In a court of law, a witness plays a very significant role. The witness may be associated with the victim as well as the accused. The role of the witness is to give a true picture without taking sides. While living in this world, probably, the most important thing is to be aware of what is happening inside rather than outside events. The inner world is like a court of God where we divide ourselves into three parts: the intellect (accused), the ego (victim), and the soul (witness).
Most of the time, we run away from the internal conflicts. That's what most sensitive people do. However, Krishna does not allow Arjuna to run away from that conflict and helps him take the matter to the inner court. Intellectually, Arjuna is convinced that he should fight the battle of Kurukshetra. However, his emotional mind makes him run out of the battlefield after seeing his elders and cousins fighting against him from the other side. Krishna helps him take the matter to the inner court with a soul as a witness Who does not take the side of either the intellect or the ego. Krishna does not preach to him to run away from the conflicts but rather helps him to confront them.
We too keep running away from the inner conflicts. First of all, most of the time, we are sure of our actions like Duryodhana. There is no conflict at all. The ego does not at all listen to the intellect. Intellect just like a weak minister is relegated to the role of an employee to prepare an intellectually sound design for the fulfilment of the desire of the ego. In such situations, there is no question of internal conflicts. Sometimes, the intellect grows by reading different books written by realized would or somehow coming into contact with such people. In such a case, there starts a conflict. In most cases, the ego dominates and easily defeats the intellect like the Kauravas defeated Pandavas in the game of Chausar. The poor defeated intellect goes into the background.
However, sometimes the intellect keeps preparing itself in the background like the Pandavas prepared themselves while in the forest, and then when its Ajnyatvas is complete, it comes back to fight the battle. The first choice it exercises is the choice of Krishna over his army. That's what any person moving along the spiritual path does. It chooses the company of those who are free and not attached to material possessions. However, there are many more occasions of conflict. As one moves along the path, there come many more conflicts.
The ego asserts itself disguised in many different forms. It brings many fears, insecurities, and confusion. That is where comes the role of the soul as a witness. The witness needs to be unbiased. Let the intellect and the ego argue their case in the court of God, the soul has to play the role of a witness. It just describes what it sees inside us. In the inner court, a strong witness reveals the entire truth.
The witness reveals that as a child, the ego and the intellect played their functional role. The role of the ego is to protect the instrument of the body which is being used by both the ego and the intellect. It makes the baby cry when he is feeling hungry. The role of the intellect is to explore the world. It makes the baby look for the things around. The baby wants to roll around and makes an effort to walk, to mirror others talking to him, and to learn the language. Both ego and intellect support each other well. The witness says that as we grow in biological age, the ego starts taking over. It starts getting into the trap of the temptation for different material things. It feels like earning more wealth and power. It stops sticking to its functional role and starts intruding on the kingdom of the intellect and at some stage, it even ousts the intellect from its own kingdom.
The ego brings all sorts of arguments. How will the body survive, if I do not give more and more time to the office, the networking, and the sycophancy. The world is quite rude. How will the intellect get opportunities to excel, if I do not earn money for it to express freely. The weak intellect, rather than arguing its case starts feeling obliged for the generocity of the ego. Ego further argues that I have to take care of the family members and the kids. That is my responsibility. The weak intellect feels further grateful and almost makes up its mind to withdraw the case. It can not understand the manipulations of the ego. Then the witness comes into the picture. A strong witness asks the ego the right questions. It asks the ego the right questions about its role. It asks whether the efforts to get stronger positions at the office, to build a stronger network to grow more powerful help its counterpart intellect to explore the world. It reminds the ego of its fundamental function to secure the body so that the intellect may explore the world. The role of the defense forces is to defend the country. They just have a supporting role to allow the economy to grow. The growth of defense forces can not be an end in itself.
The witness also demonstrates to the ego that in the guise of responsibilities, the ego is just trying to promote its own cause. Responsibility does not mean making somebody dependent to feel like a hero who has helped so many others survive. It means making others independent so that their intellect is free to explore. How can a dependent being explore this world freely? In the guise of fulfilling the responsibilities, the ego is trying to hide its own ambitions to become larger than life.
That is the role of a strong witness. The soul knows that it has itself divided into the ego and the intellect to ensure the protection of the body and exploration of this world. It witnesses what the ego as well as the intellect does in this world. It knows what is going on inside them. That is why a strong witness always reveals the truth. Arguing the case of the ego or the intellect does not solve the problem. We are just taking the sides: one or the other. It is a strong witness that reveals the inner truth. A strong witness sets the context right. It reveals what is not revealed by arguments. It connects the dots and brings absolute clarity. A strong witness just connects to the truth and not the victim or the accused.
The moment a strong witness reveals the inner truth, the ego as well as the intellect understand their functional role. The conflict ends. Conflict results from ignorance. So long as the debate, arguments, and fight continues, there is no solution. The witness tells the truth. It knows the ins and outs of the ego as well as the intellect. In fact, there is one profound outcome one testimony of the witness. There is neither the ego nor the intellect feel guilty. That's because they understand that the soul, like a parent, is just making the two siblings aware of their respective functional roles in the family. There is no guilt or shyness in accepting the fault before a parent. After all that is what a family is all about.
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