Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad and the four states of consciousness
- Date of account
- Upaniṣadic text probably from the early centuries CE; Gauḍapāda commentary traditionally later
- Location
- South Asian Sanskrit textual tradition
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad distinguishes waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and turīya, described as a fourth mode beyond ordinary subject-object cognition. Gauḍapāda’s Kārikā elaborates the model through arguments about dream, illusion, and non-duality. This is a useful comparison point for contemporary discussions of lucid dreaming, minimal consciousness, nondual awareness, and reports of transcendence. It is not a clinical taxonomy or a record of controlled states. Textual dating, layered authorship, and the relationship between the Upaniṣad and later Advaita interpretation require specialist verification.
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