Life happens within the realm of three, ever-changing phases: waking, dreaming and sleeping. Yet most of us intuit there's more to human consciousness than what we ordinarily experience.
Scientists have long said each of the three major states of consciousness has its own distinct style of physiology and brain activity. Could there be a fourth major state of consciousness that likewise has its own physiological signature and brain pattern, a state that's been overlooked or forgotten?
What if the loss of this state were the cause for much of what ails us -- personally and collectively?
Transcendental Consciousness
Scientists first proposed the existence of a fourth state of consciousness in the early 1970s, when UCLA researchers discovered that people practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique shifted into a state never before seen in a physiology lab. In the history of science, if there has been a single, overarching moment of "East meets West," surely, it was this. The pioneering research appeared in Scientific American, American Journal of Physiology and the journal Science.1 The findings were expanded by numerous follow-up studies done at other research institutes and medical schools, establishing meditation as a new frontier of scientific research.2
The mind-body state associated with TM practice is very different from waking, dreaming or sleeping and distinct from other meditative states or ordinary relaxation.3 Your muscles become deeply relaxed while your breathing slows markedly. There's a sharp decrease in cortisol and plasma lactate. There's a natural re-balancing of biochemicals, such as serotonin. Changes in Galvanic skin response and other markers reflect a state of whole-body relaxation. But perhaps most interesting is what happens in the brain.
Neuroscientists know that when we're sleeping, our brain produces mostly delta waves, and during dreaming, theta. When we're awake, there can be a scattered mix -- beta, theta, gamma or even alpha. During TM practice there are widespread, high-amplitude alpha waves (10-12 Hz), which shows this is not merely a restful state, but restful alertness.4 More important, the alpha waves are rising and falling together, in phase. This EEG coherence -- strongest throughout the prefrontal cortex -- indicates brain functioning has become more holistic and integrated.5
Typically, during this fourth state, thoughts subside and one becomes increasingly more awake; the mind settles down and consciousness itself becomes primary. Meditators describe this as pure consciousness or unbounded awareness.
Why We Need to Transcend
"We propose that what happens during TM is a fourth state of consciousness, because it's very different from the other three states," says neurologist Gary Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D., of New York University School of Medicine. "After 40 years of research, we now know that TM produces a unique, wakeful, coherent state of deep rest -- physiologically the opposite of stress. The science also suggests that experiencing this state twice daily through TM is the key to maximizing well-being and overcoming stress."
The fourth state may be a new discovery for modern science, but knowledge of this state has existed for thousands of years in the traditions of yoga and meditation. In ancient Sanskrit, this state is called turiya, meaning "the fourth."
Experiencing the fourth state repeatedly over time is said to be the key -- the elusive "requisite stimulus," to borrow from William James -- for positive human transformation and full awakening of consciousness.
Transcendence Deprivation
When you're sleep deprived, you know what happens: alertness, reaction time, tolerance and appreciation of others and the world around you all diminish. You're not yourself, and you're probably less fun to be around.
Similarly, research shows that subjects deprived of dream state become anxious, confused, suspicious, withdrawn, irritable and have difficulty concentrating.
If we're hardwired to experience a natural, rejuvenating, fourth state of consciousness, what is the consequence of omitting this fourth state from daily life? Dr. Kaplan says: "There's a growing pandemic of stress. There's a healthcare crisis. As a nation we have widespread anxiety, depression, hypertension and stress-related disorders that costs us billions every year, with untold costs in human suffering. This is what happens when life is lived without the restorative experience of transcending. Human history becomes the story of stress and suffering."
Restoring the Fourth State: A Return to the Self
What happens to people who routinely experience transcendental consciousness?
Renowned author Norman E. Rosenthal was a senior researcher at the National Institutes of Health for 20 years. He's now clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and oversees pharmaceutical trials. His new book, "Transcendence", is about what happens when you experience the fourth state twice daily. Dr. Rosenthal: "There's something about entering that state of transcendence twice a day that has a remarkable effect. In the morning, it seems to put the mind in a positive state for facing the day -- everything feels more manageable. In the evening, it seems to erase the accumulated burdens of the day, like grime off a windshield. When you enjoy transcendence twice a day, every day, the overall effect is to experience life as less stressful and more vibrant."
Iowa psychologist and TM instructor Patrick Pomfrey has used meditation as a clinical tool for decades, often prescribing it to patients. He sees transcending as the primary human mechanism for creating a higher state of mind-body health. "The ultimate goal of psychology is to develop the whole person," says Pomfrey. "But you cannot develop the whole person without including the whole person. To do this, each person must discover for themselves this lost experience of the fourth state."
