Stillness Reflections 1: The Unknowable Knower

This is the first in a series of short contemplative reflections—quiet pointers toward the nature of one's inseparable awareness. In this reflection, we explore the unknowable knower: that which is aware of all experiences, yet can never be seen, grasped, labelled, or named. Thoughts, sensations, and the sense of being a person of identity appear and disappear, while one's silent, timeless knowing remains.

These reflections are gentle invitations into stillness and recognition, offered as moments of pause, contemplation, and returning to that which never left.

Transcript

A short contemplative reflection by Pritika.

Take a moment to settle.

There is nothing to do here.

The unknowable knower.

Take a moment to come into focused awareness.

Relax the body.

Be still and silent.

There is nothing to do.

Nowhere to be.

You are here,

Still and aware.

All that is around you,

All that you can notice,

Is appearing within this quiet awareness.

Thoughts,

Sensations and feelings.

Along with the sense of being a person in the world.

All of this is known.

And yet,

That which knows all of this,

One's abiding presence,

The unmoving background to all perceiving,

Is not seen,

Not felt,

Not experienced.

The knower is not an object in experience.

It is not a thought,

Nor a feeling,

Nor a presence that can be defined or labelled.

It is the unseen openness,

The spacious awareness in which all experiences arise and fade.

In this way,

The abiding knower is unknowable,

Yet intimately,

Undeniably present,

As one's inseparable,

Formless awareness.

Notice that knowing is eternally present,

As the silent background to all,

Effortless,

Timeless,

Unconditional.

Rest peacefully here,

As this timeless knowing,

Without searching for a knower,

Without trying to understand.

And as this knowing,

There is no person,

No individual,

Nothing separate from,

Nothing opposed to,

The wholeness of inseparable awareness.

Only awareness knowing itself,

As itself.

Now rest in what timelessly is.