Witnessing, sakshi bhav, is the thread that runs through every meditation Osho taught. It is not a technique among techniques but the essential element inside all of them: watching whatever arises, without judging it, without fighting it and without becoming it.
The passages below come from his discourses, several of them from Osho Live's own English translations of his Hindi talks.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks on witnessing — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, practicing witnessing is difficult. Is there no other way to reach the divine besides witnessing?
There is. We speak of it every day. This very language of compassion, this way of grace, is the other means. Bhakti, devotion, is the other way. There are two ways: sakshi—sakshi means meditation; and bhakti—bhakti means feeling. Sakshi means: stay awake and watch. And bhakti means: drown—drop all watching, and the rest. Bhakti means: to sink into utter forgetfulness. To be so absorbed in prayer, in dance, in song, as if drunk; you forget; there is self-forgetfulness. Self-forgetfulness is one means; self-remembering is the other. The processes are different, but the end is one. The paths differ; the destination is one. Self-remembering means witnessing. Keep remembering yourself—do not forget for even a moment. Keep yourself separate, remain apart from everything. Whatever appears before you, remember: it is other than me. Do not let identification form. No matter what it is—even if the divine appears before the witness—the witness remains…
Osho, would you please speak a little on witnessing and the heart. Can they be experienced simultaneously?
WITNESSING AND THE HEART ARE ONE AND THE same thing. Witnessing is not of the mind; mind can never be a witness. When you start witnessing, mind becomes the witnessed not the witness, it is the observed not the observer. You see your thoughts moving, your desires, your fantasies, your memories, your dreams -- just as you see things moving on the screen of a film. But you are not identified with them. That non-identification is what is meant by witnessing. Then who is the witness? Mind is being seen, then who is the seer? It is the heart. So the heart and witnessing are not two things. If you witness, you will be centered in the heart; or if you are centered in the heart, you will become a witness. These are two processes to reach the same goal. The lover, the devotee, never thinks of witnessing; he simply…
Beloved Osho, I want to concentrate my efforts. Be sincere with me. Is to be a witness of myself the only thing, or is there something else?
I am not interested in intellectual questions. First, be a witness to yourself, then ask. You want me to be sincere with you; please just be sincere with yourself. It is all wanting -- "I want to concentrate my efforts." It is just wishing. Who is preventing you? What are you doing here? The only thing I am teaching is to be a witness of your actions, thoughts, feelings. Start with the actions because that is the easiest, then thoughts, and then feelings -- which are the most subtle. But it seems people simply go on only thinking about things. "What is there after witnessing yourself? Is there something more?" Do you think witnessing is not more than enough? But the mind functions in this way, it always asks for more. It asks continuously -- wherever you are it will ask for more. But in witnessing the mind disappears, hence…
Beloved master, how do I come to know when I am really witnessing my body, feelings and thoughts, or when it is only my mind pretending to be a witness?
The question is only intellectual; you have not even tried to pretend. When you are witnessing and you start feeling that it may be just the pretense of the mind, then it is certainly a pretense of the mind... because who is thinking about it as pretense of the mind? -- something behind the pretense. You can never get confused about witnessing, because behind witnessing there is nothing. You cannot witness witnessing. Anything that you can witness is part of the mind. So if you witness that it is a pretense, it is a pretense. Witness the pretense, don't get identified with it. Witnessing has a beauty: it cannot be reduced to an object, you cannot witness it. It is irreducible, it always slips back; it remains only witnessing. So whatever you feel, that means you are getting identified with the mind. You have not tried it -- the question…
Read 8 more passages on witnessing
Osho, last night you said that the mind cannot do two things together -- that is, thinking and witnessing. It seems then that witnessing is a mental faculty and an act of the mind. Is it so? Please explain. Is there anything like partial witnessing and total witnessing?
WITNESSING is not a mental activity; thinking is a mental activity. Rather, it would be better to say that thinking is mind. When the mind is not, when the mind is absent, when the mind has disappeared, only then do you have witnessing. It is something behind the mind. Zen Buddhism uses mind in two ways: the ordinary mind means thinking; then Mind with a capital "M" means the Mind behind thinking. Consciousness is behind the mind; consciousness comes through the mind. If mind is in a state of thinking, it becomes opaque, non-transparent, just like a clouded sky -- you cannot see the sky. When the clouds are not, you can see the sky. When thinking is not there, then you can feel the witnessing. It is the pure sky behind. So when I said that you cannot do two things, I meant either you can think or you…
For years I am most of the time witnessing and I feel it like a disease. So is it that there are two kinds of witnessing and mine is wrong? Tell me.
