By cognition, I mean information processing. This is sometimes called the intellect, the mind, or simply thinking.
Consciousness, by contrast, refers to our awareness of ourselves and the world around us. It is that unique sense of being present—the one thing we can know with certainty.
Unfortunately, consciousness and intellect are often confused. They are treated as the same, with little or no distinction made between them. Yet there is a significant difference between awareness and information processing.
This distinction becomes especially important when we consider rebirth. What is reborn in another body is not our intellect, but our consciousness. We carry our awareness and its tendencies from life to life, while leaving behind our intellect—our cognition and our memories.
It is true that some traces from past lives may carry into a new one—not as stored brain-based memories, but as impressions embedded in the flow of consciousness. In rare cases, these may surface as early-life recollections, such as those reported in children. However, as the new brain develops and takes over cognitive functioning, these impressions tend to fade.
