It seems useful to consider what these terms really mean, or really are: mind, thoughts and consciousness. They mean different things to different people, but from the Non-Duality perspective we can be fairly clear as to what they are. So here goes.

Let's start with thoughts. We can say they are words or images that appear in the mind, but they can also be 'sounds'. Thoughts can be tunes we hear 'in our head'. Thoughts can be word structures or sentences with meaning. They can be a conversation 'in our mind'. Thoughts can be images - we can picture a flower, for example, or sometimes images just appear with no apparent reason. When drifting off to sleep there can be initial images or scenes of things happening. And when in sleep, dreams themselves are thoughts that take on a stronger visual and experiential element.

It could be said that thoughts mimic what is perceived through the senses. Thoughts can be like sounds, images or sensations. And in dreams they can mimic or use elements experienced in daily life. It's useful to consider thoughts as mental activity. It's impossible to frame where a thought begins and ends.

So then to the mind. Well, the mind is mental activity. In a way 'mind' is only something when thoughts are active. Without thought, where is the mind? It has no physical location anyway. But when thoughts cease there is no mind, as mind is what we call mental activity, which is what thoughts are.

On then to consciousness. In common usage consciousness means being awake. But in Non-Duality the terms Consciousness and Awareness can be used to refer to the ever-present state of Being. You may have heard of Sat-Chit-Ananda, which means something like Being-Consciousness-Bliss. It is the Advaita Vedanta term that describes the singular nature of reality as Peaceful Aware Being. It is this natural core condition of existence in which the universe is perceived. That means it is in Consciousness or Aware Being that the mind, the body and the world are perceived.

Strictly speaking there isn't a mind, body or world. There is only one infinite indivisible presence, and that is Aware Being. Within Consciousness or Aware Being the apparent focal point of a world is perceived. But the world itself is nothing other than Aware Being when perceived through this localised point of perspective of the human experience. It should be noted that there is a reflection of sorts, where Aware Being perceives itself as a world. You can see the similarities with a dream, in which the mind perceives itself as a world.

Anyhow, Consciousness is what is right here now. It's not that you are conscious. The human can be described as awake or asleep, but there is Consciousness in which the states of awake and asleep appear. When asleep, Consciousness is aware of the inner mental activity. In deep sleep the mental activity stops and focus withdraws from the senses. Consciousness isn't aware of anything then, but it's still aware.

Consciousness doesn't need something to be aware of, and in fact there is nothing other than Consciousness. Consciousness is always aware of itself, no matter what appears; it's all Consciousness. Aware Being is Self-Aware, or Self-Realised, to use the enlightenment term.