Transcendental Consciousness is referred to in the Vedic literature as “the Fourth,” a rich addition that provides a stable yet dynamic basis to the daily cycle of wakefulness, sleep, and dreaming. The next higher step in the growth of Consciousness, called Cosmic Consciousness, occurs when, over time and through the repeated experience of transcending and coming back to ordinary activity, time and again, a person finds that awareness of the Self is not ever lost, not only during waking but also in deep sleep and dreaming. Whether in the quiet of meditation, where subtle impulses of mantra or thoughts are accompanied by the soft presence of pure awareness; or in the most dynamic phases of activity; or during the varying colors and shades of dream and sleep, awareness of the Self persists more and more steadily, as if “sticking” to the mind, until the day comes when one realizes it has become permanent.

Pure consciousness continues, through all the changes in one’s daily feelings, perceptions, and interactions, a steady inner presence of stability and calm. In fact, “deep sleep,” in the sense of the total obliviousness that is most people’s experience, no longer exists for such a person, because inside, unbounded awareness—the lively sense of one’s deepest being—does not ever shut down, even though physiologically, sleep continues to be completely restful.

Both the wakeful state and dreaming are different, too, because alongside them, or underlying them, is the ever-present awareness of the Self. Thus, all three common states of consciousness no longer have the same quality but are supported and enhanced by the expansive silence of Pure Consciousness. This state, in which inner silence co-exists with outward activity, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi called Cosmic Consciousness, a fifth state of Consciousness.

Like transcendence, experiences of Cosmic Consciousness have been enjoyed and described throughout history. Below, without much comment, are a few examples. I include these because I remember how descriptions of higher states of awareness were inspirational for me, helping me to persevere on my own path. Perhaps it will be helpful to you to hear other people, some prominent and some not, including individuals who have experienced higher states of consciousness through regular practice of the TM technique, speak in their own voices about how higher consciousness dawned for them and influenced their lives.

In Cosmic Consciousness, awareness of awareness continues, but in a rather remarkable way—to experience it does not require “transcending” the relative field of objects, nor do the objects obliterate the inner wakefulness—the two fields of life, absolute inner silence and outward dynamism, co-exist. The endless finite values of the ever-changing relative field of living are supported by the infinite value of Singularity. In the midst of any activity, the individual perceives himself or herself to be Pure Consciousness.