The witness

In real life, terror, madness and each such is a pain to live through or watch. However, this same thing is bought and enjoyed at movies!

When, in a movie, something happened that you missed watching, you're inquisitive on how it happened so. This same thing, even weirder or wilder, done by our own mind is missed by us, but still we pay no heed to it!

Suppose that this madness of the mind is *viewed* by us, assuming that, this *mind* is *someone else*. Would it not be like watching a movie with a good mix-- adventurous, horrific, thrilling, inspiring... wavering? It sure would! This act of witnessing and not participating would take us away from the binding that we were born with; some sort of bonded labor that we were dragged into since birth -- nay, even earlier! Timeless journey that it has been, is it not wiser to even try a little to break free? This observer pattern of life's design would be like turning tables unto mayic aspects of life! It would help cut the umbilical cord making the most complex *knot* (as Ramana calls it) between our own Self and the taamasic body.

Sw. Venkatesananda says that to witness one's own mind, to watch the chitta vritti, itself is yoga as interpreted from Patanjali's "Chitta Vritta Nirodha" that makes up the crux of yoga.