The DVD series "Buddhism" by Malcolm David Eckel (The Teaching Company, 2001) contained a helpful lecture on the doctrine of emptiness.
In combination with Rupert Spira's interesting website essay on consciousness, and his machine-like analysis of awareness presented in the Scheinfeld internet course, I am inspired to offer an insight about the relationship of awareness to consciousness. This may have merit as a line of inquiry in view of the inconsistent and overlapping conceptualizations around these symbols of aspects of beingness.
If consciousness is perceived as all of the manifestation that appears in the present moment, arising from a "source" of infinite potential, then awareness could be considered a reflection of the contents of consciousness. In this imaginary view, awareness cannot exist alone, separate, or essentially at all; it is non-beingness. We defer to Buddhaic metaphors, such as the moon's reflection in water. The reflection itself appears only because the moon is present, and there is an object, water, upon which the reflection appears. In the absence of the moon, or in the absence of water there is no reflection. The same can be said for the shadow, which exists or doesn't exist depending on light and the presence of an object. In that case, no object, OR no light, no shadow.
What can be said of the objects moon and water, or the objects light and shadow? Can we say that they only appear as separate objects, because of mind discrimination, yet in fact are not separate at all but only various aspects of consciousness? Is this the nature of many-ness? The appearance of separate things that in their essence are one with all other things that appear as separate? This might be said to be the nature of Unity, or oneness.
The reflection of the moon in the water does not exist as any part of the many-ness or oneness. I will use that as a metaphor for awareness. It has been said by teachers and philosophers that consciousness sees itself, knows itself, experiences itself. We should find the proper place of awareness then and not confuse it with consciousness. Awareness is the appearance of some aspect of consciousness to another aspect of consciousness, all oneness, the property of awareness giving rise to the appearance of many-ness.
AWARENESS ONLY EXISTS BECAUSE OF THE APPEARANCE OF SEPARATE THINGS OR ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, AND AWARENESS CAUSES CONSCIOUSNESS TO APPEAR AS SEPARATE. THIS INCLUDES THE APPEARANCE OR AWARENESS OF UNITY, WHICH IS ACTUALLY AN ASPECT OF CONSCIOUSNESS - SEPARATE FROM THE WITNESS-OBSERVER.
AWARENESS AND CONSCIOUSNESS ARE INTERDEPENDENT (IN THE WAY THAT THE 5 SKANDHAS ARE) ONE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT THE OTHER
ADDENDUM 5-14: see finalduality.org for my rewrite on consciousness/awareness/final duality
There's only one thing in what you term 'conciousness' or what I call "The Divinity" or "The Real Me" or "The Big You" or "Infinite Awareness"
ReplyDeleteIt is something (consciousness) that is percieving(having awareness etc). It's just one thing. The trouble is the words fail as you know.
But we can still talk about It as one thing even if it goes nuts in the language ie "It's one thing and many things" " It has no attributes and every attribute" "It is doing nothing and doing everything" etc- contrast this with "The World is made of many things"...So awareness and consciousness to me are ..er.. different and the same !
It's the water and the moon's reflection.
One thing(kind of).
It's Duality and Non-Duality
It's You. It's Me. That's it!
It's very simple (yet contains all complexities-haha)