It starts with "I". Well you see my
body, but this is a superficial view. In
addition to my body there is another
component which enables me to feel Joy and
Sorrow. This part of me is "Mind". Moving
a little deeper, I find another part of me
which enables me to control my Mind - that
is "Intellect". Looking further - when I am
awake, I see the "Universe" around me, but
what happens when I am asleep? I am unaware
of what is happening around me. But in my
dream I may feel and see some really
amazing things! Is the "Dreamer" different
from the "Waker". It is difficult, nay
impossible to answer.
It appears that "I" am in a different world when "I" am awake from the one "I" inhabit during my sleep. The Vedas examine whether there is only one world, which "I" see in my waking state or more than one world. It is this "I" to which the name "Awareness" or " Consciousness" is given. The Vedas call it "Atma" or "Soul." In the vast literature on Indian philosophy and in the Upanishads, where the nature of Atma is explored, it is described as "Self". A closer look indicates that all existence is the interplay of "Consciousness", "Action" and "Matter" or else interplay of "Mind" "Matter" and "Motion" or worded slightly differently, as the interaction of "Knowledge", "Objects" and "Process."
An object occupies "Space," whereas "Awareness" does not. This brings us to the question - like the one that hen came first or the egg, whether Awareness or Consciousness came first or Existence? There are three aspects - that of Seeing or Observing, that of being seen or observed and that of the one who is observing the object which is seen. It is difficult to decide the sequence of Awareness and Existence because Awareness of an object is proof of its Existence, but the fact that we are not Aware of a thing does not mean that it does not Exist.
That is where Faith comes in! The fact that we he have not come face to face with something does not mean that it may not be existing at all. So always think positively and just don't believe that the thing is not existing. This applies to our belief in God too. How many of us have seen him? So it is all a matter of faith, which governs our thinking.