“Atma alone is the one real and eternal substratum of all – the essence and absolute knowledge – the Kshetragna. It is called in the Esoteric philosophy “the One Witness” . . .” (H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 570)

One point made numerous times in Theosophical literature is the important fact that change cannot see change.

Only the permanent, the unchanging, the REAL, can perceive any type of change that goes on in any degree of manifestation.

So when we sit to meditate, we may first see the external world around us, which is characterised by changes.

Then going inward we encounter the internal energies of our physical and, in fact, astral body; they too are in constant alteration and transformation.

Going deeper within, we encounter our desires and passions, which are continually in flux.

Then our thoughts, whether emotional or intellectual; our thoughts, ideas, mental images, and imaginations, are constantly in motion, coming and going.

So then we’re faced with the question: “What is it that is witnessing, observing, perceiving, seeing, all this?”

Whatever it is, we soon recognise that it does not change, it is not in a state of change or transience or flux. If it were, how would we ever be able to perceive and observe and realise any of these changes that occur on the various levels of our being?

It doesn’t take hours, let alone years, of meditation, to confidently realise that within us, at the deepest innermost level, is a changeless Spectator, whose very nature is calm, tranquil, unmoving, unswayed, peace . . . silence . . . CONSCIOUSNESS itself. It is a Spectator rather than an “actor” or “doer.” It does not engage in action and nor is it moved, touched, or modified by action or the Karmic fruits and effects of action.

In fact, even people who are only willing to use their intellect and logical mind, and who may be uninterested in gaining meditative experience, can still arrive at some comprehension of this, for everyone knows simply through ordinary daily experience that we are all able to know what we are thinking and be aware of what is going on in our mind. If there were no aspect or component of our being beyond, or higher than, the mind and its thoughts, how could we ever possess such knowledge and awareness?

This subject, this awareness, is one of the most ancient and timeless of spiritual truths.

In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, the unchanging witness or perceiver or observer or spectator of all changes is called Sakshi. This is not a “name” but simply the most equivalent Sanskrit word for the several English words just listed.

Around 5,000 years ago, Krishna spoke of himself (in the Bhagavad Gita, 9:18) as really being the Sakshi or Witness of all. Commenting on this verse, Adi Shankaracharya noted, “Thus comprehending, the contemplative faculty must also be merged into that final Witness, the Absolute atman.” Atma or Atman is the Sanskrit word for “Self” and typically refers to the Higher Self, which is One, universal, and the same in all.

Around 2,600 years ago, the Hindu Sage Patanjali wrote the text which became known as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

In a rendition of it by William Q. Judge (a co-founder of the modern Theosophical Movement with H. P. Blavatsky and her closest colleague), made particularly for Westerners unfamiliar with Hindu terms and ideas, we read: “The modifications of the mind are always known to the presiding spirit, because it is not subject to modification.” (Book IV, aphorism 17) WQJ comments, “Hence, through all the changes to which the mind and soul are subject, the spiritual soul, Ishwara, remains unmoved, “the witness and spectator.””

In fact, that particular aphorism or sutra of Patanjali is really 4:18 but Judge’s version accidentally misses out the actual verse 16 of Book IV, causing the numbering from that point onwards to be incorrect. A century later, Raghavan Iyer of the United Lodge of Theosophists made a literal and textually accurate translation of Patanjali, now published by Theosophy Trust. Commenting on 4:18-22, Iyer writes:

“Purusha witnesses all mental modifications and is the true Knower precisely because it does not alter or waver. The mind is not self-luminous and cannot know itself by its own effort. Subject to change, it can be seen as an object by another, and ceaselessly changing, it cannot know itself, for change cannot discern change, . . . Purusha, the ever changeless, is alone the Knower, whose reflection is cast upon consciousness, which then knows derivatively. Since the mind moves from moment to moment, it cannot both function as that which cognizes and that which is cognized. Hence, that which cognizes the mind whilst it [i.e. the mind] cognizes objects (and so undergoes modification) is above the mind. Since consciousness operates on many levels, the level of awareness which apprehends consciousness necessarily transcends the level of the apprehended consciousness. Ultimately, Purusha comprehends all consciousness.”

