Do we have one mind or many minds?

Do we have one mind or many minds?

We have many impure consciousnesses and it changes every single moment. If we speak of the consciousness as being one, we are speaking of the ultimate luminous nature of the mind. However, when we say it is one, it does not mean numerically one nor is it the one that we perceive with our eyes. The so-called “one mind” does not have forms or colors. The essence of the mind entails unsurpassable knowledge, capabilities and love. There is nothing that is not clear, not liberated and is not pervasive. That is the essence of the consciousnesses.

There are many levels of consciousness, ranging from coarse to subtle. Therefore, in the tenets of Buddhist philosophy, there are the schools of Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Chittamatra and Madhyamika. There are also Svatantrika and Prasangika within the Madhyamika school. Each provides explanations of the various coarse and subtle levels of the mind. For example, we have a consciousness or mind when we are awake. We then have a subtler mind when we fall asleep, this is where the coarser consciousnesses dissolve. A subtler state occurs when we faint and even subtler at the time of death. The subtlest level is the luminous clear light mind. So before attaining luminosity, our consciousness becomes progressively subtler.

So, there are numerous thoughts or thought consciousnesses emerging and changing endlessly from moment to moment. The final ultimate consciousness or mind is one taste of multiplicity… one taste of multiplicity.