Episode 5 – Levels of Awareness Part 2

This is The Three Petals podcast hosted by Jim Trofatter. The Three Petals is dedicated to exploring the threefold journey of spiritual awakening, where awareness, embodiment, and mutuality intertwine to create a vibrant, transformative life and represents a new paradigm for enlighten living.

In each episode, we’ll delve into what it means to truly inhabit our human experience, while opening our hearts and minds to the infinite nature of consciousness. Whether you’re completely new to this path or have been on a spiritual journey for years, The Three Petals will offer insights, practices, and compassionate guidance to help you deepen your connection with yourself, others, and the world at large. The Three Petals: Where the Infinite meets the Intimate.

Part 1: I’m Totally Awake

Meet my friend, Jupiter. His real name is Greg, but he is so absolutely certain he’s spiritually awakened that he had to change his name to reflect such a profound state of being, thus we now have to call him Jupiter. He walks around in flowing white silk pants, occasionally pausing mid-sentence to take a deep, exaggerated breath, because, you know, conscious breathing is key to connecting to Source. He nods knowingly at everything, even when he has no idea what’s being said, and sprinkles words like "vibration," "oneness," and "transcendence" into conversations with the same casual confidence as someone ordering a latte with coconut milk and extra cinnamon. The only problem? Greg, I mean, Jupiter is about as unconscious as a sleepwalking goldfish. He preaches non-attachment yet loses his mind when the Wi-Fi is slow. He claims to have transcended the ego, yet somehow always manages to steer every conversation back to how enlightened he is. Just last week, he lectured his friend on the illusion of self, right before getting into a shouting match with a barista regarding the consistency of coconut milk froth.

Jupiter constantly warns others about the dangers of spiritual bypassing, while using meditation as an excuse to avoid apologizing to his ex. He says things like, "I no longer identify with the body," right before cutting someone off in traffic and aggressively honking because "they needed to learn a lesson about awareness and how they are simply getting the karma they accrued in a previous lifetime." His mantra is "everything is an illusion," yet somehow, he’s deeply attached to his organic, locally-sourced, non-GMO enlightenment and tofu BLT. Jupiter is living proof that you can talk the talk of awakening while sleepwalking through your own contradictions. And the funniest part is, if you tried to point this out to him, he’d just smile, place his hand on your shoulder, and whisper, "Ah, I see...your ego is resisting." And then congratulate himself for helping yet another person become more aware.

Even though I’m trying to be humorous with this story about Greg, we all have our moments like that. Those are the times that we can truly laugh at ourselves and recognize that we’ve fallen asleep again maybe for just a while. It’s a very human thing to do.

Hello and welcome to The Three Petals, a podcast dedicated to exploring the synergy of three essential aspects of spiritual awakening: awareness, embodiment, and relationality. I’m your host Jim Trofatter and I’m glad you could join me today. In today’s episode we’re going to continue focusing on the foundational aspect of awareness. In the last episode we looked at the levels of awareness that arises between species. Today we’ll explore the levels or states of awareness in humans as they are understood across a variety of spiritual and scientific traditions. These frameworks provide valuable maps for understanding the vast terrain of consciousness, from our everyday waking mind to the profound states described by mystics, sages, and contemplatives throughout history.

Whether you're newly stepping onto the path or have been walking it for years, encountering these concepts can offer much-needed validation and context for the changes and openings you may experience. As the layers of your being begin to unfold, you might find yourself spontaneously entering altered states, sensing deeper levels of reality, or questioning long-held assumptions about your sense of identity and the world. These models won’t give you all the answers, but they can illuminate key thresholds or milestones along the journey, helping you to recognize where you are, make sense of what’s arising, and trust the process as it continues to deepen.

Part 2: From a Scientific Point of View

There are many ways that we can approach the topic of awareness and consciousness in humans. Let’s begin with how psychiatry, psychology and pop psychology categorize thems. There are five terms that are traditionally used: the conscious, the subconscious, the unconscious, the  preconscious and the superconscious.

