Consciousness Explained: Mind, Awareness & True Self

You are not a free consciousness that got trapped in a body. You are consciousness that chose embodiment — for reasons so profound that the ordinary mind cannot fully grasp them.

You were a child once. Your body was small. Your thoughts were simple. Your world was tiny. Now you are an adult. Everything about you has changed. But here is the strange thing:
The sense of being aware — the basic feeling of “I am here, I exist, I am conscious” — does it feel different now than it did when you were a child?

Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Mimansa are the most underexplored schools of Indian philosophy — and the ones that reveal the most surprisingly modern insights about how consciousness actually works.

If there is one religion in the world that has thought about consciousness with the most precision and seriousness — it is Jainism.

While other traditions discuss consciousness in spiritual or poetic terms, Jainism built an entire scientific and philosophical system around it — thousands of years ago.

Have you ever stared at a wall while thinking deeply about something, and then suddenly “come back” to the room? In that moment, something shifted. That shift — that’s the difference between consciousness and awareness, and it’s more fascinating than you might think.

We understand that the hand touches something and the brain processes the information. But how does the experience of “I feel this” actually happen? A very popular example in neuroscience is this: How do you experience the redness of red? Or the taste of mint?