Sages throughout history, from Laozi to Ralph Waldo Emerson, have sung the praises of this exalted "lost" state. Transcendental consciousness is the essence of who we are -- our inmost self. If we don't have an effective technique for diving deep within and taking our attention there, then this rich, vibrant field of all possibilities may remain virtually of no use to us. A person can live an entire lifetime not even knowing it exists.
Awakening to this state, we access a limitless wellspring of energy, creativity and intelligence. Even if we were already happy, when we start transcending we discover there's more to life than waking, dreaming and sleeping.
References:
1. Scientific American, 226, 84-90, 1972; American Journal of Physiology, 221, 795-799, 1971; Science, 167, 1751-1754, 1970
2. American Psychologist [42] 879-81, 1989; Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 16(3): 415-424, 1992; The Journal of Mind and Behavior 10(4):307-334, 1989
3. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12, 297-299, 1998
4. International Journal of Neuroscience, 14: 147-151, 1981
5. Consciousness and Cognition, 8, 302-318, 1999; Cognitive Processing, 11:1, 2010
Brain researcher Fred Travis: "The Transcending Brain"
Follow Jeanne Ball on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeanneball
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Since then I read Rosenthal's book on TM (Transcendence). Liked it much. I think, on the part of TM teachers and spokespersons, the reason that there's so much emphasis on scientific studies of the benefits is because the experience of transcendence itself is beyond words, but the science showing the effects renders something concrete. I haven't experienced TM, but I think the fact that the studies on it show major, concrete effects is an indication of how deep and powerful the experience of transcendence is, compared say to something like the relaxation response. I know that what I experience in Zazen is sometimes very restful, but like TM it's also way more than relaxation.
Good to see all this back and forth below, but don't forget, folks, how simple the thing is when you stop talking and experience it.
It is a matter of semantics in this case and dependent on your definition of field. I suggest you get acquainted with the work of quantum physicist John Hagelin. There's no definition of a field that will apply equally to all fields, according to quantum field theory. Fields change characteristics at more fundamental levels of the Planck Scale. At 10-to-the-minus-32nd or there 'bouts, the field becomes much like you describe it above: "a complete ground with infinite potential in itself." Where you may be going wrong is to claim that "it does not lend itself to be seen as connected to others." Again, could be semantics, or could be your misunderstanding. I think a more precise description would be: While maintaining its self-interacting dynamics, it creates and sustains all relativity (the potentiality of all other fields) within itself, remaining unchanged. We know nature is unified at its source, which is a field of oneness, and this field is not disconnected from anything, it's a level of existence where everything is infinitely correlated in this unmanifest field of pure potentiality.
A "field" in mathematics is somewhat different than a field in classical physics is somewhat different than a field in Quantum Mechanics is somewhat different than a field in General Relativity.
A "field" in math is a set of objects that obey the rules of arithmetic in the sense that you can define multiplication and division for them and any object can be converted to a different object using those rules in the same formulas that you use in arithmetic: a(b + c) = a*b + a*c.
A classical physics field just means you can assign a value for a given field to any position in space.
When you get to the most abstract physics theories, the difference between a mathematical field and a physics field pretty much disappears
In the case of Hagelin's discussion of "Is Consciousness the Unified Field," he's basically asserting that the same basic [mathematical] principles that are used to attempt to describe reality from a theoretical physics perspective can be used to describe reality from the perspective of "everything is consciousness."
Simple example:
no matter what you do to something in the Unified Field of theoretical physics, you always end up with another something that is part of Unified Field and likewise:
no matter what you do to something in the Unified Field of consciousness, you always wind up with something that is part that consciousness.
your point is well taken.
mine is: just because we must gain intellectual and/or experiential knowledge of the 4th state--including knowledge of *how* to experience it--doesn't mean it is not a natural state for human beings to experience and intimately know and come to live.
My experience as a long time meditator is: myself and my many TM friends aren't involved in rituals or beliefs like the kind you mention, based on faith or unreason.
I get answers to TM-related questions by talking with a TM teacher, reading Maharishi's books, attending conferences/webcasts where there's open discussion and Q&A.
Maharishi revived many aspects of Vedic knowledge because he saw practical, scientifically verifiable benefits for modern life--not just TM but also Vedic architecture (vastu) and ayurveda (natural health care), for example. You question the effects of some of these systems of knowledge, just as many people questioned the value of meditation before there were hundreds of research studies.
I've never heard anyone in the TM org suggest that anybody just "believe" in anything. Maharishi developed many programs for the benefit of anyone who wants to partake. He encouraged scientists everywhere to research the programs. If a person uses these systems, it's an individual choice because they experience personal benefits.
Understanding these systems of knowledge and resolving your issues is obviously beyond the scope of a comment thread. There are plenty of good resources for you to find clarity. Good luck.