The term "consciousness" became central in 17th and18th century philosophy, especially in the writings of John Locke, who in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding defined consciousness as “the perception of what passes in a man’s own mind.” The conscious mind is the part of awareness we are actively engaged with in any given moment or our present field of awareness. It includes our current thoughts, emotions, sensations, and perceptions. This is the level where decision-making, logical thinking, and voluntary actions occur. It is limited in scope, capable of focusing on only a few pieces or bits of information at a time, but it gives us the sense of agency and immediate selfhood. Most of our daily functioning like talking, walking, problem-solving happens within this domain of awareness.

The term "subconscious" was notably introduced by the French psychologist Pierre Janet in 1889.  The subconscious operates just below the level of conscious awareness and contains information we’re not actively thinking about but can easily retrieve. It stores memories, habits, learned behaviors, and automatic responses like knowing how to drive a car or recall a friend’s name when prompted. The subconscious also shapes our emotional reactions and preferences, often without our realizing it. It serves as a bridge between conscious awareness and deeper layers of the mind, influencing us without direct control.

The idea of the unconscious was initially touched on by the philosophers Gottfried Leibniz, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche, but Sigmund Freud gave it clinical and theoretical prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The unconscious mind is the vast reservoir of mental activity that lies entirely outside of conscious awareness. It holds repressed memories, traumas, drives, and desires that have been deemed unacceptable or threatening by the conscious self. According to psychoanalytic theory these hidden contents can shape behavior, dreams, and emotional patterns in powerful ways. Uncovering unconscious material is often a central aim of therapy and spiritual work, as it allows us to see the deeper roots of our suffering and psychological tensions.

Part 3: Continuing The Scientific Model

Freud introduced the term “preconscious” as part of his topographic model of the mind. The preconscious acts as a kind of waiting room between the conscious and unconscious. It contains thoughts and memories that are not presently in awareness but can be brought to consciousness with minimal effort like remembering what you had for dinner last night or a task you need to complete. Unlike the unconscious, preconscious content is not actively repressed. This level helps us navigate day-to-day life by giving us quick access to useful or relevant information without being overwhelmed by it all at once.

The term “superconscious” does not come from mainstream psychoanalysis. It is a term popularized by spiritual teachers such as Sri Aurobindo and Paramahansa Yogananda. Carl Jung’s collective unconscious touches on this idea, though he did not use the term superconscious. In transpersonal psychology, the superconscious is often associated with peak experiences, spiritual insight, or mystical states. Overall, the superconscious refers to a higher level of awareness associated with intuition, inspiration, and spiritual insight. It is thought to be the source of creative genius, moments of transcendence, and states of expanded consciousness. It connects the individual to a sense of unity with life, purpose and a higher intelligence. Unlike the unconscious, which pulls us toward our unresolved past, the superconscious draws us forward into our higher potential and sense of wholeness.

Let me note here that many view these layers not as hard “realities” of the mind, but as useful frameworks or maps of experience rather than maps of brain architecture. Modern cognitive neuroscience doesn’t find clear biological boundaries that align with these divisions. Instead, mental processes appear much more fluid and networked. The subconscious, as used in pop psychology, is often criticized for being vague or poorly defined. In more scientific psychology, the term is largely avoided in favor of terms like implicit processing, automatic cognition, or nonconscious systems, which are more testable and grounded in neuroscience. The superconscious is even more controversial from a scientific standpoint. It is typically used in transpersonal or spiritual psychology, and critics argue that it lacks empirical basis. However, some defend it as a phenomenological category, describing experiences people genuinely report, even if those experiences resist objective study. No matter what, these distinctions still hold great value for introspection, therapy, and spiritual growth, even if they don’t correspond cleanly to identifiable neural systems.

Part 4: Eastern Models of Consciousness

In the Eastern Hindu, Yogic and Vedanta traditions there are four classical states of consciousness typically called the waking state, the dreaming state, deep sleep and pure awareness.

The waking state or Jagrat (pronounced Jah grit) is the most familiar to us where our senses are engaged with the external world, and we perceive reality through sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Here, the mind identifies strongly with the body and its experiences, assuming this outer world is concrete and separate. This state is dominated by duality: subject and object, self and other. While it seems most "real" to us, in spiritual traditions, it's often considered another layer of the dream, because even here, perception is highly filtered through conditional beliefs, memory, and thought. Looking at this state from a neuroscientific viewpoint, waking consciousness is characterized by the predominance of Beta waves in the brain.

