How Do You Understand The Word " Mind ? "

[Simon E.]

I mean of course in a Buddhist context..It is my contention that the word is being used in more than one way on this and other Buddhist forums. And that some of those ways are contradictory.

What do YOU understand by the term ?

[DGA]

It's a shorthand cipher for Sanskrit concepts like "citta" and "vijnana."

I tend not to use the term "mind" to translate Buddhist concepts such as Buddha-nature or Dharmata; there are other shorthand terms for that.

I'm glad you've initiated this thread, because the term "mind" really is a muddle in English-language Buddhist discourse.

[Simon E.]

Thank you for your response Jikan...I think the muddle is all the more because we all assume that there is a common understanding...

[avisitor]

Mind is believed to be self or self awareness or consciousness
Sometimes mind is used to talk about the six senses ... touch, smell, hearing, taste, sight, mind
Mind is nothing more than that which is used to experience this life

[Simon E.]

So for you avisitor ' mind' equals the self sense ? Or perceptions ?

[avisitor]

So for you avisitor ' mind' equals the self sense ? Or perceptions ?

No, mind is more than sense of self or perceptions
It has been thought of as self or perception or consciousness or awareness
It is what one uses to experience life

If one meditates then one calms the mind, concentrate focus, develops clarity
It returns the mind to its natural function
One learns that one is more than mind .. one is also no mind

Don't know how others see mind
But the topic question is ..
"How Do You Understand 'mind'?"

Is it different for you??

[Simon E.]

At the moment avisitor I am just trying to get a feel for the way that the term is used on the forum..thank you for your input.

As I said its a term that we think we are all using to mean the same thing, and I think the evidence is that its more complicated than that .

[avisitor]

As I said its a term that we think we are all using to mean the same thing, and I think the evidence is that its more complicated than that .

The word mind is like many other words ... they has more than one definition
Understanding what is meant depends very much on the context in which one encounters the word

[SeeLion]

knowing

[Paul]

At the moment avisitor I am just trying to get a feel for the way that the term is used on the forum..thank you for your input.

As I said its a term that we think we are all using to mean the same thing, and I think the evidence is that its more complicated than that .

I'd say you could use mind to refer to thinking, more automatic mental processes like understanding sensory input, and consciousness/awareness. I guess you could mean all three at once, too.

[Simon E.]

Various posts use each of those meanings Paul...sometimes in the same post.

[Jesse]

It depends on the context, it can refer to conventional mind (thoughts, perceptions, consciousness, eg: MY mind), or it can refer to awareness I think.

[Simon E.]

Which is kind of my point Jesse. I think we need to be clear how we are using a word with so many meanings.
My own tactic is as Jikans is ,to avoid using the word at all.

[Paul]

Various posts use each of those meanings Paul...sometimes in the same post.

Yep. Thinking back, this often caused me problems trying to understand various practices until certain things were clarified by my teachers. Took a long time to get over the issue, actually.

[Simon E.]

In the context of the forum it can be extremely difficult trying to guess from context how the term is being used.

[Paul]

In the context of the forum it can be extremely difficult trying to guess from context how the term is being used.

I suppose the only thing you can do is to ask the poster to clarify their meaning. Of course that can be like trying to herd cats...

[Simon E.]

Yup...

[undefineable]

In the context of dharma, just saying 'mind' without qualifiers ought to refer to everything with a direct connection to conscious awareness, including unconscious sensory processing on the one hand and 'high-level' aspects of mind like rigpa (presumeably-? _ ) on the other.

[Nicholas Weeks]

manas. (T. yid; C. yi; J. i; K. ŭi 意). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “mind,” or “mentation”; generally a synonym of such related terms as CITTA and VIJÑĀNA. In lists of the six internal sensory organs (INDRIYA), manas is the sixth, in which context it is also referred to as the mental faculty (MANENDRIYA). As such, it differs from the other five faculties (the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and bodily sense organs), all of which are associated with physical organs. The sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness (MANOVIJÑĀNA), however, can know any object, whether physical or nonphysical; hence its objects are phenomena (DHARMA). The mental consciousness does not rely directly on a physical sense organ, as in the case of the preceding five types of consciousness; hence its sense faculty (INDRIYA) is mental, and is identified as a previous moment of consciousness, which allows for either the next moment of mental cognition of a previous object or the first moment of cognition of a new object. In YOGĀCĀRA, manas is sometimes used as an abbreviation for KLIṢṬAMANAS.

Excerpt From: Lopez, Donald S., Jr., Buswell, Robert E., Jr. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.

[LastLegend]

To me mind is a whole package that functions, something a rock probably does not have.