And only then can the third step be taken, which will bring you close to what Gurdjieff calls self-remembering, or Krishnamurti calls awareness, or the Upanishads call witnessing. But first the two steps have to be fulfilled; then the third comes easy. Don't start doing the third immediately. First the object, then the consciousness, then the subject. Once the object is dropped and the emphasis on the consciousness is no longer a strain, the subject is there but there is no subjectivity in it. You are there but there is no "I" in it, just being. You are, but there is no feeling that "I am." That confinement of "I" has disappeared; only amness exists. That amness is divine. Drop the "I" and just be that amness. And if you have been working too long on witnessing, then for a few months, at least for three months, drop it completely,…
Osho, it feels that to be a witness is also a kind of thought. So what is the difference between the witness and a thought of the witness?
The mystic laughed. He said, "Not underneath this tree, but within me there is a treasure and I am watching it. And the treasure is growing every day, it is becoming bigger and bigger, hence I have to be more and more alert." The mystic said to the king, "You can sleep, you have nothing to lose. I cannot, I have much to lose; and if I can remain awake I have much to gain." The king was very much impressed. He asked him to come to his palace, he invited him. The monk agreed. The king was a little puzzled: a monk agreeing so soon without even refusing once is not thought to be right. A monk should say, "No, I cannot come to the palace. I have renounced the world. It is all futile. It is all dream, illusion, maya I cannot come back to the world. I…
By knowing oneself as the individual witnessing self of the intellect, and all its moods, and cultivating such feelings as "I am that," one should renounce any identification with all things except the self. After ceasing to follow others, one should create a distance with one's own body. Then one should stop following scriptures and give up one's identification with the self also.
WHEN A YOGI IS ROOTED IN THE SELF, HIS MIND IS DESTROYED BY FOLLOWING RIGHT METHOD, RIGHT LISTENING, AND HIS FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE, AND BY SEEING OTHERS AS HIS OWN SELF. HE THEN, CONTEMPLATES THE SELF, INSIDE THE HEART, WITHOUT GIVING AN EAR TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY, WITHDRAWING HIS ATTENTION FROM THE OBJECTS OF THE SENSES: SOUND, TOUCH, SIGHT, TASTE AND SMELL COLLECTIVELY; AND HE DOES NOT GIVE IN TO SLEEP OR FORGETFULNESS OF THE SELF. The word "witnessing" is one of the most significant words, particularly in Eastern spiritual alchemy. This word is a key word. So we must understand what witnessing means. We act, we do something, and the moment we do it we become the doer -- you walk, you become the walker. But there is one more possibility -- to remain a witnesser, to remain a witness. Walk, eat, or do whatsoever; don't be identified with…
Osho, I practice self-analysis, “introspection,” to awaken the witnessing. Is this right as a first step? Kindly explain.
