The process of understanding 'reality' deals with three main components:
Our Thinking Hardware - aka - The Body: Science used to believe thinking was limited to the brain, but that is no longer the case. Science is finding that we think with more than just our brains. The heart has brain cells. The gut creates a lot of neurotransmitters (the chemical components of emotions), like serotonin, the neurotransmitter that creates happiness.
Our Minds: This is the content of 'who we are.' It is the sum of our knowledge, experience, and beliefs.
Consciousness: The aspect of the self that is aware and makes decisions.
You can think of the body hardware like a TV. On its own, it is just a box with a dark screen. The various channels you can watch on the TV is like the mind. It is the content. Consciousness is both providing power to the TV and deciding what to watch.
Same concept with computers. Computer hardware is like our physical body. But hardware alone doesn't do anything - it needs to run software to become useful. Computer software is like the human mind. Humans can learn new 'programs' similar to a computer. For example, until you are taught how to read, your mind cannot access the 'reading program,' all you would see is squiggly lines. Once you've mastered reading, you don't have to consciously think about reading anymore, the mind just does it for you. Consciousness is both the electricity that allows the computer to work and the user who decides which programs are run at which times.
