4 types of Consciousness by Thich Nhat Nanh
There are 4 types of consciousness:
1) mind consciousness
2) sense consciousness
3) store consciousness
4) manas
1. Mind Consciousness
Mind consciousness uses up most of our energy. It's our "working" consciousness that makes judgments and plans; it is the part of our consciousness that worries and analyzes. When we speak of mind consciousness, we're also speaking of body consciousness, because mind consciousness isn't possible without the brain. Body and mind are simply two aspects of the same thing. Body without consciousness is not a real, live body. And consciousness can't manifest itself without a body.
It's possible for us to train ourselves to remove the false distinction between brain and consciousness. We shouldn't say that consciousness is born from the brain, because the oppposite it true: the brain is born from consciousness. The brain is only 2% of the body's weight, but it consumes 20% of the body's energy. So, using mind conscousness is very expensive. Thinking, worrying and planning take a lot of energy.
We can economize the energy by training our mind conscousness in the habit of mindfulness. Mindfulness keeps us in the present moment and allows our mind consciousness to relax and let go of the energy of worrying about the past or predicting the future.
2. Sense Consciousness
This consciousness comes from our 5 senses. We sometimes call them "gates" or "doors" because all objects of perception enter consciousness through our sensory contact with them. Sense consciousness always involves 3 elements:
1) sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue or body)
2) sense object itself (what we are smelling or hearing)
3) our experience of what we are seeing, hearing, smeeling, tasting or touching
3. Store consciousness
The third layer, store consciousness is the deepest. It has 3 aspects to it.
1) place, a "store" where all kinds of seeds and information are kept.
2) store consciousness doesn't just take in all the information, it holds and preserves it
3) sense of processing and transforming
Store consciousness is like a museum. A museum can only be called a museum when there are things in it. When there is nothing in it you can call it a building, but not a museum. the conservator is the one who is responsible for the museum. Her function is to keep the various objects preserved and not allow them to be stolen. But there must be things to be stored, things to be kept. Store consciousness refers to the storing and also to what is stored -- that is, all the information from the past, from our ancestors, and all the information received from the other consciousnesses.
The work of processing on this level is not expensive. Store consciousness doesn't spend as much energy as, for example, mind consciousness. Store consciousness can process this information without a lot of work on your part. So if you want to save your energy, don't think too much, don't plan too much, and don't worry too much. Allow our store consciousness to do most of the processing
Store consciousness operates in the absence of mind consciousness. It can do a lot of things. It can do a lot of planning; it can make a lot of decisions without you knowing about it. example:
Department store
When we go into a department store and look for a hat or a shirt, we have the impression, while looking at the items displayed, that we have free will and that, finances permitting, we are free to choose whatever we want. If the vendor asks us what we like, we can point to or verbalize the object of our desire. And we likely have the impression that we are free people at this moment, using our mind consciousness to select things that we like. But that is an illusion. Everything has been decided already in store consciousness. At that moment we are caught; we are not free people. Our sense of beauty, our sense of liking or disliking, has been decided very certainly and very discreetly on the level of store consciousness.
It's an illusion that we are free. The degree of freedom that our mind consciousness has is actually very small. Store consciousness dictates many of the things we do, because store consciousness continuously receives, embraces, maintains, processes, and makes many decisions without the participation of mind consciousness. But if we practice, we can influence our store consciousness; we can help influence how our store consciousness stores and processes information so as to make better decisions. We can influence it.
Individual consciousness vs. collective consciousnesses
Just like the mind consciousness and sense consciousness, store consciousness consumes. When you are around a group of people, although you want to be by yourself, yu are consuming their ways, and you are consuming their store consciousness. Our consciousness is fed with other consciousnesses. The way we make decisions, our likes and dislikes, depend on the collective way of seeing things. You may not see something is beautiful. but if many people think that it's beautiful, then slowly you may come to accept it as beautiful also, because the individual consciousness is made up of collective consciousness.
So, store consciousness is a place, a "store" where all kinds of seeds and information are kept. All the seeds are of an organic nature and they can be modified. The nature of the information that's being kept and processed by the store consciousness is always flowing and always changing. The seed of hatred, for example, can be be weakened and its energy can be transformed into the energy of compassion. the seed of love can be watered and strengthened. Love can be transformed into hate, and hate can be transformed back into love.
Store consciousness is also a victim. It's an object of attachment; it's not free. In store consciousness there are elements of ignorance -- delusion, anger, fear -- and these elements form a force of energy that clings, that wants to possess.
4. Manas consciousness or cogitation
Cogitation - the action of thinking deeply about something; contemplation.
Manas consciousness has at its root the belief in a separate self, the belief in a person. this consciousness, the feeling and instinct called "I am", is very deeply seated in store consciousness. It's not a view taken up by the mind consciousness. Deeply seated in the depths of store consciousness is this idea that there is a self that is separate from nonself elements. The function of manas is to cling to store consciousness as a separate self.
Manas is always operating, it never lets go of store consciousness. It believes store consciousness to be the object of its love. That's why store consciousness isn't free. There is an illusion that store consciousness is "me", is my beloved, so I can't let it go. Day and night there is a secret, deep cogitation that this is me, this is mine, and I have to do everything I can to grasp, to protect, to make it mine.
Manas are born and rooted in store consciousness. It arises from store consciousness and it turns around and embraces store consciousness as its object: "You are my beloved, you are me." The funtion of manazs is to appropriate store consciousnesses as its own.
