In the Buddha's Teaching, all consciousness is action (by mind, voice or body) and every action is conscious. But this does not mean that every action is done in awareness—indeed, what is commonly called an 'unconscious action' is merely a (conscious) action that is done not deliberately, that is done unawares. What we commonly call a 'conscious action' is, strictly speaking, a deliberate action, an action that requires some thought to perform (as, for example, when we try to do something that we have not done before, or only infrequently). When we do such actions, we have to consider what we are doing (or else we shall make a mistake); and it is this considering what we are doing that constitutes 'awareness'. An action that we do without considering what we are doing is an action that is done without 'awareness'.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
There is, strictly speaking, no such thing as an 'unconscious action'.
The next thing is to sort out a verbal confusion. When our actions become habitual we tend to do them without thinking about them—they become 'automatic' or 'instinctive' (scratching one's head, for example, or blinking one's eyes). We commonly call these 'unconscious actions', and this usage is followed by psychology and science generally. But this is a misunderstanding. There is, strictly speaking, no such thing as an 'unconscious action'. The Buddha defines 'action' (kamma) as 'intention' (cetanā), and there is no intention without consciousness (viññāna). An unconscious action is no action at all, it is purely and simply movement as when, for example, a tree sways in the wind, or a rock is dislodged by the rain and rolls down a mountainside and derails a train (in this latter case it is quaintly called, in legal circles, 'an Act of God' but if there is no God there is no Act, only the movement of the rock).
In the Buddha's Teaching, all consciousness is action (by mind, voice or body) and every action is conscious. But this does not mean that every action is done in awareness—indeed, what is commonly called an 'unconscious action' is merely a (conscious) action that is done not deliberately, that is done unawares. What we commonly call a 'conscious action' is, strictly speaking, a deliberate action, an action that requires some thought to perform (as, for example, when we try to do something that we have not done before, or only infrequently). When we do such actions, we have to consider what we are doing (or else we shall make a mistake); and it is this considering what we are doing that constitutes 'awareness'. An action that we do without considering what we are doing is an action that is done without 'awareness'.
In the Buddha's Teaching, all consciousness is action (by mind, voice or body) and every action is conscious. But this does not mean that every action is done in awareness—indeed, what is commonly called an 'unconscious action' is merely a (conscious) action that is done not deliberately, that is done unawares. What we commonly call a 'conscious action' is, strictly speaking, a deliberate action, an action that requires some thought to perform (as, for example, when we try to do something that we have not done before, or only infrequently). When we do such actions, we have to consider what we are doing (or else we shall make a mistake); and it is this considering what we are doing that constitutes 'awareness'. An action that we do without considering what we are doing is an action that is done without 'awareness'.
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