Big Mind & Small Self
Big Mind is beyond and includes all phenomena. It is the space in which everything unfolds, and everything that unfolds. Big Mind contains every small self, and any and every view expressed through a small self.
The small self is this organism, with its body and psyche, its habitual patterns of emotions, cognition and behavior. When awareness is identified with small self, it tends to function in a dualistic way - it operates from a fragmented view of the world.
When awareness awakens to Big Mind, there is a tendency for it to first identify exclusively with the Big Mind view. The boundless emptiness in which all phenomena arise, unfold and fade, and its inherent bliss and clarity.
But this is also stuckness. It excludes the views of the small self and it brings its own suffering, when Existence eventually manifests in a way to remind awareness of this. The next step is a deepening comfort with both Big Mind and small self views, and a fluidity between the two. Which in turn leads to a deepening humanity - we become more and more human. More and more able to relate to ourselves and others fluidly and in whatever way seem appropriate in the situation.