The Three Avasthas {States of Consciousness}
This is a recording of a lecture given during an advanced yoga therapy training, on the three states of consciousness as described in one of the oldest texts, the Mandukya Upanishad. We delved into this topic as part of our study of the power and purpose of guided awareness and the yoga nidra {yogic awareful sleep} experience. This is why this is referred to in the lecture, though yoga nidra is not discussed in the Mandukya Upanishad. Note one key point that did not make it on the recording, as I taught it after the recording stopped, is that each of the three states represents one of the sounds of Om. Om can be broken up into three sounds, because the "O" is technically a dipthong sound, made of the sound A + U. Please DO NOT prounounce Om "AAAA-ooooo-mmmm" the way some people in the west do. This is totally incorrect. The sounds are not drawn out like this, but build in to the sound "O".
You can see in the handout below, that the waking state relates to "A"; the sleeping state to "U" and the deep sleep state to "M". This is significant in that it shows us that all of the human experience is wrapped into this sound "Om". What was not touched on in this lecture is the fourth state, Turiya.
Deep thanks and gratitude to the teachers who have guided me in this topic - Swamiji Dayānanda, Swami Tattvabodhānanda and Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati. May you benefit from this lecture, and share it as you wish. Donations are appreciated {you can donate below}, so that more of these talks can be made available. It takes many hours of study to cultivate these. If you find the talk useful, meaningful or inspiring and want to donate for the time that goes into cultivating the knowledge and creating the talk, that is deeply appreciated.
Love,
Kaya
You can see in the handout below, that the waking state relates to "A"; the sleeping state to "U" and the deep sleep state to "M". This is significant in that it shows us that all of the human experience is wrapped into this sound "Om". What was not touched on in this lecture is the fourth state, Turiya.
Deep thanks and gratitude to the teachers who have guided me in this topic - Swamiji Dayānanda, Swami Tattvabodhānanda and Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati. May you benefit from this lecture, and share it as you wish. Donations are appreciated {you can donate below}, so that more of these talks can be made available. It takes many hours of study to cultivate these. If you find the talk useful, meaningful or inspiring and want to donate for the time that goes into cultivating the knowledge and creating the talk, that is deeply appreciated.
Love,
Kaya
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Those students who wish to investigate more can look into this article and these recordings.