In Patanjali’s system of internal Yoga, also known by the name of Raja Yoga, Purusha is synonymous with Atman, the true Self, the Spirit, the inner Witness or the “Seer” within, and so forth.

Although in Hinduism this Sakshi or Witness tends to always be correlated with the Atman – which in turn is literally one and the same as Brahman, the Absolute, the Supreme Self – the Theosophical statements on the subject sometimes associate it with Atman and sometimes with our Higher Manas principle, the immortal, divine, higher Mind-Entity within; an individual (rather than literally universal and absolutely impartite, which Atman is) divine Being or Being of Light within us and which is an individualised ray of the Universal Mind.

Although it is called the Higher Mind, it is something which transcends and totally differs in its activity from our personal “brain-mind,” the latter being called the Lower Manas or lower mind. The Lower Manas is the temporary, imperfect, and quite often chaotic and unruly reflection of the Higher Manas, for the duration of one lifetime, whereas the Higher Manas is the Higher Ego (not Higher Self) which is the soul or permanent Individuality which reincarnates through a long series of successive Lower Manases or personas. It would thus stand to reason that our Higher Manas – our true, immortal “I” – is the most immediate divine Witness of our Lower Manas and of everything else pertaining to our personal self.

The three highermost components of our being – Atman, Buddhi, and Higher Manas – are spoken of as a unity, in Theosophy, and so it technically does not greatly matter whether the Sakshi we are discussing is really Atman or the Higher Manas or the conjunction of the immortal Atma-Buddhi-Manas. As we gain understanding of the primordial and inherent oneness or triune nature of our higher triad, i.e. of Atma-Buddhi-Manas, we may conclude that in reality the Sakshi or Witness is all three as ONE. This is discussed and explained in The Monad and The Ego are an Eternal Triad.

Robert Crosbie, founder of the United Lodge of Theosophists, in his article titled “What Reincarnates?” writes:

“That in us which is itself unchanging is the only real. Nothing is real that changes. It is only the real that perceives change. Change cannot see change. Only that which is constant perceives change; only the permanent can perceive impermanence. However dimly we may perceive it, there is that in us which is eternal and changeless.

“This unchanging, constant, and immortal something in us is not absent from any particle or any being whatever. There is only one Life in the world to which we, as well as all other beings, pertain. We all proceeded from the same one Source – not many – and we are proceeding on the same path to the same great goal. The ancients said that the Divine Self is in all beings, but in all it does not shine forth. The real is within, and may be realized by any human being in himself. Everyone needs that realization that he may shine forth and express the God within, which all beings but partially express.”

Only the naturally and inherently stable and steady can perceive the unstable and unsteady.

In his “Notes on The Bhagavad Gita” (p. 23-24), William Judge has also written on this important theme:

“The substratum, or support, for the whole Cosmos, is the presiding spirit, and all the various changes in life, whether of a material nature or solely in mental states, are cognizable because the presiding spirit within is not modifiable. Were it otherwise, then we would have no memory, for with each passing event, we, becoming merged in it, could not remember anything, that is, we would see no changes. There must therefore be something eternally persisting, which is the witness and perceiver of every passing change, itself unchangeable. All objects, and all states of what western philosophers call Mind, are modifications, for in order to be seen or known by us, there must be some change, either partial or total, from a precedent state. The perceiver of these changes is the inner man . . .

“This leads us to the conviction that there must be a universal presiding spirit, the producer as well as the spectator, of all this collection of animate and inanimate things. . . . the immortal part of each man — the Krishna who talks to Arjuna . . . being in essence unmodified, it has the capacity to perceive all the changes going on around the body.

“This Self must be recognized as being within, pondered over, and as much as possible understood, if we are to gain any true knowledge.”

