Your Own Witness is Waiting..

Every religious tradition offers some version of the Witness. The Witness is an important function of our psyche, offering a conscience and an inner guidance system that the deciding and acting self can draw from. It also offers refuge from our immediate stimulus and circumstances by observing from a safe distance. We are all born with it. However, sometimes early trauma or adverse early conditions can silence the Witness for some of us. For others, the Witness becomes active to such an extent that it witnesses on behalf of others. It may empathize where there is a void of empathy, but it can also be disruptive to what we consider to be necessary life routines. People whom we consider to have psychic abilities have very developed Witnesses.

It is important to know that while we call the Witness the observer, it is a part of us that needs to be cultivated throughout our lives. A Witness doesn’t simply narrate our actions, as if to say,”I’m doing the dishes, now.” It constantly observes how aligned we are to our own truth. It’s capable of saying, “I’m digressing in my conversation with my mother now because I’m uncomfortable saying what I really need to say”.
The Witness then asks, “What are you going to do about that discomfort? You know it will only get worse if you do nothing.” This is vital information for our daily interactions yet for the most part we take it for granted.

But what if the Witness is not active? A silent Witness makes decision-making very difficult. It leaves a person insecure, easily swayed by shifting circumstances, with frequent trouble gauging the feelings and responses of others. A person whose Witness is silent is always surprised, sometimes even feeling ambushed by life. Such a person may not feel she has a voice in her life and while she may be aware of a jumble of emotions she will have great difficulty in sorting them out. She may suspect herself of living an inauthentic life, but she can’t explain why and she lacks the inner compass to realign herself. In this case, every emotion is of equal weight. Without the Witness to guide her, there is no priority in a series of emotions or hierarchy that they belong to.

Cultivating the Witness is a vital life practice and self-care skill. Longstanding religious traditions support what science is only now revealing. Essentially, a religious tradition is not required to cultivate your Witness. When we experience painful events early in life sometimes we don’t want or can’t accept their presence. The healthy Witness however, can come in and say, “This is awful, but it’s alright, I will remember this for you. You don’t have to deal with this now. I will bring it to you when you are ready to handle it.”

And over time, we may get revisited by such memories, fragment by fragment, until we can process all the feelings associated with them. This process is as vital as exhaling. The Witness then says, “See, didn’t I promise you I would take care of you? I protected you then, and I will be there always. Nothing can harm you. It hurt for a time, but now it will be better. You can always count on me to make you strong and bring you back to center.”

The cultivated Witness not only performs this vital role, but is always open to the Witnesses of others; therefore in the company of others it is accepting, empathetic, and never competitive. It allows a person to feel “oneness” with others and it teaches us to detach from imposing expectations. A healthy Witness brings us a sense of wholeness and continuity, a compelling voice that always says, “No matter what comes your way, you will be intact.”

Find ways to honor your Witness and it will always honor you. Find rituals where you will give it free reign. Write your experiences, but more important than documenting, capture the big questions that come up and truly engage them for answers. Explore possible outcomes with your Witness and never allow your final choices to be too attached to outcomes. When we are in alignment with our inner truth, the results are fluid and flexible to us, because it’s the core experience that matters.

Wisdom of this kind comes to us when we are engaged in some kind of semi-meditative activity. Writing, walking, art, music all can bring the mind to such a state, but not always. Mindless tasks or things that require a limited amount of engagement can also get you there, which is why some of my best reflection happened for me when I was driving or cleaning house. You need to find what works for you. The point is that deep meditation is not required. It can happen there, too, but it isn’t critical. This is what makes so called “Enlightenment” everyone’s commodity, not exclusive to those living the monastic life.

Eventually a bond develops that is deep and established with the Witness, and we converse freely. This has the power to transform our relationships and communities. Essentially we learn that all our transgressions against one another and the suffering around us is a result of people not cultivating and relying on their Witness. None of us at the core ever wish to harm another. In this place, there is love, acceptance and peace for all beings.

Namaste,
Adriana