The Three Radiances of Awareness — Cit, Prajñā, and Sākṣitva

When I sit in stillness and the breath finds its own rhythm, I often watch how awareness begins to reveal itself in layers — like light unfolding from dawn into day. At first, there is a simple witnessing; then a subtle, luminous knowing; and finally, an unnameable expanse where even the witness dissolves.

That movement — from Sākṣitva to Prajñā to Cit — is, to me, the sacred journey of consciousness remembering itself.

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The First Light: Sākṣitva — The Witness

In the beginning, awareness takes the form of a watcher.
I am not the breath, I am aware of the breath.
I am not the thought, I see the thought arise and fade.
This witnessing — Sākṣitva — is the first awakening from identification.

It is tender at first, like the first few moments after waking from a long dream. The body still moves, the mind still reacts, yet something within no longer clings.
In this witnessing, I begin to see how the dance of Prakṛti continues — thoughts, emotions, sensations — yet I, the Puruṣa, remain untouched.

Every time I return to this witness, even amidst chaos, the chain of identification weakens. This is the beginning of freedom — not by control, but by clarity.

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The Second Light: Prajñā — Insightful Awareness

When the witness deepens, it transforms into Prajñā — luminous, intelligent awareness.
Here, consciousness does not merely observe; it sees through.
It recognizes the patterns born of avidyā — the ego’s subtle disguises, the attachments masquerading as love, the fears pretending to protect.

Prajñā is not thought. It is direct insight. It is the knowing that arises when the mind is silent, the breath steady, and the Self shines through the intellect like sunlight through clear water.

When the inhalation has ceased and the exhalation has not yet begun. In that still point, awareness is alive, alert, self-luminous. That is Prajñā in its pure form — the living light of understanding.

It does not belong to any philosophy; it is the light by which all philosophies are seen.

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The Final Light: Cit — Pure Consciousness

Beyond even Prajñā, beyond witnessing and insight, lies Cit — pure consciousness, infinite and self-existent.
There is no observer here, no act of knowing, no distinction between seer and seen.
It is being itself — silent, unbroken, self-luminous.

This is what the Upaniṣads whisper when they say:

“Prajñānam Brahma — Consciousness is Brahman.”

In the Brahma Sūtras, this is called anubhava — direct realization — where the Self is known not as an object but as one’s own existence.
No kriya, no mantra, no effort can reach it. They can only purify the mirror so the ever-present radiance of Cit reflects unhindered.

When Cit reveals itself, the play of avidyā dissolves like mist before sunlight.
There is no “I attained”; there is only “I am.”

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How They Flow Together

In the living journey of a seeker:

• Sākṣitva is the practice — the art of disidentification.

• Prajñā is the insight — the light that guides and corrects perception.

• Cit is the revelation — the resting in one’s true nature.

One leads to the next, yet all three are the same essence in different expressions — like the sun seen at dawn, at noon, and in its invisible radiance beyond sight.

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The Tri-Radiance Across the Spectrum

As we move from base to crown:

• Sākṣitva (witnessing) grounds itself in the first three chakras: Muladhara, Svadhishthana, Manipura.

• Prajñā (insight) opens in the next three: Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna.

• Cit (pure consciousness) blossoms fully in Sahasrara.

The radiances are not separate—they interpenetrate. Each chakra is a stage of light’s unfoldment: from the dark earth of being to the airy expanse of the crown.

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The Dynamic Cycle: From Stillness to Expression

Thus, the ascent is Yoga — the movement from matter to spirit.
The descent is Tantra — the movement from spirit into matter.
Together they form the eternal pulse of Satchidānanda. 

When the upward and downward currents unite, the central channel (Suṣumṇā) glows like a living pillar of light — the bridge between heaven and earth.

That is the state of Sahaja Samādhi: being both the witness and the world, silence and song.

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In Daily Life

• When I act, I remember Sākṣitva: “I am aware through action.”

• When I feel, I rest in Prajñā: “This love is the movement of understanding.”

• When I am still, I abide in Cit: “This stillness is my essence.”

The play continues — but now, the light moves freely, both upward and downward.
The divine no longer hides in transcendence; it breathes in every ordinary act.

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1. I learn to see. (Sākṣitva)
   — I detach from my reactions and rest as the observer.

2. I begin to understand. (Prajñā)
   — I perceive the truth beneath appearances.

3. I become what I have seen. (Cit)
   — Awareness rests in its own radiance; nothing to observe, nothing to understand.

This is the natural unfolding of consciousness — from mindfulness to wisdom to awakening.

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Sense first your witness-body, then let insight light your path, and finally rest as pure consciousness—cit.

Let your chakras awaken not as metaphors only but as felt realities. The radiance of your being awaits.

And if you forget—just breathe. Be the quiet light that sees, the knowing stillness, the limitless Self.

May the witness, the insight, and the pure awareness illuminate your journey.

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