Sakshi

Nocturne  Bayou

'Sakshi' or 'Saakshi', in Nepali, Telugu and Hindi means 'Witness', someone or something which is used to determine the Truth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakshi
This new word came to me on an Amma wisdom card.
http://www.theammashop.org/books/coffeetable/mwisdomcards.html

Every morning, I pull one card from the deck to help me get going in a good direction.  This deck, named "May the Flower of Your Heart Blossom", was a Christmas gift from my neighbor, Lakshmi, who loves Amma and had introduced Amma's hugs to my husband, Leo last fall. He was very moved by Amma's presence and the power of her hug so I now have heightened and vicarious Amma awareness.

Amma says- "Try to implement the attitude of the witness (sakshi)" and I liked this particular prompt because it caused me to reflect how I practice stopping to watch myself in action and see what I am doing from a place outside myself. It is really fun to do this as I "watch"myself in the studio and detach from the worries and concerns about results. Lakshmi also helped to flesh this idea out more.
"Amma uses the word 'sakshi bhava' for witness consciousness, To witness one's thoughts without being judgemental or identifying with them."

For me, Amma's words also connected with Eckhart Tolle's writings and teachings. He says "when you listen to a thought, you are not only of the thought but also of yourself as the witness of the thought. A new dimension of consciousness has come in".  I appreciated his words"watching the thinker" in his "Power of Now". This book that gave me a whole new paradigm, a philosophical framework that helped direct me as I was beginning my work with Spirit Boats.

I feel Spirit Boats can be a sakshi too. They can be used to find the truth that we all hold within us. You can take a boat as far as you want. It can travel a short way across a still pond with little effort or float far away up to the universe. It all depends on the intention you set before you go.
"Truth" is a big word and important here because it can be a good indicator. If you feel good, you are going in the right direction. When we are in the Spirit Boat, we are held in safety and we have an advantage that gives us a vehicle to move swiftly to our "truth"
The truth also requires listening and perhaps can be heard more effectively if you are in a Spirit Boat.