That is why you see: the wife is happily sitting, listening to the radio, knitting her sweater; the moment the horn honks downstairs—husband has arrived—she lies down: “I have a headache.” Don’t think she’s faking; it really happens. I’m not saying she is deceiving—this has become her habit. The husband’s horn is enough to trigger a headache. Association has formed. Don’t think I say she’s cheating. Perhaps in the beginning she faked it; now that is long past—now it’s a habit. As the husband comes, the headache rises—because only when she has a headache does the husband put his hand on her head. Otherwise, who puts his hand on his wife’s head! Someone might put a hand on another’s wife; who puts a hand on his own! Only when the wife is troubled does the husband show a little sympathy. Love is gone; now only sympathy keeps things moving. The…
पहला प्रश्न: ओशो, मैं साक्षीभाव को जगाने के लिए आत्मविश्लेषण, ‘इंट्रॉस्पेक्शन’ करता हूं। क्या यह पहले कदम के रूप में सही है? कृपापूर्वक समझाएं।
इसलिए तुम देखते, पत्नी मजे से बैठी है, रेडियो सुन रही है, अपना स्वेटर बुन रही है और जैसे ही हार्न नीचे बजा कि पति आ गये कि एकदम लेट गयी, सिर में दर्द हो गया। और तुम ऐसा मत सोचना कि वह बनकर ही लेटी है। हो ही जाता है। तुमसे मैं यह नहीं कह रहा हूं कि वह धोखे दे रही है। यह उसकी अब आदत हो गयी है, पति का जो हार्न बजना है यह काफी है सिरदर्द के लिए। संयोग हो गया, दोनों का जोड़ बैठ गया। जिसको मनोवैज्ञानिक एसोसिएशन कहते हैं। इसका संयोग हो गया। ऐसा मत सोचना कि मैं यह कह रहा हूं कि वह धोखा दे रही है। शायद कभी शुरू-शुरू में दिया होगा, अब तो वह बहुत गये दिनों की बात हो गयी। अब तो यह आदत का हिस्सा हो गयी। पति के आते ही सिर में दर्द उठता है। क्योंकि जब सिर में दर्द होता है तभी पति सिर पर हाथ रखता है। नहीं कौन अपनी पत्नी के सिर पर हाथ रखता है! कोई दूसरे की पत्नी के सिर पर हाथ भला रख दे, अपनी पत्नी के सिर पर कौन हाथ रखता है! पत्नी जब परेशान होती है, तब पति थोड़ी सहानुभूति दिखाता है। …
So learn to witness more and more: outer things, people, nature. Witness -- don't forget that you are just a witness, a watcher. Then inner things -- thoughts, desires, memories -- watch and remember that you are a witness. This is what George Gurdjieff used to call self-remembering. Continuously remember that you are a witness; never for a moment let this remembrance lapse. Many times you will forget and you will become identified. The moment you remember that you have forgotten, don't repent. Don't waste time in repentance, because that is getting identified with a new idea, the idea of repentance. Don't feel guilty, otherwise again you are identified. Just take note that you had forgotten, that's all: remember again. No need to repent, no need to feel guilty. Again start watching, and slowly slowly, the knack...
And someone has asked: Osho, who is it that thinks when one is witnessing?
As it is now, whenever we know, three things are present: the one who knows—the knower; that which is known—the known; and the relationship between the two—knowledge. Knowledge is bound and burdened by the knower and the known. Keval-gyan means the known dissolves—the object disappears. And when the known dissolves, where will the knower be? He was bound to the known. When the known dissolves, the knower dissolves. What remains then? Only knowledge remains. In that moment of pure knowing there is the sense of liberation and of freedom. So keval-gyan means to experience pure knowledge. What I have called samadhi is the experience of pure knowing. These are different names in different traditions: what Patanjali called samadhi, the Jains called keval-gyan, and Buddha called prajna. Keval-gyan does not mean telling what is going on in your head. That is very easy—a simple thing. That is ordinary telepathy, thought-reading; it…
और पूछा है, ओशो, साक्षी होकर कौन विचार करता है?
अभी जब भी हम कुछ जानते हैं, तो जानने में तीन चीजें होती हैं--जानने वाला होता है, वह ज्ञाता होता है; जिसको जानते हैं, वह होता है, वह ज्ञेय होता है; और इन दोनों के बीच जो संबंध होता है, वह ज्ञान होता है। तो ज्ञान जो है, ज्ञाता और ज्ञेय से दबा रहता है, उनसे बंधा रहता है। केवल-ज्ञान का अर्थ है कि ज्ञेय विलीन हो जाए, आब्जेक्ट विलीन हो जाए। और अगर ज्ञेय विलीन हो जाएगा, तो फिर ज्ञाता कहां रहेगा! वह तो ज्ञेय से बंधा हुआ था। जब ज्ञेय विलीन हो जाएगा, तो ज्ञाता विलीन हो जाएगा। तब क्या शेष रह जाएगा? तब मात्र ज्ञान शेष रह जाएगा। उस ज्ञान की घड़ी में मुक्ति का बोध होता है और स्वतंत्रता का बोध होता है। तो केवल-ज्ञान का अर्थ है, शुद्ध ज्ञान को अनुभव कर लेना। जिसको मैंने समाधि कहा है, वह शुद्ध ज्ञान का अनुभव है। यह अलग-अलग संप्रदायों के अलग-अगल सत्य हैं। जिसे पतंजलि ने समाधि कहा है, उसे जैनों ने केवल-ज्ञान कहा है, उसे बुद्ध ने प्रज्ञा कहा है।
Beloved Osho, to be open and to be witnessing are two different things. Is it so, or is this a duality created by my mind?
