with circumstances out-there when attachment sticks. So on reading no1wakesup post there was an ah-ha yes, that's what's happened.
So in essence this blog is more an admitance that the misconception of "I" is deeply rooted seeking to sneakily own the 'watcher' as a role played - that of a detatched observer and at will - to reinforce validation and feeds the ignorance. So there's noone to blame noone at fault - not the "watcher" either.
In plain talk: 'I'v caught that subtle misbelief that there is actual choice and thus chooser through the habit of employing the watcher'. So watching then becomes something else. Not-watching. Playing. Something to watch...LOL
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