What is Awareness?

[WokeBloke]

Very curious to see some opinions on this. Perhaps give a brief definition of awareness based on your experience so far.

 

Here's mine:

The permanent/immortal substrate/substance through which all experience is known and experienced.

Edited October 11, 2021 by WokeBloke

[Gesundheit2]

A thought.

[WokeBloke]

1 minute ago, Gesundheit2 said:

A thought.

Of course! But what does this thought refer to? 

For example tree refers to:

 

 

[OneHandClap]

Awareness is awareness is awareness is awareness is awareness, ad infinitum. 

Awareness is literally what it is. 

[WokeBloke]

3 minutes ago, OneHandClap said:

Awareness is awareness is awareness is awareness is awareness, ad infinitum. 

Awareness is literally what it is. 

Is it an appearance or does it have appearances?

[OneHandClap]

6 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

Is it an appearance or does it have appearances?

Neither. The awareness is the appearances. If you remove all perceptions from awareness, there's literally nothing. So awareness is not separate from the things it seems to know. 

[Gesundheit2]

15 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

Of course! But what does this thought refer to? 

For example tree refers to:

Nope.

[WokeBloke]

10 minutes ago, OneHandClap said:

Neither. The awareness is the appearances. If you remove all perceptions from awareness, there's literally nothing. So awareness is not separate from the things it seems to know. 

Yes it is the appearances but simultaneously the appearances occur within awareness.

[OneHandClap]

3 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

Yes it is the appearances but simultaneously the appearances occur within awareness.

That's an assumption. If there are no appearances, no awareness. No awareness, no appearances. They are intimately connected; one cannot exist without the other. Awareness is its displays. Without displays, how could you know or label awareness? 

[WokeBloke]

16 minutes ago, OneHandClap said:

That's an assumption. If there are no appearances, no awareness. No awareness, no appearances. They are intimately connected; one cannot exist without the other. Awareness is its displays. Without displays, how could you know or label awareness? 

Appearances arise within awareness. I agree one can't know oneself without experience. Still awareness must be prior to all experiences it seems to me.

Edited October 11, 2021 by WokeBloke

[Tim R]

No description whatsoever is possible. All description is comparison - so what are you going to do when there is nothing to compare with?

[OneHandClap]

6 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

Appearances arise within awareness. I agree one can't know oneself without experience. Still awareness must be prior to all experiences it seems to me.

The issue is that it's making a distinction between appearances and awareness. That would mean that appearances are somehow their "own thing," floating around until awareness "catches them." But they arise simultaneously and cease simultaneously. 

[WokeBloke]

2 minutes ago, OneHandClap said:

The issue is that it's making a distinction between appearances and awareness. That would mean that appearances are somehow their "own thing," floating around until awareness "catches them." But they arise simultaneously and cease simultaneously. 

By saying this you are saying awareness arises and ceases. Or in other words is born and dies.

[OneHandClap]

11 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

By saying this you are saying awareness arises and ceases. Or in other words is born and dies.

Awareness does arise and cease. Deep sleep is a cessation of awareness; so are cessation meditative experiences. Awareness can absolutely "boot up" and "switch off." It is not "you." 

[The0Self]

45 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

Still awareness must be prior to all experiences it seems to me.

It can be, in the dream. Awareness is intimately tied to the feeling that this appearance has something to do with me, thus being the sense of ownership of what appears to be. It’s the sense that if I weren’t here, nothing would happen — the I already isn’t there.

[WokeBloke]

34 minutes ago, OneHandClap said:

Awareness does arise and cease. Deep sleep is a cessation of awareness; so are cessation meditative experiences. Awareness can absolutely "boot up" and "switch off." It is not "you." 

Deep sleep is not cessation of awareness. It is cessation of experiences. If you poke someone while sleeping they have an experience proving they are aware.

[OneHandClap]

Just now, WokeBloke said:

Deep sleep is not cessation of awareness. It is cessation of experiences. If you poke someone while sleeping they have an experience proving they are aware.

Again, you're just playing word games now. There is most certainly no awareness of body or thinking while in deep, dreamless sleep. Put shortly, "you" are not awareness, nor do you "have" awareness. Awareness is what it is

[WokeBloke]

12 minutes ago, The0Self said:

It can be, in the dream. Awareness is intimately tied to the feeling that this appearance has something to do with me, thus being the sense of ownership of what appears to be. It’s the sense that if I weren’t here, nothing would happen — the I already isn’t there.

Nothing occurs without awareness

[WokeBloke]

Just now, OneHandClap said:

Again, you're just playing word games now. There is most certainly no awareness of body or thinking while in deep, dreamless sleep. Put shortly, "you" are not awareness, nor do you "have" awareness. Awareness is what it is

So in your view awareness is not awareness.

Or to put it another way I am not I. Or the subject is not subject. 

[Nahm]

What is awareness.