Sakshi Bhav vs Madhyasth Bhav: The Difference

Both terms describe non-attachment, which is why they are often confused. The difference is what each one is directed at: sakshi bhav looks inward at your own mind, madhyasth bhav looks outward at other people.

Sakshi bhav — witness consciousness

Sakshi means "witness". Sakshi bhav is the practice of watching your own thoughts, sensations and impulses as an observer rather than as their owner — seeing anger arise without becoming angry, seeing craving arise without following it. Because the soul in Jain thought is by nature pure consciousness, this witnessing is understood as returning attention to what the soul actually is, rather than to the karmic states passing over it.

Jain literature treats it as the high point of spiritual practice: Amarendravijay's Sadhnanu Shikhar Sakshi Bhav is devoted to sakshi bhav as the pinnacle of sadhana, and Upadhyaya Yashovijay takes up sakshibhava in the Adhyatma Upanishad.

Madhyasth bhav — equanimity toward others

Madhyasthya is the last of the four bhavanas that a practitioner is asked to cultivate toward other beings. Acharya Amitagati sets out all four in a verse recited widely in the tradition:

sattveshu maitrim gunishu pramodam, klishteshu jiveshu kripaparatvam,
madhyasthya-bhavam viparita-vrittau

— friendship toward all living beings, delight at the sight of the virtuous, compassion for those who suffer, and madhyasthya toward those of contrary conduct. The tradition renders that last attitude as detachment toward the ill-behaved, or tolerance toward one's opponents.

The point of madhyasthya is precise: it is what you cultivate when the first three do not apply. You cannot befriend someone set against you, cannot delight in conduct that is wrong, and pity would be condescension — so you remain neutral, neither drawn in nor repelled. It protects your own equanimity rather than passing judgement on theirs.

In short: practise sakshi bhav toward yourself, and madhyasth bhav toward the people you cannot help. They are not two names for one thing — one is a way of seeing, the other a way of relating.