VII. The Mandukya Upanishad: Consciousness and Its Phases
The four states of consciousness: the waking state, dreaming sleep, dreamless sleep, and the “turiya”, fourth state. In turiya the sense of “I” is temporarily suspended.
“The first (state) is called Vaishvanara, in which one lives with all the senses turned outward, aware only of the external world.
Tajasa is the name of the second. The dreaming state in which, with senses turned inward, one enacts the impressions of past deeds and present desires.
The third state is call Prajna, of deep sleep, in which one neither dreams or desires. There is no mind or separateness; but the sleeper is not conscious of this.
The fourth is the super conscious state called Turiya, neither inward nor outward, beyond the senses and the intellect, in which there is none other than the Lord…Turiya is represented by AUM.”