In the dreaming state or Swapna, the outer world recedes, and the mind generates its own internal reality. Though the body rests, the mind becomes active, creating images, narratives, and scenarios drawn from memory, emotion, and unconscious material. This state reveals the mind’s creative power but also its attachment to illusion. While dreams can reflect deeper truths or unresolved psychic tensions, they are often chaotic and lack continuity. From a spiritual perspective, the dream state is a metaphor for how we live in waking life often lost in mental constructs without awareness of deeper reality. Looking at his state from a neuroscientific viewpoint, the dreaming state is characterized by the predominance of Theta waves in the brain and show up in R.E.M. or Rapid Eye Movement states when dreaming during sleep.

Deep sleep or Sushupti (pronounced su shup tee) is the state in which all mental activity ceases. There are no thoughts, no dreams, no awareness of self or world. It is a state of profound rest and stillness. While we do not consciously register this state, spiritual traditions point to it as a doorway to something deeper. In deep sleep, the ego and all mental identifications dissolve temporarily. Though unconscious to the ordinary mind, deep sleep is seen as a hint of our true nature peaceful, unchanging, and free from duality without the interference of thought. Looking at this state from a neuroscientific viewpoint, deep sleep is characterized by the predominance of Delta waves in the brain.

Beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep lies pure awareness or Turiya (pronounced tur REE, yah), the "Fourth" state, which is not a state in the traditional sense but the background reality behind all states. It is pure awareness itself: ever-present, unconditioned, and not bound by time, thought, or perception. Pure awareness is not experienced in the way waking or dreaming is; rather, it is the context in which all experiences arises. One does not "enter" pure awareness, it is realized as what we always already are. In awakening, this pure awareness begins to shine through all the other states, revealing that the seeker and the sought were never two. Looking at this state from a neuroscientific viewpoint, pure awareness is characterized by the predominance of Gamma waves in the brain.

The framework of these four states is profoundly important because it provides a map of consciousness that extends beyond the physical and psychological dimensions most people inhabit. Rather than seeing waking life as the only “real” mode of existence, this model invites us to question the solidity of our everyday perceptions and to recognize the deeper continuity of awareness that runs through all our experiences. For the spiritual seeker, understanding these layers offers more than intellectual insight, it provides a path of inquiry into the nature of the self, revealing how identity shifts and dissolves across states. Most significantly it points to pure awareness as the true ground of being, ever-present but unnoticed. Recognizing this unchanging background as our essential nature is at the heart of spiritual awakening. Thus, exploring these states is not abstract philosophy, but a lived doorway to liberation.

It is interesting that the Eastern traditions don’t talk about states of consciousness that produce Alpha brainwaves which reside between Beta and Theta brainwaves. I will add that here for completeness. The Alpha brainwave state is a relaxed yet alert state of consciousness, typically occurring when we are calm or in light states of reverie or contemplation. In this state, the mind becomes more open, fluid, and imaginative, making it ideal for daydreaming, visualization, and reflective inquiry. It is in Alpha that many people experience moments of creative insight, epiphany or feel gently connected to a deeper sense of self or mystery. In spiritual practice, the Alpha state can serve as a gateway, quieting mindchatter just enough to open the door to deeper contemplation, emotional integration, or intuitive knowing. Alpha brainwaves typically start being generated in the brain as soon as you close your eyes.

Part 5: A More Generalized Model

In the next two sections, we’re going to explore a more generalized concept of levels of awareness that are recognized by many of the ancient and modern traditions. There is some overlap with the other models just examined, but not as much as you would have guessed.

As usual we start with the baseline state of most human experience: Waking or Ordinary Consciousness. This level of awareness is tied to our senses, daily tasks, planning, thinking, and problem-solving. In this state, we identify with the “I” who is navigating the world, our ego self. While it seems obvious or mundane, this level is foundational. It helps us build structures, form language, and relate to others through shared, linear time. However, waking consciousness also limits our perception. We are often caught in mental loops, to-do lists, and reactivity. We tend to believe that our thoughts are who we are, rather than expressions of a deeper field of awareness.

