We have mentioned that consciousness is basically “that which is conscious of”. The simple fact of being conscious. What consciousness is and what it is conscious of, are obviously different. This is a most important distinction to develop within oneself, in order to eventually experience some actual spiritual realization. In other words, we must realize the nature of consciousness, which is the Soul.
Now, consciousness hasn't realized what its true nature is. The main obstacle towards this, is that consciousness is caught in a state where it is identified with what it is not. We believe “my body”, “my emotions, my feelings, my desires” “my thoughts, my opinions or my beliefs” culminating in “me”, “I am that person”, “my personality”, “I am that”.
However, as we have said, consciousness can become conscious of all these things, which strongly suggest it is different from them. Our real self is consciousness, and consciousness in itself contains none of these things. It is basically empty of them. The nature of consciousness is emptiness, that is, emptiness of anything physical or psychical in nature.