mind as objective experience can be subdivided into various elements, like various minds, or the function of ‘thinking’ specifically – but for most intents and purposes, ‘mind’ is an umbrella term for a collection of perceived objects.
for instance, your thinking mind is the collection of objects known as ‘my thoughts’.
or, your human mind is the collection of objects known as ‘my perceptions’.
or, a global-human mind is the collection of objects that appear as ‘all humanity’s perceptions’.
the limitations of all these definitions is that they are objects perceived by consciousness. in other words, no matter how you slice your definition of mind-as-objects, the primary limitation of it will be that it is perceived.
i.e. You, consciousness, are not your mind.
mind is perceived; consciousness is that which perceives it
mind is made of consciousness; consciousness is not made of mind
mind is a collection of objects; consciousness is the reality of them
mind-at-large is the motion of consciousness – and consciousness is its perceiver.
nothing that has ever arisen in mind (that could mean thoughts, sensations, mentations, perceptions – anything objective) has ever touched or stained or perturbed or affected consciousness itself in any way whatsoever.
but – and here’s the rub – although the word consciousness points to its referent, ‘I’ – the thought of consciousness, as well as the ‘I’ thought – are just that, thoughts. they are perceived. the mind is an objective perception, and that includes all its thoughts about consciousness. nevertheless, the consciousness-word is a good one, because it points directly home. it’s a true word, if any word could be representative of what we are, because it is one that expresses the fact that we are conscious – awake, present, and ‘here’, in the sense that consciousness is the ‘central core’ of anything that arises, it is the true reality of here-and-now.
we are consciousness, we are not the consciousness-thought.
the consciousness-thought/word is a helpful pointer and tool, but we perceive it.
freedom is to see ‘I am not my mind’ – through and through, beyond all its vicissitudes. this is not a demeaning negation of mind or of thinking, but on the contrary, a celebration of thought and objective experience’s true place as a reflection of our natural joy – a place which mentations assume when seen as secondary to the reality that perceives them.