1 марта, 2019 г
1) mind consciousness
2) sense consciousness
3) store consciousness
4) manas
1. Mind Consciousness
Mind consciousness uses up most of our energy. It's our "working" consciousness that makes judgments and plans; it is the part of our consciousness that worries and analyzes. When we speak of mind consciousness, we're also speaking of body consciousness, because mind consciousness isn't possible without the brain. Body and mind are simply two aspects of the same thing. Body without consciousness is not a real, live body. And consciousness can't manifest itself without a body.
It's possible for us to train ourselves to remove the false distinction between brain and consciousness. We shouldn't say that consciousness is born from the brain, because the oppposite it true: the brain is born from consciousness. The brain is only 2% of the body's weight, but it consumes 20% of the body's energy. So, using mind conscousness is very expensive. Thinking, worrying and planning take a lot of energy.
We can economize the energy by training our mind conscousness in the habit of mindfulness. Mindfulness keeps us in the present moment and allows our mind consciousness to relax and let go of the energy of worrying about the past or predicting the future.
2. Sense Consciousness
This consciousness comes from our 5 senses. We sometimes call them "gates" or "doors" because all objects of perception enter consciousness through our sensory contact with them. Sense consciousness always involves 3 elements:
1) sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue or body)
2) sense object itself (what we are smelling or hearing)
3) our experience of what we are seeing, hearing, smeeling, tasting or touching
3. Store consciousness
The third layer, store consciousness is the deepest. It has 3 aspects to it.
1) place, a "store" where all kinds of seeds and information are kept.
2) store consciousness doesn't just take in all the information, it holds and preserves it
3) sense of processing and transforming
Store consciousness is like a museum. A museum can only be called a museum when there are things in it. When there is nothing in it you can call it a building, but not a museum. the conservator is the one who is responsible for the museum. Her function is to keep the various objects preserved and not allow them to be stolen. But there must be things to be stored, things to be kept. Store consciousness refers to the storing and also to what is stored -- that is, all the information from the past, from our ancestors, and all the information received from the other consciousnesses.
The work of processing on this level is not expensive. Store consciousness doesn't spend as much energy as, for example, mind consciousness. Store consciousness can process this information without a lot of work on your part. So if you want to save your energy, don't think too much, don't plan too much, and don't worry too much. Allow our store consciousness to do most of the processing
Store consciousness operates in the absence of mind consciousness. It can do a lot of things. It can do a lot of planning; it can make a lot of decisions without you knowing about it. example:
Department store
When we go into a department store and look for a hat or a shirt, we have the impression, while looking at the items displayed, that we have free will and that, finances permitting, we are free to choose whatever we want. If the vendor asks us what we like, we can point to or verbalize the object of our desire. And we likely have the impression that we are free people at this moment, using our mind consciousness to select things that we like. But that is an illusion. Everything has been decided already in store consciousness. At that moment we are caught; we are not free people. Our sense of beauty, our sense of liking or disliking, has been decided very certainly and very discreetly on the level of store consciousness.
It's an illusion that we are free. The degree of freedom that our mind consciousness has is actually very small. Store consciousness dictates many of the things we do, because store consciousness continuously receives, embraces, maintains, processes, and makes many decisions without the participation of mind consciousness. But if we practice, we can influence our store consciousness; we can help influence how our store consciousness stores and processes information so as to make better decisions. We can influence it.
Individual consciousness vs. collective consciousnesses
Just like the mind consciousness and sense consciousness, store consciousness consumes. When you are around a group of people, although you want to be by yourself, yu are consuming their ways, and you are consuming their store consciousness. Our consciousness is fed with other consciousnesses. The way we make decisions, our likes and dislikes, depend on the collective way of seeing things. You may not see something is beautiful. but if many people think that it's beautiful, then slowly you may come to accept it as beautiful also, because the individual consciousness is made up of collective consciousness.
So, store consciousness is a place, a "store" where all kinds of seeds and information are kept. All the seeds are of an organic nature and they can be modified. The nature of the information that's being kept and processed by the store consciousness is always flowing and always changing. The seed of hatred, for example, can be be weakened and its energy can be transformed into the energy of compassion. the seed of love can be watered and strengthened. Love can be transformed into hate, and hate can be transformed back into love.
Store consciousness is also a victim. It's an object of attachment; it's not free. In store consciousness there are elements of ignorance -- delusion, anger, fear -- and these elements form a force of energy that clings, that wants to possess.
4. Manas consciousness or cogitation
Cogitation - the action of thinking deeply about something; contemplation.
Manas consciousness has at its root the belief in a separate self, the belief in a person. this consciousness, the feeling and instinct called "I am", is very deeply seated in store consciousness. It's not a view taken up by the mind consciousness. Deeply seated in the depths of store consciousness is this idea that there is a self that is separate from nonself elements. The function of manas is to cling to store consciousness as a separate self.
Manas is always operating, it never lets go of store consciousness. It believes store consciousness to be the object of its love. That's why store consciousness isn't free. There is an illusion that store consciousness is "me", is my beloved, so I can't let it go. Day and night there is a secret, deep cogitation that this is me, this is mine, and I have to do everything I can to grasp, to protect, to make it mine.
Manas are born and rooted in store consciousness. It arises from store consciousness and it turns around and embraces store consciousness as its object: "You are my beloved, you are me." The funtion of manazs is to appropriate store consciousnesses as its own.
1 марта, 2019 г