 Śaṅkara does not intend his position that existence exists without objective location to be a paradox or a kind of obscurantist mysticism (see  §2.1  above). He believes the world is mysterious in that it is indeterminable, but not so existence itself. His crucial point is that the singular place to discover existence without objectifying it is within the foundation of our own phenomenal experience—as consciousness itself. Śaṅkara analyzes consciousness (cit or caitanyam) through both perspectives of his two orders of reality. From the provisional empirical order, consciousness is a witnessing presence (sākṣin) by which all mental cognition is revealed as known. The absolute perspective strips consciousness of all relational properties, including intentionality and its status as a witness, leaving only the intrinsic self-illuminating nature of consciousness remaining. He identifies this pure non-intentional consciousness as numerically identical with nondual existence, which is brahman.