Take a moment right now to just notice everything around you. The light in the room. The temperature of the air. The thoughts in your head. The pains and sensations of your body. This is waking awareness.

Spiritual traditions suggest that while this level is necessary, it is not the full story, it is simply the surface of a vast ocean. The goal at this stage is not to abandon waking consciousness, but to become more conscious within it. Practices such as mindfulness, body scans, and gentle inquiry start to loosen the ego’s tight grip allowing for deeper experiences to begin to arise.

Awakening or Witnessing Awareness marks a profound shift in consciousness where we begin to observe our world, thoughts, emotions, sensations, as phenomena arising within awareness, rather than as the self. This stage is often triggered by deep meditation, a sudden traumatic rupture, psychedelic experience, or even a moment of grace that disrupts ordinary identification. It is subtle but transformative: instead of being lost in the stream of thought or emotional reactivity, we begin to see the stream and are able to hold it at a slight distance. The result is often a new kind of spaciousness, an inner observer that watches without necessarily getting caught. We begin to ask: “Who is having these thoughts?” or “What is aware of this moment?”

Take a moment to just notice who’s noticing everything around you. Who’s noticing the light in the room. The temperature of the air. The thoughts in your head. The pains and sensations of your body. You’re beginning to experience the witness.

In Vedanta, this witnessing capacity is called sakshi, the silent observer behind all experience. In Theravāda Buddhism, it corresponds to vipassana insight, the clear seeing that everything is impermanent, not-self, and arising within consciousness. This stage introduces the possibility that we are not the content of our minds, but the context in which that content appears. We might suddenly realize: “I am not my anxiety. I am the one aware of anxiety.” or “Thoughts are just thoughts, not truth.” These realizations can be liberating, as identification with specific identities, roles, or mental narratives begins to loosen.

However, witnessing awareness can also be disorienting or even dissociative at first. Some may find themselves pulling too far back from life, becoming detached or emotionally distant, confusing disconnection with freedom. It’s important to note that this stage is not the end of the journey but a doorway into deeper unfolding. The witness self, while expansive compared to ego identification, is still a stage, it too can be transcended into unity, where the subject-object split collapses. Nonetheless, witnessing is a critical pivot point: it makes liberation possible by revealing that we are not bound to our patterns, we can observe them, inquire into them, and eventually release them into a deeper ground of being.

Unity or non-dual awareness is a radical shift in consciousness where the boundary between self and other dissolves. In this state, the usual perception of being a separate individual navigating an external world, collapses into a direct recognition of oneness. The world is no longer perceived through the lens of subject and object, but as a seamless field of being. There is no experiencer apart from what is experienced, only one unfolding presence. This can feel like merging with everything, or as if everything is simply appearing as you, not in a narcissistic sense, but as the collapse of dualistic division.

Take a moment to just notice who’s noticing the one who’s noticing everything around you. Who’s noticing the one who’s noticing the light in the room. The temperature of the air. The thoughts in your head. The pains and sensations of your body.

Different traditions have their own ways of describing this experience. In Advaita Vedanta, it's the realization that the Self, the Atman is not different from Brahman, the absolute reality. In Sufism, the term fana refers to the dissolution of the individual self into the Beloved, a poetic expression of this same non-dual merging. Zen might point to it more directly by saying “no-self” or “nothing to attain.” In each case, the language varies, but the core recognition is the same: what we took to be separate is now revealed to be a single, undivided whole. Often, this awareness brings about bliss, clarity, spaciousness, and a deep sense of homecoming.

However, the experience of unity is not always easy to integrate. For some, the collapse of a separate identity can be destabilizing, especially if the ego structure was tightly held or built on trauma. Without the familiar reference points of “me” and “the world,” we can feel disoriented or untethered. What once gave meaning or direction may fall away, requiring a reorganization of values, relationships, and even our sense of reality. Yet, if supported and stabilized, the unfolding of non-dual awareness allows life to be met with deeper equanimity and compassion. It is not an escape from our human experience, but a deepening into it, with the clarity that the human and the divine are not-two.

