Turiya – The FOURTH State of Consciousness – Transcending Ordinary Experience

Turiya is a state of consciousness that transcends your experiences in the states of waking, dream, and deep sleep. The teachings of Advaita Vedanta describe turiya as being imperceptible, ungraspable, and inconceivable. But then, how can it be EXPERIENCED?

Swami Tadatmananda's translation and classes on the Mandukya Upanishad are available here: https://arshabodha.org/teachings/mand...

The three states, jagrat avasta, the waking state, svapna avastha, the dream state, and sushupti avastha, the state of deep, dreamless sleep, are often called states of consciousness, but that's a misnomer, because they're actually states or conditions of your mind. In Sanskrit, they are known as avastha traya, which simply means three states. Traditional teachers of Advaita Vedanta call them three states of experience, not three states of consciousness.

In the scriptures, the word turiya is found for the first time in the Mandukya Upanishad. There, an ancient rishi describes it, not as unique state of consciousness, nor as a special spiritual experience. Instead, he describes turiya as pure, unconditioned consciousness, consciousness that's not affected in any way during the states of waking, dream, and sleep. Turiya is transcendent - it remains utterly untainted by worldly experience or suffering. That unconditioned consciousness is atma, your true, inner nature, the so-called inner divinity that dwells in us all. Discovering your true nature as unconditioned consciousness can free you from suffering, leading you to moksha, liberation or enlightenment.

Swami Tadatmananda is a traditionally-trained teacher of Advaita Vedanta, meditation, and Sanskrit. For more information, please see: https://www.arshabodha.org/

0:00 Waking State, Dream State, and Deep Sleep
11:50 Turiya - the Fourth State
23:40 Common Misconceptions