What is the seat of perception?
We have not one, but five avenues to enjoy the world — the senses of sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. The brain collects, and the mind interprets these sensory impressions. Once an experience happens in the mind, it creates varying degrees of enjoyment or suffering. When we enjoy or suffer, we do it through the false self or the ‘I.’ We carry this identity throughout our lives, and it is intimately connected with every life experience of ours.
Besides the false self or the ‘I,’ there is a witnessing aspect of our being. When viewed from this witnessing perspective, the perception of the experience goes beyond enjoyment or suffering. We remain neutral to any experience.
Besides the false self or the ‘I,’ there is a witnessing aspect of our being.
The witnessing self does not record experiences, there is no memory involved, and everything is seen as is without any interpretation. The perception through the ‘I’ and as the witnessing self are very different. The ‘I’ tracks and engages with changing experiences, while the witnessing self is changeless.
The perception through the ‘I’ and as the witnessing self are very different.
The ‘I’ is present in everyone. We impart specific qualities to it through associations we make with unique individual life experiences. These qualities that the ‘I’ possess differ from one person to another.
The ‘I’ of a wealthy person identifies with the thought of the money in possession, which gives the ‘I’ the notion of being rich. The ‘I’ of a poor man also forms an association with money. However, this is with thoughts concerning the lack of funds. A poor man’s ‘I’ takes on the flavor of poverty.
The ‘I’ is based on our thoughts, and it encompasses the entirety of our physical and mental being. For example, when we are walking, we say, “I am walking” and not “My legs are walking.” When we think we say “I am thinking” and not, “My thoughts are thinking.” The body and the mind become one unit as far as the ‘I’ is concerned. Pain in the body becomes suffering in the mind, pleasurable sensations in the nerves of the body become happiness in the mind.