Part 6: More on the More Generalized Model

Void or Emptiness Awareness marks a profound turning in the spiritual journey, often occurring after experiences of unity or non-dual realization. Whereas unity can feel rich, luminous, and full of divine presence, the awareness of the void is characterized by an absence: the absence of identity, meaning, and even the subtle sense of “I am.” This is not a state of nihilism or despair, but rather an intimate encounter with the radical spaciousness that underlies all existence. Everything, thoughts, selves, even the experience of oneness, arises and dissolves into this vast, empty field. In Mahayana Buddhism, this is śūnyatā, or emptiness, the understanding that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence and dependently co-arise.

This dimension of awareness is often described as formless, silent, and impenetrably vast. The Christian mystic tradition refers to this as the “Cloud of Unknowing,” a sacred darkness where the intellect cannot grasp or define God, and only a naked longing of the soul remains. In this emptiness, there is no object to love and no subject to do the loving, just a silent stillness beyond concepts. The egoic structures that once gave a sense of stability, roles, beliefs, personal stories, may dissolve entirely in this space, leaving a kind of raw presence that is deeply restful, yet mysteriously beyond comprehension. It can be simultaneously terrifying and liberating to realize that all we thought ourselves to be is, in the end, impermanent and insubstantial.

And yet, paradoxically, this emptiness is not devoid of value. Though it contains no meaning in the conventional sense, it opens the door to a more authentic, unconditioned existence. Some who enter this phase describe it as a sacred womb, a place of deep rest and mystery out of which new forms may emerge, truer, freer, and unburdened by past identifications. Emptiness is not the absence of life but the quiet foundation in which life arises. When one stabilizes in this awareness, they often carry a humility and spaciousness that allows them to meet the world without clinging to meaning, self, or outcome, fully present in the unfolding of what is.

Embodied or Integrated Awareness represents the spiritual maturation where transcendent realization is no longer held apart from daily life. After peak experiences of awakening, non-duality, or even void awareness, there arises a call to return, not to forget what was revealed, but to bring it down into the body, into relationships, and into the world. This phase is marked by a synthesis of transcendence and immanence. Rather than striving to stay “above it all,” we begin to live the insight that the divine is here too, in dishes, in discomfort, in conversation, in the breath. This is where spirituality shifts from being something we experience to something we embody.

No longer concerned with attaining or sustaining lofty states, the awakened individual finds value in the ordinariness of life. The “marketplace” of life, once seen as a distraction from awakening, is now the field where awakening is expressed. Compassion, humility, and humor often deepen. There is a softening of spiritual ambition and a deepening trust in life’s unfolding. In Mahayana Buddhism, this is akin to the Bodhisattva vow, choosing to remain engaged in the suffering world, not because one must, but because love naturally arises from clear seeing. In Zen, this is the return from the mountaintop: the realization that chopping wood and carrying water were never obstacles to enlightenment, but expressions of it.

Mystical traditions across the globe echo this arc of integration. In the Kabbalah, the soul’s descent from the divine (Keter) through the Tree of Life and back to the material realm (Malkuth) reflects the return to embodied wholeness. This isn’t regression, but sacred incarnation, the divine becoming fully human. With this awareness, we become vessels of presence in a world that desperately needs grounded clarity. Embodied awareness means being able to hold grief and joy in the same hand, to engage complexity with simplicity, and to live without trying to escape. It is the flowering of spirituality not in retreat from the world, but in full-hearted participation with it.

Planetary or Collective Awareness marks a profound shift from individual realization to collective responsibility. At this stage, the boundaries of identity widen to include ecosystems, species, communities, and even the planet itself. It's no longer just about “my awakening” or “my healing”, there’s a deep recognition that all life is inextricably interwoven, and what happens to one affects the whole. This awareness can arise spontaneously after deep personal work or be seeded early through Indigenous or Earth-based traditions that teach relational consciousness from the start. In this mode of awareness, the Earth is not a backdrop but a living, sentient being to whom we belong. What I call Gaia. 

