Beyond the Person

Untrained mind identifies with bodies, thoughts, ideas, I am this, I am that, usually it is called the ego, which is no difference from the mind. You are persons, individuals, then you are egos. The ego is the mind-body process, and also the personality-based entity, as a whole it is called a person, simply a bundle of what you cling, remember or identify to be. That’s the delusion of mind that caused you attached or identified with what you think or feel.

When the attention focuses on the mental and bodily activities, that related to a person, he claims the ownership of all doings and being responsible for them. There is an ‘I’ of doing, the doer. This is the root cause of all miseries and sufferings of human beings. The wrong identification with ‘I’, is ignorantly and responsibly for inflicting all the world of sufferings to the mankind as long as they attach or identify with the ‘I’, or taking themselves as persons. By meditation, when the attention shifts  away from body-mind process, such as thoughts, feelings, there is also a shift of consciousness away from the mind. Now you are switching to a new channel. On this layer of consciousness, the attention now focuses on the one who is habitually paying attention to the mental activities of outside world. It means the attention shifts attention to itself, and which is the witness itself. (it can be the observer, knower, or seer, etc)

The shifting is like tuning the radio channel, by turning the attention inwardly, to its source. Habitually, our attention inclines to indulge itself outwardly, attached to the manifest world of mind, such as thoughts, ideas, sensations, sensual pleasures, excitements, hence becoming I am this and I am that. Therefore the personal world is limited only to the sensual sphere of the person. But once you turn inwardly, you are looking for the source, then, there is another unlimited world, beyond your imagination of your senses. By searching, you find there is nothing inwardly, but only the existence of the witness. That’s your true self. It is always and already here and now, but you never pay attention to notice it.

All your life you look for things outside, but overlook your true nature, which is YOU.

Since you have found it, simply rest the attention as the witness. Being as the witness,

you are neutral, natural, non-attached, you don’t identify with the arising thoughts,

you merely play the role of witnessing, as a calm and indifferent witness. At this stage of consciousness, you are transcending yourself

as the ego to the witness; as the person to beyond the person.

Anything that can be witnessed, observed is NOT you, because it is outside you, which is changeable, unreliable. So the proof is in the pudding. At this ascended consciousness, it is verified and proven that you are not the ego, the person as what you think to be, instead, you are just the witness. Resting on the witness is the beginning of the true spiritual practice of meditation.

The true practice is to look beyond

the objects of mind.

So, thoroughly investigate the meditator, that’s YOU, the source: it lies the way, to get you out of the eternal sufferings. The liberation is within YOU.

Start from YOU, the witness.

Initially, the witnessing process involved the trinities: witness, witnessing and witnessed. Or seer, seeing and seen. But when you stay or rest on it long enough, the three becomes one, only witnessing is left behind. Even the witness or seer, is the creation of mind, which is false and non-existent. Witnessing, without objects to witness, is the pure consciousness, so the identity of a person is gone, then no one claims to be the witness or being witnessed. Only witnessing exists.

Witnessing is the expanse of consciousness, it means you are not the body nor the ego, but the whole universe is within you. Just like diving into the ocean, leaving the surface waves on the top of ocean. You are no longer your body or ego. You are the free agent, without boundary and identity of ownership.

Witnessing is autonomous and independent, there is no self to dictate it. It is simply BEING.

When witnessing expands to objectless, or outside the pull of the duality, it becomes pure consciousness, beingness. It is like a sleep-like state, a ‘black out’ or ‘blank’, in a void but not a void, which is timeless and spaceless state and beyond verbal description. The experience is like that: you may feel like in the deep sleep, but actually you are stepping out of the mind and its functions. That’s the real spiritual moment!

The power of witnessing, as it goes further, is eventually to weaken the duality of mind. The mind inherent power is to separate and attach. It creates the delusion of separateness. The mind is very tricky, when you look for it, it disappears, and becomes empty. Only when the mind subsided or transcended, the veil of delusion is lifted, there is only pure awareness without identification of this and that. So what so called reality is for you to see things as what they REALLY are. It is not easy to get over the mind, due to its strong built-in habitual tendency. Just like the strong pull of gravity, we strongly cling to the mind, live with it for whole life without knowing it. Of course, with the deeper understanding, the mind or the ego, can be used as the vehicle to help us for the daily life living. But the witnessing power must always maintained in the practice, and acts as the purifier agent, which is able to purify the mind, so the actions.

The practice is progressive and spiritual, providing the opportunity for deepening the understanding that the mind is not you, it is limited. And finally it goes beyond the ego when witnessing power getting stronger and leading consciousness further to the subtle state. So in daily life, the mind still comes back, so the veil of delusion follows. The ego is emerged, so the sense of separation. But now you know, it is no longer fooling you, you are no longer dictated by it. In fact, it is just the spiritual vehicle to serve you, rather than you serve it. This is the real spiritual practice, as you will feel released and relieved, as the mind or the ego having lesser power to control you. You are freer.

To sum up the process of meditation: first; as long as there is the ego or the mind, there is the ‘I’, which identifying with the world of mental activities, it acts as the person living in the world and take the world as my world; second; by resting on the emerged witness, it means you are tuning the attention by stepping out of the mind. So you are witnessing and dissociating from all the mental activities, third; to stay longer, by deepening the consciousness, until the witness and the witnessed also gone, only the witnessing left. Like diving into the deep ocean, the waves gone, left only the silence of the deep ocean. Here and now, only

YOU, alone without any identity. The pure consciousness without object,

losing the sense of time and space, that alone shines, exists.