Human Spiritual Structure: States of Consciousness
Notes in progress © 1998-2002 Alan McAllister  

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In yogic philosophy there are six states of consciousness:

• Waking consciousness (jagrta). In this state all three layers of the mind (crude, subtle, and causal) are operating, but the crude, or conscious ( kamamaya kosa) mind dominates. The activity in the conscious mind leaves impressions ( memories) which can be short or long term. There is also a connection to the subtle (subconscious manomaya kosa mind which is the source of the crude mind's actions.

  The conscious mind is mainly occupied with the crude external world, forming and satisfying desires. It is in this state that the fetters and passions ( pashas and ripus ) afflict the mind.

  In the waking state images coming from the subconscious and unconscious minds are generally understood as imaginary.

  The brain waves in this state are generally of higher frequency (beta) reflecting the jumping of the awareness from one sensory input to another, from one thought or memory to another. When this noise and business has been stilled somewhat a calmer state with more regular brain waves (alpha) may be entered. Any alarming or unexpected occurrence will snap the mind back to the more alert (beta) state. This is called alpha blocking.[Y&P] Thus the `normal' waking state is associated with stress, fear, and the ego. In this intellectually driven state we tend to loose track of our bodies and our natural pace and rhythm (the opposite of the alpha state). The goal of `survival', or something that looks at the moment like survival, becomes the focus, and we push ourselves to meet the `dead line', irreguardless of our physical well-being. [AHM]

  This activated consciousness is driven by energy coming through the third chakra, often super-charged with adrenaline, or artificial stimulants. For those of us raised in the modern west, especially with intellectual training, it is easy to slip into this state, loosing present awareness of ourselves and our surroundings. It has become a chronic condition. The excitement (or fear) of the goal, the intellectual chase, so quickly catches us up and we are off on another roller-coaster ride with the poor body and spirit bumping along behind. [AHM]

  Consciousness depends of a sense of relationship to others and to oneself through the formation of one's body image and models of the external world. These require functioning long term memory, which serves to provide continuity to the conscious state, and without which context and meaning are generally lost. Language development allows the understanding, or consciousness, of relationships between others. Abstracting on this, then allows the consciousness of one's relationship to oneself, and of the relationships between the different aspects of oneself. [SFF]

  There are also various "altered states" which may be experienced in a nominally waking mode, but a quite different from normal waking consciousness.

• Dreaming (svapna). When the physcial body, including the nerves becomes worn out by activity the conscious mind ceases to function and the person sleeps. In this state the subtle and causal minds are operating, with the subtle, or subconscious ( manomaya kosa) mind dominant.

  Agitation of the nerve cells during sleep will cause the impressions of actions and imaginings of the waking state to activate. The main sources of agitation are: 1) overeating, eating shortly before sleep, or eating tamasic food, 2) weak nerve cells due to brain problems, body illness (e.g. fever), or digestive problems, 3) heat in the brain from `vehement' thinking. {CAS] In extreme cases of ego driven goal oriented arousal (intellectually dominated `normal' consciousness) the arousal may continue through the night, permeating the sleep/dream cycle and preventing proper rest.[AHM]

  This stream of stored mental impressions forms the dream and is taken as being real by the subconscious mind, due to the lack of connection to the external world. Dreams at this level are disjointed and of little true meaning. Persons who have practiced sadhana for some time will have fewer of this type of dream.

  Dreaming sleep is characterized by rapid eye movements (REM) indicating a restless, active mind. There are also changes in the size of the pupils, the rate of heart beat, ect. The main exception is muscle tone which is reduced, apparently to avoid full scale movement of the limbs as well, as this is the one things that actually increases in deep sleep. The brain waves are at the theta level.

  True Dreams. There is another class of dreams which have their source in the unconscious mind. Just as the higher layers of the mind may `inspire' us in the waking state when the conscious and unconscious minds are unusually still, this can also happen when asleep, when the unconscious mind is unusually still. The unconscious mind , being the atimanas kosa, is part of the causal mind, and thus can have knowledge of all space and time. On rare occasions this knowledge can come through a dream when the dreamer has been focused on a particular situation.

  Samskaric Dreams. After sleeping we are awaken by Prakrti. As long as we have unrealized samskaras she wakes us up to get on with their realization. This is the same force that returns the sadhaka from samadhi. Usually the subconscious wakes, followed closely by the conscious mind. However, on occasion the conscious mind does not immediately waken, and we may experience a third type of dream. These dreams are driven by our samskaras rather than the usual store of images that form our dreams.

  These dreams draw on a deeper level of memory in the unconscious mind ( atimanas kosa) and are often found to come true. P.R. Sakar implies that this is due to their source in the causal mind, however, since our unexpressed samskaras will in the future generate external situations suitable for their expression, so we may experience the necessary reaction, it may be that we are simply receiving a preview (so to speak) of upcoming samskaric attractions.

  These dreams often come in the morning as we are waking up. These dreams are traditionally the most likely to come true. It also seems to be a period when most of the dreams that feel most `real' take place.

• Dreamless Sleep (nidra). In dreamless sleep only the unconscious mind ( atimanas kosa) remains operational. This deep sleep is more common in sadhakas or when there has been extreme mental activity. This state, in the absence of activity in the conscious or subconscious minds, is beyond pleasure and pain and is said to be a special type of bliss. The ego has been left aside for a while, and the unit mind is closer to the supreme. This is, however, a passive state, as the lack of awareness of material distinction is due solely to the lack of visualization, rather than its absorption into the higher levels of mind.

  In deep sleep there is no REM and it is characterized by delta waves. Although yogis may learn to do without the dreaming state, they appear to always need this deep sleep, which is truly refreshing for the mind.