Rather than transcend the world, those in planetary awareness feel called to engage it with compassion and care. The sacred activist emerges, someone who embodies the mystic’s vision with the servant’s heart. Environmental work, social justice, mutual aid, and spiritual facilitation are no longer seen as separate from spiritual life but as its fullest expression. It’s not driven by ideology but by direct felt sense: I am this forest. I am this ocean. I am this refugee. I am this child. From this view, service is not a moral obligation, it is a spontaneous act of love rising from the realization of unity in diversity.

This level of awareness can be both exalting and weighty. One might feel the grief of the Earth, the wounds of colonization, the suffering and pain of the collective body. But there is also immense joy in belonging, true belonging, to the web of life. Indigenous wisdom keepers have long embodied this way of seeing, as have mystics and visionaries throughout history. In modern times, planetary awareness may look like quiet ecological stewardship, deep listening in community circles, or simply holding presence in chaotic systems. Here, the spiritual path doesn’t end in silence, it pulses with the heartbeat of the world, calling us not to escape the human experience, but to sanctify it.

Mystery Beyond Form and Concept represents the furthest horizon of spiritual inquiry, a place where even the constructs of awareness, presence, and identity begin to dissolve. At this threshold, words become meaningless, frameworks collapse, and the spiritual seeker stands before what has been called the Unmanifest, the Absolute, or simply the Mystery. This is not a state of awareness in the ordinary sense, because it cannot be pointed to, located, or even described. It is the source from which all arises and into which all returns, a kind of sacred negation that transcends being and non-being alike.

Traditions across the world have brushed up against this ineffable edge. In Christian apophatic theology, God is known by what God is not, “not this, not that” which is “neti, neti” in the Vedic tradition. The Christian Desert Fathers and mystics like Meister Eckhart spoke of “the God beyond God", a presence so vast and unknowable that any concept of it must be let go. In Zen, the deep koan work often culminates in silence, not as an absence of insight, but as its purest form. And in the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition, the Ein Sof, “without end”, refers to a Divine so beyond comprehension that no name or attribute can contain it.

Encountering this Mystery requires surrender, not attainment. It’s not something that can be understood, achieved, or even experienced in the conventional sense. Rather, it is what remains when all striving, all naming, all grasping ceases. Some describe it as a dark light, a fertile void, or a stillness that is beyond stillness. Others say nothing at all. Yet the paradox is that this Mystery is not elsewhere, it is intimately here, pulsing beneath every moment. To live from this place is to walk in humility, knowing that every revelation is partial, every truth provisional. What remains is awe, reverence, and the quiet recognition that Reality is infinitely more than we can ever comprehend.

For those walking a path of Western culture spirituality, it is most likely that spiritual teachers, particularly those influenced by perennial philosophy, transpersonal psychology, or nondual traditions, will reference these levels of awareness as part of the unfolding journey. Whether explicitly named or subtly implied, the movement from ordinary waking consciousness toward expanded, subtle, and transcendent states of being is a recurring map used to orient seekers on the path. Teachers may use language from diverse traditions, Vedanta, Buddhism, Christian mysticism, indigenous wisdom, or modern psychological frameworks, but underneath the terminology, this recognizable developmental arc outlined above, often emerges.

Part 7: The Importance of Milestones

Milestones along the spiritual path are like trail markers on a vast and sometimes bewildering journey across expansive pathless landscapes. They help orient the seeker, providing confirmation that a particular inner threshold has been crossed and that transformation is underway. In the absence of external validation or familiar terrain, these inner landmarks offer a sense of coherence, “Ah, this is the witness state,” or “This feels like the dissolving into oneness I read about.” While no two paths are identical, these common thresholds can offer profound reassurance, particularly when accompanied by the guidance of a teacher or the resonance of shared language. Milestones ground the ephemeral in something recognizable, preventing us from dismissing deep openings as merely psychological anomalies or random mood states.