Robert Crosbie wrote the later chapters in “Notes on The Bhagavad Gita” and there we read:

“The meditation spoken of as necessary to the highest attainment is sometimes called “a lifetime’s meditation”; it means that the immortality of man has first to be assumed, and then rigidly adhered to as the basis for every thought and action, for it is only in this way that a realization of immortality can be obtained by embodied beings. As it is from the Spirit in Man that all law and power proceeds, each human being creates his own limitations on every plane of being; he can transcend those limitations only by reverting to and maintaining his immortality, as the observer and experiencer of all the passing changes, himself unchanged and unchanging.” (p. 148-149)

“We know that we are not our bodies, for they constantly change, while we remain the same identity through all the changes. We are not our “minds,” for we change them whenever we find occasion to do so; if we were our minds we could not change them, and further, it is apparent that “change” cannot see “change;” only that which is permanent can see change. That permanency is the Real, the immortal Man, or, as the “Voice of the Silence” states it, “the Man that was, that is, and will be, for whom the hour shall never strike.” Each is the Self, the Perceiver; non-being, yet the cause and sustainer of being; as the Gita states it in this chapter, “thou art the Knower and that which is to be known; “thou art the final supreme receptacle of this universe” – the garnerer of all experience when this universe is dissolved. At the end of the Great Cycle, which includes all minor cycles, all beings return to the primordial state, plus the experience gained. The next great stream of evolution will proceed on the basis of the acquired knowledge of all beings concerned.” (p. 175-176)

It should not be thought that awareness and experience of the Witness is only found in Hinduism or Buddhism. Truth is universal, the motto of the Theosophical Movement being “There is no Religion higher than Truth.” Throughout the ages, people of all countries, cultures, religions, or no religion, beliefs or no belief, have acquired some awareness and experience of that which lies at the heart of all.

The Theosophical classic “Light on The Path” (p. 3-4) tells the aspirant to esoteric development and serious mystical unfoldment:

“For within you is the light of the world – the only light that can be shed upon the Path. If you are unable to perceive it within you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. It is beyond you; because when you reach it you have lost yourself. It is unattainable, because it forever recedes. You will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame.”

Robert Crosbie has commented:

“Perfection” is an ever-receding goal; “we can always approach the light, but we can never touch the flame”, because IT is our very Self, the Perceiver and Knower. . . .The Absolute is a name for the One Reality, the Infinite, Unchanging basis of All. All the rest is “Maya” – that is, the ever-changing modes, expressions, degrees of intelligence and their forms, ever approaching the Light, but never touching the Flame; for the Real in each being is the Flame itself. . . . The ancient saying is that we can always approach the light, but we can never touch the flame, for that Flame is our Self – the Self of All.” (“Answers To Questions on The Ocean of Theosophy” p. 14, 41, 125)

“And we may consider this: change cannot see change. Only that which is permanent can see change. So there is that in us which is permanent, which is Real, which is of the highest, which is a ray from and one with the Supreme, the universal Principle or Power, the creator, the sustainer, the regenerator of all that was, is, or ever shall be. We have to realize That – each one for himself – first by recognizing that IT IS, omnipresent, eternal, boundless and immutable; second, by divesting ourselves of those things we thought It to be: that It is this body, this mind, these circumstances. All these are changing things, things seen; but that which is the Real, the Supreme, our very Self and the Self of all things, is not subject to change; It is changeless; It cannot be seen, for It is the Perceiver.” (“The Recognition of Law” article)

However, it is one thing to just become theoretically aware that such a pure unchanging Witness exists at the core of our being and it is another to obtain some experiential awareness of it whilst actually stilling and watching the mind.

It is still quite another thing to reach to a point where one experiences one’s individual consciousness fully merging into that pure universal consciousness to the extent that it is felt we have become it for at least a brief moment. As wonderful, beautiful, and awe-inspiring as the latter sounds, it is still far from being the highest possible development in esoteric meditation, although it is often presented as the goal in popular and exoteric meditation systems.

Modern science is researching the phenomenon, in order to try to explain it from the physiological, material perspective. Bernard J. Baars of the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California, USA, speculates: “Conscious experience is believed to involve widespread cortico-thalamic oscillations in the 4–12 Hz range, modulated by higher frequency waveforms up to 200 Hz (Baars et al., 2013). Silent consciousness may therefore correspond to increased theta-alpha power, spreading in cortex with minimal higher “content” frequencies, as has been reported during contemplative techniques.”

It can be interesting and useful to understand the “brain side” of meditation but it’s important to always remember that the brain itself is only the recipient of the impressions of our spiritual nature, which is meta-physical, and which maintains consciousness regardless of whether the body and brain are alive or dead . . . for that part of us, the only enduring part, IS Pure Consciousness Itself.

