Looking For The Difference Between "consciousness", "awareness" And "mindfulness"

[Mondsee]

Those three concepts are used a lot when talking about enlightenment.

Do they refer to the same thing, to similar things or to different things? How do you specifically define them?

[Leo Gura]

There are subtle differences which you won't be able to appreciate until you've practiced a lot.

For someone in your position, they all refer to basically the same thing: just different forms of awareness.

Start practicing. That's the important part. Things will clear up then.

[Mondsee]

@Leo Gura All right, thanks!

Edited February 28, 2017 by Mondsee
tagging

[Toby]

Overly simplified from my limited understanding:
mindfulness: being present with what is
consciousness: the presence that you can feel. Can arise, can go. There are usually three states of consciousness: waking, sleep with dreams and dreamless sleep.
Awareness: that in which and as which consciousness arises. Everpresent, even when consciousness is absent.

[eskwire]

Mindfulness: the Watcher state. 

Awareness: where your sentience is focused. 

Consciousness: the state and expanse of the mind.

Yeah, that probably doesn't help without practice. ?

[Prabhaker]

@Mondsee

Mindfulness

When the mind disappears, thoughts disappear. It is not that you become mindless; on the contrary you become mindful. Buddha uses these words “right mindfulness” millions of times. When the mind disappears and thoughts disappear you become mindful. You do things – you move, you work, you eat, you sleep, but you are always mindful. The mind is not there, but mindfulness is there. What is mindfulness? It is awareness. It is perfect awareness.

Consciousness

Consciousness is a quality of your mind, but it is not your total mind. Your mind can be both conscious and unconscious, but when you transcend your mind, there is no unconsciousness and no corresponding consciousness. There is awareness.

Consciousness is a quality of the mind, awareness is the transcendence; it is going beyond the mind. Mind, as such, is the medium of duality, so consciousness can never transcend duality. It is always conscious of something, and there is always someone who is conscious. So consciousness is part and parcel of the mind, and mind, as such, is the source of all duality, of all divisions, whether they are between subject and object, activity or inactivity, consciousness or unconsciousness. Every type of duality is mental. Awareness is nondual, so awareness means the state of no mind.

Awareness

Awareness means that the total mind has become aware. Now the old mind is not there, but there is the quality of being conscious. Awareness has become the totality; the mind itself is now part of the awareness. We cannot say that the mind is aware; we can only meaningfully say that the mind is conscious. Awareness means transcendence of the mind, so it is not the mind that is aware. It is only through transcendence of the mind, through going beyond mind, that awareness becomes possible.

[LifeandDeath]

awareness is the timeless, spaceless, emptiness, dimensionless place that we project the consciousness forms that come and go. Being mindful is being aware of both of those aspects of our being

[Mondsee]

@Toby @eskwire @Prabhaker @LifeandDeath  Thank you guys for your definitions.

Be sure I'll come back to them when I'm a little more advance, and see if it all seems clearer. 

[Mondsee]

A while ago I asked this question.

Today I found Peter Ralston's explanation on consciousness and awareness. Maybe you'll find it interesting.