I been doing TM for decades and I have never worn a sari. or a dohti (except when I visited India and it was too damn hot to wear anything else). But I think I would look good in a sari.
Better sleep, less "reactivity" to things, like my puppy peeing in the living room and kids running around being kids.
I'm leaving for a family vacation soon. My to do list is long. This is the type of thing that gets me feeling very overwhelmed. I can't decide which direction to go what to do first. I start to "shut down" I usually have to work from a list and I'm always stressed and filled with anxiety.
This week I've had more energy, and clarity, I've gotten everything accomplished without stress and strain. I still have a little anxiety, but it isn't nearly as bad as usual.
On top of all I had to do, I also had to write and submit an essay, to apply for a scholarship. There's a deadline so I had to finish and send this week. I sat down, and was amazed how quickly I got into a flow with it. I wasn't blocked and was very clear about what I wanted to convey. A trusted friend proof read it for me and thought it was "great".
Today I managed to meditate in a public area with a lot of noise. I couldn't believe how well I was able to do. It really is so much easier than other times I've tried to meditate.
I don't regret doing this at all.
understanding of the enormous possibilities
for human life is probably the luckiest thing in the world --
next to living it. otherwise, if you don't know it's there,
there's probably gonna be no living that greater potentiality,
which begins with the intellectual and intuitive knowledge
that the 4th state exists.
"The fourth (Turiya), the wise say, is not inwardly cognitive, nor outwardly cognitive, nor cognitive both-wise; neither is it an indefinite mass of cognition, nor collective cognition, nor non-cognition. It is unseen, unrelated, inconceivable, uninferable, unimaginable, indescribable. It is the essence of the one self-cognition common to all states of consciousness. All phenomena cease in it. It is peace, it is bliss, it is non-duality. This is the self, and it is to be realized."
Mândûkyopanishad, verse 7, Swâmi Sarvânanda, 1972, 9th ed.
(cont.) ... the dream state of consciousness; the lower left box would contain a low level of awareness (almost none) and a low level of activity, in that we have the sleep state. Now what’s left is an empty box that represents a high level of awareness but a low level of activity – this would correlate with a fourth state of consciousness as subjectively reported by yogic meditators where one is filled with awareness yet levels of activity are low, at times even lower than in deep sleep, a restful alertness, so to say, beyond activity. Herein we find a subjective experience of transcendence that stabilizes the physiological wholity with rejuvenating and harmonious qualities as the awareness of this state becomes familiar and infuses itself upon the other three ordinary states by the fact that regular access to the experience of deep wakeful rest, sans object, makes it a commonplace to be recognized even when one is active to an ultimate degree and when one is in deep sleep, the latter may sound paradoxical but this is an experience that is reported now and then by practitioners of yogic meditation. (Transcendental Meditation does represent a direct entrance to the field of yoga in that it offers an immediate and easily accessible connectivity with The Deep, that which is beyond activity.)
A fourth state of consciousness. Well, yes, how to understand it? If one takes a look at what parameters the ordinary states of consciousness are based upon a simple way to understand a fourth reveals itself.
Known to everyone are a waking state, a dream state and a sleep state, these are day to day experientials, we traverse them continuously. Their relationships may be viewed by the extremes they represent. I would, as has been done before, define them in terms two vectors, one of activity versus rest, and the other as access to awareness or no access.
Thus, as was first suggested Kannelakos and Lucas in the early 1970s, and elaborated upon by physicist Lawrence Domash in 1977 (Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program: Collected Papers, 1977, Vol. 1, p. 656), one can diagram these two vectors. Draw to orthogonal lines from origo and then two lines cutting the middle of these axes paralleling the main axes and we have a box of four compartments (unfortunately I cannot add the resulting graph here in the comments section): let the vertical axis represent increased activity upwards and let the horizontal axis represent increased awareness towards the right. Well, the top right box would represent a state of dynamic activity and a high level of awareness, that would be the waking state of consciousness; the top left box would represent a lesser level of awareness yet contain quite some activity, that would be ... (cont.)
“Know thyself.” The teachable technique of transcending, whatever it has been called through the ages — in this age it is named Transcendental Meditation — is our birthright as human beings. Regularly experiencing the fourth state of consciousness itself — intelligence becoming awake and aware of itself — has resulted in the increase of what makes us healthy and happy, measured against ill health, depression, crime, etc. What’s not to like?
Maybe paying for it is a challenge, but practically speaking if folks hadn’t been charged for learning the technique in the past generation, there likely wouldn’t be anywhere to learn it today, right? Our thanks to those who have continued to make it available. Priceless knowledge, so worth it: experience transcendental consciousness, live the benefits.