John Finley:
I am struggling to understand clearly the distinctions between Self, Mind, Consciousness and Awareness and would appreciate a good discussion around these topics.
Hi John;
Great questions, and you're not alone; I know the struggle to understand these definitions first hand. And later in practice after it's understood we'll probably have to struggle again to let go of the definitions!
Since dharma overground is a fourm deals with practical matters, the last thing I want to do is to bring philosophy into the mix, so I won't.
But I think it's worth noting that one of the things which tends to be so confusing about "Self, Mind, Consciousness and Awareness" is that different sources you'll encounter in spiritualty use the exact same four terms in radically different contexts. That in itself often makes things unnessarily confusing.
Just to illistrate the point, here are two examples of using the same terms in different ways:
Asanga, and Vasubandhu: would say that the is
self is an illusion, and that all phenomona are
consciousness existing as a projection of
mind in a field of
awareness.
Ramana Maharshi, and Nisargadatta: would say that
self and
awareness alone are the ultimate reality, and that
mind and
consciousness exist only as "I" thoughts within
self.
..
...So yeah, it's bound to get confusing. Even within different schools of Buddhism there may be considerable differences in how the terms "Self, Mind, Consciousness and Awareness" are applied. So it's just good to be aware of that, but unless you are attracted to philosophy it needn't be a major issue. If you are doing any indepth reading on the subject, it might lessen the confusion to look at each work individually and clarify the context of the words before you explore their meanings. It would then be possible to explore their validity in direct experience.
In terms of what I understand first hand; my own instincts tell me that Eric Hansen's definitions are sound. For now that's all I have to add.