can the witness disappear

Can we allow even the witness to disappear?

Through meditation and careful self inquiry, it's usually not too onerous to reach the point where one has seen for oneself that one is not one's thoughts. One is not actually one's emotions. These thoughts and emotions are things that come and go. And we are the witness, we are the one who is aware of the thoughts, the emotions, sensations. This is the classic teaching. 

Yet there's still a duality in that. I am the witness. I am the one who is aware of something. There is still a separation, a gap between me and that which I am witnessing. We are still holding on to a separation, a duality. We are still holding on to the concept of I, of me, as something separate. We have not really let go. We've just shifted our understanding of who I am.

There's a more radical change and that comes about when we let go of the witness itself. This usually takes a tremendous awareness, usually in meditation. If you notice the subtleties of it, you will see that this witness arises with the thing that is being witnessed. The witness itself is intermittent. And there is something else there which is deeper than the witness. And that deeper thing is the space of empty consciousness. It's the space within which the witness arises, the witnessing arises, and that being witnessed arises.

This empty consciousness is really the end point of meditation, and in that there is no I, there is no me, there is no duality. When we reach that point, we are not witnessing the empty consciousness in the same way as we witness other things. We have simply returned to it. We've disappeared again. The witness, the witnessing, that being witnessed has momentarily disappeared and what's left then? Then we've got to our essence, the essential part not only of us, but of all that is, the essence. And within the space of this essence, this cosmic consciousness, this empty consciousness, within this space everything arises: the observer, the observed, and the observing, all arise together and disappear back into the empty consciousness.

This is the truth of our experience. It's intermittent. Our memories, of course, give it the feel of something continuous. When we are remembering something, though, that is also arising within the space of this empty consciousness. Memories, thoughts, emotions, sensations, and the witnessing of all this, including that which is the witness, all of this is arising moment to moment in a transient way, coming into being and disappearing again.

It's rather like fundamental particles spontaneously coming into existence, and then annihilating one another again. So it is with activity in the mind. The witness and that being witnessed co-arise. They come into existence together, and then they annihilate one another and disappear back into nothingness. The unchanging part is this empty consciousness. That's not a personal thing. There's no I in that. There's no soul to be found in it, no story. It's merely a silent, infinitely spacious, timeless, still, empty consciousness. It's the source from which all arises and to which all returns. And this arising and returning is happening all the time moment to moment. This is the truth of the matter.