The Witness (Sākṣin)

The sākṣin is the 'witness' — the self regarded purely as the silent awareness in which all experience appears. It sees the mind's thoughts, the senses' reports, even the states of waking, dream, and deep sleep, yet it does none of these things and is altered by none of them, like a lamp that lights a room without being involved in what goes on there. Recognizing oneself as this untouched witness, rather than as the busy mind it illumines, is central to the Vedāntic and yogic analysis of the self.