In a posthumously published article simply titled “Occultism,” William Q. Judge shares these important and useful insights for our benefit and to practically apply in the way that seems best to us:

“The true student of Raja Yoga [Note: The Raja Yoga of Theosophy should not be assumed to be exactly the same as the Raja Yoga of Hinduism, as has been explained in another article.] knows that everything has its origin in MIND; that even this Universe is the passing before the Divine Mind of the images he desires to appear. . . .

“The substratum or support for the whole Kosmos is the presiding Spirit. All the various changes in life, whether of a material nature or solely in mental States are cognizable because the presiding Spirit within is not modifiable. The Perceiver of these changes is the Inner Man – the Self. All objects and all states of what Western philosophers call mind, are modifications. This Self must be recognized as being within, pondered over, and as much as possible understood, if we are to gain any true knowledge.

“There is only One Life, One Consciousness. . . . The One Consciousness of each person is the Witness or Spectator of the actions and experiences of every state we are in or pass through.

“There is but one Universal Mind. It is differentiated in human beings of the average order, and more or less vitiated by desire. When man broadens to the Universal – a condition only understood by Adepts who are themselves that condition – this Higher Mind in its original purity, is a State of Being, and not an organ. In order to realize this in any large degree it is necessary to withdraw our consciousness gradually and persistently from the illusion of the senses to the ecstasy of inward vision; that is, to gradually elevate the plane of consciousness. Man may thus come to know the supersensuous world precisely as he knows the things of sense and time; viz. by experience. . . .

“Occultism has been defined by H. P. Blavatsky to be “the study of the workings of the Universal Mind.” Our primary study of that Mind is at first confined to its reflection in ourselves. We must endeavor to find some trace of it within our own consciousness or in one of the modes of that consciousness. . . .

“If we examine ourselves critically we see that there is, lying back of ceaseless mental change, of all the continual going to and fro of Thought, a power to observe, sum up, analyze, and direct the whole process. We find ourselves possessed of another mode of consciousness, above or behind the fluctuations of thought, which calmly observes the whole panorama moving before us. Through this power even the sinner who knows his sin still feels that sin not to be representative of his entire nature; feels himself at the core, to be better than that vile outward seeming. . . . the student [must discover] this center, place, mode or state of consciousness in which he surveys his whole mental field as something not himself, and feels that Self to be the perceptive power per se. For he has then only to enter that mental plane as often as possible, and to realize it as vividly as possible, and he has evolved a rudiment – if I may so call it – of the Universal Mind. That Mind, that state of consciousness, observes the illusionary panorama spread before it as something apart from itself. The person who realizes that state of consciousness is nearer the Universal Mind.“

~ * ~

“All is impermanent in man except the pure bright essence of Alaya. Man is its crystal ray; a beam of light immaculate within, a form of clay material upon the lower surface. That beam is thy life-guide and thy true Self, the Watcher and the silent Thinker, the victim of thy lower Self.”
(“The Voice of The Silence” p. 57, original edition, translated by H. P. Blavatsky from The Book of The Golden Precepts)

“Divine Wisdom being diffused throughout the infinite Universe, and our impersonal HIGHER SELF being an integral part of it, the atmic light of the latter can be centred only in that which though eternal is still individualized – i.e., the noëtic Principle, the manifested God within each rational being, or our Higher Manas at one with Buddhi.”
(H. P. Blavatsky, “The Dual Aspect of Wisdom”)

~ * ~

This article may have raised more questions about various things. Please make use of the site search function (the magnifying glass symbol at the top of the page) and visit the Articles page to see the complete list of over 300 articles covering all aspects of Theosophy and the Theosophical Movement.

Some articles closely related to this one are: The Raja Yoga of Theosophy, The Theosophical Guide To Meditation, Daily Self-Study and Self-Examination, Living Consciously, Understanding Our Seven Principles, The Monad and The Ego are an Eternal Triad, Atman – The Higher Self, Ego Is Not A Bad Word, Manas – The Mystery of Mind, and Who or What is Ishwara?

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