States of Consciousness

We said that all of the aspects of the 5 elements of the Integral Model are available, right now, in your own awareness. What follows is therefore, in a sense, a guided tour of your own experience. So why don’t you come along and see if you can spot some of these features arising in your own awareness right now.

Some of these features refer to subjective realities in you, some refer to objective realities out there in the world, and others refer to collective or communal realities shared with others. Let’s start with states of consciousness, which refer to subjective realities.

Everybody is familiar with major states of consciousness, such as waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. Right now, you are in a waking state of consciousness (or, if you are tired, perhaps a daydream state of consciousness). There are all sorts of different states of consciousness, including meditative states (induced by yoga, contemplative prayer, meditation, and so on), altered states (such as drug-induced), and a variety of peak experiences, many of which can be triggered by intense experiences like making love, walking in nature, or listening to exquisite music.

The great wisdom traditions (such as Christian mysticism, Vedanta Hinduism, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Jewish Kabbalah) maintain that the 3 natural states of consciousness—waking, dreaming, and deep formless sleep—actually contain a treasure trove of spiritual wisdom and spiritual awakening . . . if we know how to use them correctly. We usually think of the dream state as less real, but what if you could enter it while awake? And the same with deep sleep? Might you learn something extraordinary in those awakened states? How do you know for sure without trying it? In a special sense, which we will explore as we go along, the 3 great natural states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep might contain an entire spectrum of spiritual enlightenment.

But on a much simpler, more mundane level, everybody experiences various states of consciousness, and these states often provide profound motivation, meaning, and drives, in both yourself and others. In any particular situation, states of consciousness may not be a very important factor, or they may be the determining factor, but no integral approach can afford to ignore them. Whenever you are using IOS, you will automatically be prompted to check and see if you are touching bases with these important subjective realities. This is an example of how a map—in this case, the IOS or Integral Map—can help you look for territory you might not have even suspected was there. . . .