Most of the time consciousness is conscious of. It is conscious of the outside world with all its sense impression of people, things and happenings. But as we awaken, we also become conscious of our inner world as well, with all its images, beliefs and feelings. In this process, the witness arises. We witness both outer and inner forms, understand that both worlds are our own, and have enough perspective to keep them separate.
However, there is a stumbling block that all of us who are on transformational paths have to deal with… the ever-present tendency for the witness to lose perspective and re-identify with that which it is witnessing. To the extent that it does that, we re-enter our fears, our ambitions, our doubts, our delusions, our inabilities, our shortcomings, our bodies, our appearance, our sicknesses, our identities, our roles and so on. When we lose perspective, lose the experience that we are consciousness witnessing, and instead identify with what we are conscious of, with what we are witnessing… we also lose the awareness that as consciousness we are also God, Christ, Buddha, Self, Beingness, Oneness, and so on.
Consciousness witnessing is both part of the method and the ultimate goal of PsychoNoetic clearing. Noticing when we are witnessing, and also noticing when we are lost and identified with the contents of consciousness, is an every-moment practice of awareness. The meditation called the Witness (see Essay #66, ‘No oblivion!’ below) is very useful to begin a clearing, and remind ourselves once again of what we are as preparation for the work we are about to do. And as our clearing advances, we are more and more able to rest in this greater context of consciousness.
Jeff Eisen, Ph.D. 