There is no such thing as
knowing the knower. That
knowledge implies two factors, and the knower (the soul, the innermost self)
not being something to be seen, can never be
known as such.
When one speaks of
relation, one deals only with the known world within the
waking or dream. When the known (waking or dream) goes, he says that because he
actually sees the known (waking or dream)
going; but he can never see the knower go.
He can only say "he does not know" about it. One cannot speak
of the known (three states) without the formless knower. But when the known (three
states) has vanished, there is nothing to be said about the knower.
The act of conceiving in
thought demands two factors. One cannot conceive the
Formless Witness, the seer or knower,
because he can say nothing about it, without making it an object. It cannot be pulled down to the level of an
object, the seen.
The duality of formless
witness and the seen(three states) is not the same as
the duality of two things in the objective
world within the waking or dream,
for here both are known and seen, whereas there one is known; the formless
witness remaining unknown and all one can say of it is "he cannot make any
statement about it. It is incomprehensible.
“If formless witness
disappears, as does the three states then one must posit
another seer to replace it; but in fact no one has ever seen its
disappearance. One never uses the word formless witness without the three states. It has no
meaning apart from it.
In reality the formless substance and witness of the three
states are one in essence. The essence is consciousness and it is the ultimate
truth. The formless soul, the innermost self is the witness of the three states. And the formless witness is within the three
states. And it is without the three states.
And also it is apart from the
three states. It is within the three
states as their formless substance. And it is without the three states as their
formless witness. And it is also apart from the three states because it's not
an entity or identity within the three states.
Lots of patience, humility is needed in pursuit of truth.
Arguments on their point of view are the greatest hindrance in pursuit of
truth. Thus holding any teacher and teaching or scriptures are the greatest
hindrance in pursuit of truth.
Egocentric
yardstick based on the accumulated knowledge is the greatest hindrance in
pursuit of truth.
The Self is not a thing unknown
to anyone at any time. Let a man think. As soon
as waking experience comes, there must be a knower there before in order to
know that he is in waking experience.
The formless witness exists
before the waking appears or the thing is seen;
otherwise neither knowledge nor sensation could happen. The formless witness is always
there. Even if one says it can be reached only at the end of a long path, it is
impossible for it to be ever absent even while he says this.
The knower alone makes it
possible for one to know anything at all. “Though,
thus quite self-evident, easily known,
quite near, forming the self, Atman appears, to the unenlightened mind as unknown, very remote, as
though he was a separate thing. Those who do not look at the seer, the witness,
and perceive it is the only thing that neither comes nor goes, are
deluded, and turn outward towards things objective,
which run away.
