The "another question" I think also relates to the question before it...
So perhaps if I lay down my understanding/definitions of things it will help you see where I come from...
1. Mind - My current understanding is that the mind is the physical/cognitive processes of the brain, and is the source of thoughts, hence why we have a discursive mind as we do not consciously control it, and it cannot be silenced. Mind can be left to it's own devices and can discursively do this or that as it pleases, drawing attention wherever it chooses, or it can be used as a tool when we recognise that the mind is not the True Self that is pure awareness.
2. Awareness - Awareness relates to our True Self... the "observer". Awareness is able to observe the activity of the mind and other senses. If awareness were part of the mind then it would fail to observe itself there as you can only know you are aware, but cannot observe awareness itself. (Have you ever looked at the experiments of "The Headless Way"? (
Experiments - and if you ever get a chance to do one of Richard Lang's workshops, they're really enlightening)
3. Attention - Attention is when we consciously use the mind to focus on some 'thing', but this 'thing' is dualistic by virtue of being separate from 'other' things, and hence the mind is creating attachment to it though using attention. Hence "focused" meditation is maintaining dualism though attention. Likewise attention can be instigated by the mind if we identify ourselves as just being the mind and just let it do it's own thing.
4. Attachment (and Ego) - Attachment is entwined with ego (you'll see I've mentioned this many times on this forum if you search it for "Ahankara"). When the True Self/Awareness (Aham) perceives any 'thing' (Kara - anything in 'creation'; physical or otherwise) then attachment is created to that thing as the attention makes it dualistic, separating it from 'other'. When Awareness becomes attached to a 'thing' it creates Ahankara (Aham becomes Ahan when combined in Sanskrit) and the word Ahankara is the Sanskrit name for Ego. So Ego is the attachment between awareness and some 'thing'; it is the creator of dualism; it is the source of "My Attention" (when something becomes "mine" then we are talking dualism).
I think you'll see from those descriptions (though I've tried to keep them brief) that they all relate to each other in various ways. You will hopefully also see that they should answer your latter questions e.g. If you put your attention on something you are energizing it by virtue of creating attachment and seeing it as something separate... it becomes a separate 'thing' in the dualism you create. This is different to simply being aware.
Hugs
Giles
Linear Mode
