Still believe in the four states of consciousness?
While the waker, dreamer, and deep sleeper as well as the worlds they appear
to inhabit continuously shuffle in and out of existence, assiduous inquiry does
reveal a “fourth factor,” as it is called in the Mandukya Upanishad, that
remains a constant though subtle presence throughout all three states of
experience. This “fourth factor” is often misunderstood to be a transcendental
state, and many a seeker spends years, often a whole lifetime, striving to
reach, experience, merge with, and ultimately become permanently established in
this blissful realm. All such attempts, however, are inevitably doomed to
failure because all states are experiential and, therefore, no state is
eternal. Rather than a state, the “fourth factor” is quite simply the
limitless, attributeless awareness in which all three experiential states
appear. This “fourth factor” never fails to shine, never fades away, never
forfeits its all-pervasive existence. It is the singular substratum of the
apparent universe. It is the sole reality. It is the eternal self.
from the blog of Ted Schmidt