Mind always creates duality; otherwise, to be open or to be witnessing are not two things. If you are open, you will be witnessing. Without being a witness, you cannot be open; or if you are a witness, you will be open -- because being a witness and yet remaining closed is impossible. So those are only two words. You can either start with witnessing -- then opening will come on its own accord; or you can start by opening your heart, all windows, all doors -- then witnessing will be found, coming on its own. But if you are simply thinking, without doing anything, then they look separate. Mind cannot think without duality. Duality is the way of thinking. In silence, all dualities disappear. Oneness is the experience of silence. For example, day and night are very clear dualities, but they are not two. There are animals who see…
Witnessing in Osho's Words
The threads that run through his discourses on witnessing.
The Technique of All Techniques
Osho places witnessing at the center of every method of meditation.
This word "witnessing" is a most significant word. There are hundreds of techniques to achieve centering, but witnessing is bound to be a part, a basic part, in every technique. Whatsoever the technique may be, witnessing will be the essential part in it. So it will be better to call it "the technique of all techniques".The Ultimate Alchemy Vol 1, Chapter 15, Question 1 →
You Are the Watcher on the Hill
A seeker felt that one part of the mind was merely watching another. Osho's answer points beyond both.
When one watches, one comes to realize that this is one part of the mind watching another part of the mind. Now you have to realize who is realizing these two parts, who is realizing that THIS is part one, THIS is part two. Naturally you cannot be either, you have transcended both. ... Whatsoever you can watch, you are never -- that should be the law, the criterion. Whatsoever you can watch you are never. You are the watcher, the watcher on the hill.Tao: The Three Treasures Vol 3, Chapter 6, Question 9 →
Do Not Try
To a listener who felt witnessing always stayed out of reach, Osho's counsel is to stop straining for it.
Do not try. Whatever happens, watch it. If sometimes witnessing happens, fine; if it does not, fine. But do not try. Leave witnessing to itself. If it comes even for a single moment in twenty-four hours, that is enough. Just watch for that much time. When it does not come, do not worry. When witnessing comes, watch that. And when it does not come, watch its absence.Geeta Darshan Vol 14, Chapter 10, Question 3 →
Not the Doer
Witnessing frees one from the burden of being the doer.
In the past, along with the doer there was a third angle—the witness—which we constantly tried to cultivate. And the day the witness developed even a little, one moved beyond worry. One saw that things are happening; I am not the doer.Jyon Ki Tyon, Chapter 13, Question 1 →
Witnessing and Awareness
Osho distinguishes witnessing, which still has a witness, from awareness, which has none.
There is much difference between awareness and witnessing. Witnessing is still an act; you are doing it, the ego is there. ... Awareness is nondoing; witnessing implies a doer.Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy, Chapter 14, Question 1 →
Questions Osho Answered on Witnessing
43 questions in the library — the most sought-after:
If you can see it or think about it, it isn’t the real watcher; keep watching everything without grabbing it until nothing is left to watch and only quiet watching remains.
Yes—watching your thoughts without getting caught is the same as being in your loving heart; two doors, one room.
Yes—besides watching your mind, you can also reach God by loving so totally that you forget yourself.
Just watch what you do, think, and feel right now—quietly and without judging—and that’s the whole thing.
Witnessing isn’t thinking; it’s the quiet awareness that shows up when your thoughts pause.
They’re two ways up one mountain; pick one and stick with it, and as your sense of “me” fades, the other shows up by itself.
Watching is looking at something; witnessing is also noticing yourself looking—and that mindful noticing is what meditation means.
It’s talking to the real you—the awareness behind your body and thoughts—asking you to stop pretending and just be awake.
Frequently Asked
Watching whatever happens within you, thoughts, emotions and sensations, without judging it and without identifying with it. Osho called it the essential part of every meditation technique.
Osho advised not to force it: whatever happens, watch it, and when witnessing is absent, watch its absence. Even a single moment of witnessing in a day is enough to begin with.
No. In Osho's distinction witnessing still involves someone who witnesses, while awareness is total and has no division between watcher and watched.