  In Vedantic Psychological tradition this state is called prajna.

• Samadhi Like sleep and unconsciousness the conscious and subconscious minds cease to function. But in this case it is through the action of the will, which gathers them up and merges them into the causal, unconscious, mind. In this case the lower minds are dissolved in light rather than darkness. In Savikalpa samadhi the unit causal mind merges, by expansion, into the Cosmic causal mind, but eventually is dragged back by unripened samskaras. In Nirvikalpa samadhi the unit mind merges in Paramapurusa himself. In this state there is no conscious awareness, as it is completely beyond mind. It is known to be different from unconsciousness or deep sleep, not by memory, but by the bliss that is felt upon return. This contrasts with the fatigue following unconsciousness, and the relaxation and rested feeling after sleep.

  Turiiya (nirvikalpa samadhi) is a fourth state which witnesses the three states of waking, dreaming, and sleeping. It is beyond the gunas, beyond time, place, and person, the state of non-duality, Niguna Brahma. This is also beyond pleasure and pain, and is permanently reached when the samskaras are exhausted.

  In Y&P turiiya is described as the state in which full cosmic consciousness is brought back in the body, in which all levels of mind are experienced together and with their full universal aspects.

• Physical Unconsciousness (viksipta). In this state the conscious ( kamamaya kosa) and the subconscious ( manomaya kosa) minds are forced to stop operating due to a physical or psychological shock, rather than being in a state of rest. This state has none of the beneficial effects of sleep. The `extra-cerebral' unconscious mind ( atimanas kosa) still continues to function as it does not depend on the nerves for operation.

  There is anecdotal evidence that suggests that people who have lost regular conscious awareness (e.g. long term amnesiacs), may still understand things at a subconscious or unconscious level. It is clear that they do have a limited subconscious implicit memory which can be programmed by repeated action or exposure to people or places. [AM]

• Death During the other states the vayus, the ten vital airs are undisturbed and the vital force remains intact, guided by the causal mind (except in nirvikalpa samadhi when Cosmic consciousness steps in). In death the causal mind also stops, and the vayus disperse, the body dies. The mind remains inactive, holding the stored samskaras, until the next birth.

  When the vayus (pranah) become disturbed, the parallelism between the body and the mind is lost and death occurs and the vayus all eventually leave the body.

  Physical Death. This occurs when the physical waves of the body change and parallelism is lost, usually through age, illness, or disease.

  Psychic Death. This occurs when the mental waves are disrupted, through shock or great fear. This occurs in a few diseases and in some cases of snakebite. It is possible in these cases that the mind may soon return to its proper wave, in which case the person may return to life. Psychic death may also occur when the mental wave has greatly evolved through contact with a more advanced soul. This refers in particular to animals, who die so they may enter a body which can support an expanded consciousness (more complex glandular system. In the case of humans, the reverse is also possible when a persons mind becomes seriously crudified.

  From Gopi Krisna' experience the rise of the kundalini in a body that is not prepared, or via the wrong channel, so the body does not have time to adjust, can also lead to death. Here the human mind is expanding faster than the body can handle it.

  Spiritual Death. Occurs when intense sadhana has burnt all samskaras and the sadhaka can merge completely into the Cosmic mind in nirvikalpa samadhi. This is called mahamrtyu, the great death, as from this there is no rebirth.

The best text on these states in the Vedantic Psychological tradition is said to the the Mandukya Upanishad.

Some research suggests that both the waking and dreaming states involve a constant dialog between the cerebral cortex and the thalamus, a dance of images and feelings. Lessons of the thalamus and the diencephalon can produce dreamlike states. [AM]

Sleep Cycle

The usual sleeping cycle includes both dream sleep and deep sleep. The brain activity gradually slows as the sleep deepens going through a brief dream state into deep sleep. After perhaps half an hour the activity picks up again and rises into dream sleep, before again slowing down. This cycle repeats 3-4 times in the first six hours of sleep, with the bottom of the cycles becoming less deep and shorter as sleep progresses. Conversely the dream part of the cycle becomes more extensive, and the peak closer to waking. After six hours there is generally no more deep sleep, and most of the time is spent in the dream state.

The amount of time spent in the dream state is related to the amount of unconscious material that needs to be processed. This need will increase when more of the mind is kept unconscious. People who have repressed a great deal may feel generally tired, and need more sleep. On the other hand people who have lost the ability to separate the normally unconscious from the conscious mind (psychotics) and who hallucinate etc. have a reduced need for sleep. When normal people are deprived of the dream sleep they become irritable and nervous, then suspicious and may eventually start to hallucinate as the unconscious puts pressure on the conscious mind for equal time.

When people do mediation, or therapy, etc., which allows repressed material to come forward and integrate in consciousness often the need for sleep is reduced. On the other hand the need for deep sleep appears to vary little from person to person and is not changed by integration of the unconscious.

Yoga NidraAdvanced yogis can go directly to the state of deep sleep and stay there, without the normal cycle. This allows them to reduce the need for sleep to 2-3 hours a night. It is said to be a semi-samadhi, approaching the state of turiiya. This was demonstrated by Swami Rama in a laboratory setting. He was apparently asleep, producing delta waves, and yet he was able to recall conversations and other noises that occurred while he was in that state. By withdrawing the mind fully into the casual kosas, the body and brain may be completely relaxed, while the practitioner is still fully alert and aware of their surroundings.

If one was to spend all night disturbed by continual dreaming, or "on the astral", essentially in a controlled dreaming state, then they will be tired the next day.

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Page Created, February, 1998.
Last updated March 28, 2001.
© Alan McAllister