Mananam

I am aware of the body. Therefore, I am not the body. I am aware of sensations. Therefore, I am not the sensations. I am aware of thoughts. Therefore, I am not the thoughts. I am aware of emotions. Therefore, I am not the emotions. I am aware of the ego-sense, the feeling “I am this person.” Therefore, I am not the ego-sense. All these are witnessed: body, sensations, thoughts, emotions, and ego-sense. Therefore, provisionally, I take myself to be the sākṣī , the witness. This sākṣī standpoint is a necessary adhyāropa . It separates me from the body-mind complex. Now the thought arises: “I am consciousness.” The thought “I am consciousness” also appears in the mind. Therefore, I am not that thought as a mental event. But this thought is a pramāṇa-vṛtti , a knowledge-form produced by śāstra. Its function is not to create consciousness or objectify consciousness. Its function is to remove the error, “I am the body-mind.” Therefore, I do not cling to the thought as an object. N...