before the mind gives us perception; name, form, comparison, is awareness

 

 As you realize yourself in manifestation,

 you keep on discovering that you are ever more 

than what you have imagined. 

Consciousness as such is the subtle counterpart of matter. 

Just as inertia and energy are attributes of matter, 

so does harmony manifest itself as consciousness.

 You may consider it in a way as a form of very subtle energy.

 Wherever matter organizes itself into a stable organism, 

consciousness appears spontaneously.

 With the destruction of the organism,

 consciousness disappears.

The mind produces thoughts ceaselessly, 

even when you do not look at them. 

When you know what is going on in your mind,

 you call it consciousness. 

This is your waking state - your consciousness shifts 

from sensation to sensation, from perception to perception, 

from idea to idea, in endless succession. 

Then comes awareness, 

the direct insight into the whole of consciousness,

 the totality of the mind. 

The mind is like a river,

 flowing ceaselessly in the bed of the body; 

you identify yourself for a moment 

with some particular ripple and call it "my thought". 

All you are conscious of is your mind;

 awareness is the cognizance of consciousness

 as a whole.

Consciousness comes and goes,

 awareness shines immutably. 

When there is a person, there is also consciousness.

 "I am", mind, consciousness denote the same state.

 If you say "I am aware", it only means 

"I am conscious of thinking about being aware".

 There is no "I am" in awareness. 

Witnessing is of the mind.

 The witness goes with the witnessed. 

In the state of non-duality,

 all separation ceases. 

It [the witness] is both [real and unreal]. 

The last remnant of illusion,

 the first touch of the real. To say: 

"I am only the witness"

 is both false and true: 

false because of the "I am", 

true because of the witness. 

It is better to say "there is witnessing". 

The moment you say "I am", 

the entire universe comes into being 

along with its creator. 

The witness is merely a point in awareness. 

It has no name and form. 

~ excerpts from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's

I AM THAT

art by Baje Whitethorn, Sr 

Navajo artist