A central pillar of Maharishi’s comprehensive system of thought, which he called Maharishi Vedic Science, is a framework that offers clear definitions of each of seven states of Consciousness, as well as the procedures and practices that promote growth from one higher state to another. We will examine each of the seven states over the course of the next several chapters, but they are listed here for clarity:

1.     Deep Sleep
2.     Dream
3.     Waking
4.     The Transcendental State
5.     Cosmic Consciousness
6.     Glorified Cosmic Consciousness or God Consciousness
7.     Unity Consciousness

One interesting way to think about the progressive unfoldment of Consciousness is in terms of the degree to which the object-value of awareness and attention predominates in a person’s experience, versus how much the subjective side—the observer—remains present and is not forgotten as one is experiencing a specific object. Keep this in mind as we discuss each of the seven states.