The Sakshi Yoga

by Ramakrishnananda Swami Sakshipada
 

The Sanskrit word sākṣi means “witness” or “he who has seen true reality through his own eyes”; it is composed of sa or “with” and akshi or “eye,” together being “somebody with eye.” Aksha is literally “eye,” but it refers to any of the senses.
 

Saaksha or “direct perception” comes from the root ash which means “perceive in detail” and it is combined with the word sakshaat which is “direct, directly.”
 

Sākṣi refers to the Self that observes and perceives the information retrieved by the senses without the use of intermediate tools; despite its lack of senses, it can perceive the mind as well as the signals of the five senses. 
 

According to the Sanskrit dictionary, Ekartha Kosha, the term sa alludes to Shiva or Vishnu.

Sakshi yoga is the “yoga of observation;” it entails the experience, with the aid of observation, of our original state of oneness with the Whole. Sakshi yoga integrates different yogic paths, putting emphasis on observation. It includes karma yoga which is acting while observing our actions; bhakti yoga which facilitates the observation of our emotions and feelings; hatha yoga which stimulates the watching of our physical body; and likewise with raja yoga, jñana yoga, kundalini yoga, etc. In this manner, no aspect of yoga is devoid of this wisdom. In sakshi yoga, seeing, watching, looking, peering, and witnessing are the essential points.  The emphasis of this path does not fall in your actions, thoughts, or emotions, rather in the observation of them… 

 

The sacred scriptures provide the basis of sakshi yoga, as the Brahma Upaniṣad (16) indicates:

 

 

“The One Lord (self-effulgent) in all beings remaining hidden, all-pervading and the Self of all beings, controlling and watching over all works (good or bad), living in all creatures and the Witness (i.e. neither the doer of any acts nor the enjoyer), the Supreme Intelligence, the One without a second, having no attributes.”