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The famous utterance “Observer is the Observed” that was made around mid 20th century by J Krishnamurthy got the attention of the western world from scientists to intellects who were in pursuit of higher realities of physical existence. So what is so profound about this statement that even till date people struggle and ponder over to understand and actualise it’s teaching in their lives ? The difficulty lies in being a witness to the observer within us, that is our minds. If I can be a pure witness my mental and worldly phenomenon , actualisation happens where there is neither observer nor observed , the mind drops dead , false consciousness gives way to pure consciousness.

The Scientific Perspective

The statement ‘observer is the observed’ has both scientific and philosophical significance . For J Krishnamurthy , it is philosophical which I will get into later, but the scientific community woke up to this statement specifically the quantum physicist Dr.David Bohm. What was already known at that time by quantum physicists was a wired phenomenon called the “Observer effect” in how the particles (photons and electrons) at the sub-atomic level behaved when there was an observer. The famous double-slit experiment showed when there was an observer watching the electron passing through the double slit, it behaves like a particle but it behaved like a wave when it was not observed. So the human thought had an effect on the outcome as if the electrons were aware of someone watching. This experiment still holds true even today and there are countless of YouTube videos proving this phenomenon. And of course we are in the age of quantum computing that is built on exploiting this wired phenomenon.

David Bohm and J Krishnamurthy became lifelong friends, jointly exploring the unchartered territory by trying to bridge the gap between science and spirituality and spreading the knowledge to the spiritual aspirants. But what is prevalent from the experiment is that mind affects matter or in other words our thoughts creates our own reality.

The Philosophical Perspective

Now let’s look at what JK was tying to convey when he says observer is the observed. He compels us observe any object or phenomenon without our preconditioning that is rooted in our memory. Our memories contains images and experiences that are old and stale and are not only from the current but past lives as well. These needs to be reconciled using our innate power of witness. Being a witness means we allow our thought patterns from past and future to emerge without doing anything about it, but to remain still.

Can I look at a rose without my preconceived ideas about the rose in shape and color and all the memories associated with the rose ? Can I observe my fear or anger without the movement of my thought of memories of fear and anger ? Can I look at my spouse or girlfriend without my past knowledge of them ? The bottomline of what he is saying is to be a witness to the observer that is created by the thought and the observed that is an object , person or phenomenon. If we can do this moment by moment in our live means that it is the end of suffering , end of false ego , end of anger , fear and so on that is holding us up from self-realization .

The Synthesis

Synthesizing the scientific and philosophical perspectives of the “observer is the observed” we can say that our thoughts are root cause of everything we see and experience in the real world. The goal of the spiritual aspirants is to move beyond the limits of this phenomenal world that is rooted in time, space and causation . As a mere observer we are stuck in the realm of time and space using our thoughts as the basis. But once we are able to be a witness to the observer and the observed, there is beauty, pure awareness.