“How can there be any special property in Me who am changeless by nature and witness the modifications of the minds of all without any exception? (How can again there be any change in Me) who witness the mind and its functions in the waking state as in dream? But as there is the absence* of both the mind and its functions in deep sleep, I am Pure Consciousness, all-pervading and changeless.” (# 3, 4 Chap. XI Nature of the Witness: Upadesa Sahasri)
*Therefore witnessing the mind and its functions is not in the nature of the Self. (note by translator Swami Jagadananda)
This is a very important observation. The knowledge in the form of ‘I have been in a state of deep dreamless sleep’ can only arise if there was what I have called a dark samadhi i.e. a perfect non-reflexive awareness which is contentless. The analogy proposed by Tripura Rahasya is of a mirror coated with tar perfectly reflecting that blackness. One understands the purport of that image while doubting the physics. In any case the Witness aspect of Pure Consciousness is a detached knowledge of the mental modifications. The mind is not conscious, counter intuitive as that is to the avidya (ignorance) stricken.
“It thinks as it were” (Br.Up.)
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