Acharya Prashant explains the difference between consciousness and awareness. He states that consciousness is always of someone; it is always personal and individual. Therefore, it is best to refer to it as 'personal consciousness' or 'personal understanding'. Because it is personal, it is inherently limited. Consciousness is based on thought; what one is thinking is consciousness. The normal activities of a person constitute their consciousness, and when these activities cease, the person is considered unconscious. At the level of consciousness, there are differences among people because thoughts and the power of thinking differ. This allows for distinctions between individuals and even between humans and animals. However, this personal consciousness is an insignificant and very small thing. The wise have never given it much importance because doing so means giving importance to the ego, the personal entity. This emphasis on the personal leads to division and duality, which is contrary to the spiritual goal of becoming one. Therefore, one cannot give importance to duality. Awareness, on the other hand, is a completely different phenomenon. It does not belong to anyone. As long as there is someone claiming 'my awareness,' it is not true awareness. Awareness is not a process but a state of being, complete in itself. It can be called a solution, dissolution, or merging. It is not of anyone and cannot have a master attached to it. Self-awareness is a process where the self investigates itself only to find that the self is false, leading to the dissolution of both the seeker and the process, much like the wood of a funeral pyre that burns the corpse and is consumed itself. Using an analogy, consciousness is like a well with limited, measurable water, which represents knowledge and thought. The water in the well comes from the ocean, which is awareness or understanding. The ocean's water is immeasurable, and the well is unaware of its source. Understanding is a state of silence, not the acquisition of answers. It is not a process but a state of being.