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Isolation, Introspection, Introversion and the Witness Consciousness · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  A young person, around 20 years of age reported an experience he
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  had while visiting a beer hall in Munich, Germany with some
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  friends and acquaintances. As could be expected, there was
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  a lot of noise, clinking of glasses, singing, laughing,
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  storytelling among his friends as well as generally in the pub.
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  He suddenly felt totally isolated, alone in the crowd, as
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  he phrased it. He felt out of place, like he
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  could not understand what he was doing there.
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  It brought him to a state of disorientation about what his
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  entire life was about. He indicated he took up a pen
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  and a napkin and wrote a poem about his experience.
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  What he reported is actually not an unusual experience.
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  Many people have reported on feeling alone in the crowd.
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  They have a sense of isolation. The mood is a depressive one.
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  In some cases, it causes the individual to feel such a deep
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  sense of isolation that they feel like they simply don't fit
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  in. In other cases, the experience
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  causes the individual to look inside to determine what the
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  cause and the solution to this feeling might be.
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  In such a case, it can be the first step towards the deeper
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  seeking that somehow recognizes that the enjoyments and
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  pleasures of the outer existence hold little relevance for them
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  and thus they need to undertake the search for the soul.
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  An early stage of this search leads to what is called
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  introspection. This is an internal review of
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  1's thoughts and feelings to try to sort out some sense of what
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  it is all about and what they should do about it.
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  Introspection does not separate the observer from the object of
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  observation, but looks on what is being seen as oneself.
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  There are people who are naturally indrawn within
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  themselves, who find comfort in quiet times, readings, communing
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  with nature, gardening rather than simply running after
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  external stimulation of crowds, events and activities.
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  These people are called introverts, as opposed to the
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  extroverts who tend to thrive in the active, outgoing
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  relationships of life. These individuals tend to
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  identify with the ego personality Nexus and do not
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  experience a separation from their being.
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  They simply feel more at ease and secure, with a less outward
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  orientation. The experience of the witness
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  consciousness described in the yogic texts is not the same as
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  any of these other experiences. The witness consciousness is
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  described as the separation of the Purusha, the witness from
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  Prakriti, the active nature. The active nature does not just
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  relate to external actions, events or circumstances, but
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  includes the individual himself. There is a stage where
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  everything, including the thoughts, feelings, perceptions,
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  reactions of the individual's own being, is seen as something
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  external to himself. And in some cases it may seem
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  like the one is observing a film rather than participating in the
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  life. This is a key difference between
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  introspection, where the individual still feels the
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  thoughts, responses, etcetera to be himself, and the witness
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  consciousness, where they are experienced as other than
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  himself. The standpoint shift from
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  participation to pure disinterested observation is an
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  essential one. Shvia Robindo observes quote.
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  There is a stage in the sadhna in which the inner being begins
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  to awake often. The 1st result is the condition
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  made-up of the following elements. 1A Sort of witness
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  attitude in which the inner consciousness looks at all that
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  happens as a spectator or observer, observing things but
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  taking no active interest or pleasure in them. 2A State of
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  neutral equanimity, in which there is neither joy nor sorrow,
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  only quietude, and 3A sense of being something separate from
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  all that happens, observing it but not part of it.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
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  Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on the
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  Path, page 147.