Without these points of orientation, the spiritual journey can become frustrating and circuitous. A seeker might spend years caught in repetitive loops, mistaking catharsis for transformation, confusing emotional highs for awakening, or trying to force experiences they’ve read about without the developmental foundation to support them. Some get trapped in what’s called “the witness trap,” where they’ve cultivated disidentification but haven’t moved into integration. Others may mistake early energetic awakenings or peak states for full realization, leading to stagnation or even spiritual inflation and bypassing. Milestones help cut through this confusion, distinguishing between a passing state and a stable stage, between a useful insight and a foundational shift.

Moreover, knowing what kinds of experiences and challenges tend to arise at various stages can offer psychological and emotional relief. It’s one thing to feel overwhelmed by the darkness of the Void and think something’s gone terribly wrong. It’s another to know that this is a well-documented phase on the path, the dark night or the silence before deeper presence arises. Recognizing that others have been here, that there are practices and frameworks that support this territory, can ease the panic and restore faith in the unfolding. Milestones don't just map the path, they protect us from misinterpreting it.

Finally, milestones invite humility. No matter how far one has gone, there is always more, deeper intimacy with life, subtler layers of ego to integrate, and wider fields of connection to explore. These markers remind us that the path is alive, ever-unfolding and evolutionary, not a checklist or a finish line. When approached with discernment and surrender, milestones do not become trophies or traps, but invitations to keep growing, deepening, and participating more fully in the mystery of existence. They teach us to trust both the terrain and our own unfolding place within it.

Part 8: Guided Meditation

Let’s do a short meditation practice to explore the levels of awareness we discussed today. Don’t do this if you’re driving or working dangerous machinery. First, find a comfortable position. Let your body settle into your chair. Feel as if you have roots that extend down deep into the Earth. And get grounded. Begin by taking a few deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Allow the exhales to be just a little bit longer than the inhales. Allow each inhale to deepen your internal contact with yourself.

Now, notice your waking state…your connection to the room around you. Notice the colors of the walls…the light shining through a window…Feel the surfaces below your body and feet…Feel the texture of the fabric of your clothing…Feel the temperature of the air…Hear the sounds…Sense your body, the tingles, the pains, the expansion of your belly as you breathe...This is the awareness most familiar to us…ordinary consciousness navigating the world.

Now close your eyes…allow your attention to start to shift inward. Allow external stimuli to fall away…Imagine the space of the dreaming mind…the world of symbols, images, emotions, and memory. Gently notice any impressions or feelings that float through. No need to follow them…just watch the mind’s creative dance…Notice that you are watching…watching the movement of thoughts, images and emotions. Place yourself in the seat of the witness, the one who watches.

And now, imagine sinking even deeper, possibly further within or behind…be the one who witnesses the witness...this is a place with no dreams, no images, no self. Just silence. Rest your awareness here for a few breaths… in the vast, formless quiet…Sense the pure awareness that has been present through all these states…the awareness that sees, that knows, that witnesses without doing. This is not something you need to grasp. Just recognize that you are that awareness… always here.

Now, let this awareness expand to include the space in which all thoughts, sensations, and witness states arise and dissolve. Stay here, resting… open… alert… and present. It’s just this. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just this.

Now begin to bring yourself back to the room…and settling back into your body. Mayb gently wiggle your fingers and toes to help ground you…Take three deep breaths to center yourself. Coming back into your body. 

Carry this sense of openness and awareness into your day, knowing that at any moment, you can shift between these layers with ease. Take one more deep breath and slowly open your eyes.

Part 9: Closing Thoughts

It’s important to know that the levels of awareness we've discussed are not abstract concepts reserved for the enlightened few, they are lived realities that, over time, will begin to arise within you. As old patterns, beliefs, and identifications fall away, these deeper states of awareness begin to reveal themselves, often spontaneously. At first, these glimpses may feel fleeting or unstable. The body-mind, conditioned over a lifetime to function within the ordinary waking state, needs time to adjust and recalibrate to each new depth of experience. This unfolding is not linear, it is cyclical, recursive, and uniquely tailored to your own inner architecture.

What once felt foreign, or profound may gradually begin to become your new normal. The spaciousness of witnessing awareness, the vastness of emptiness, or the intimacy of non-dual presence will begin to feel more familiar than the old contractions of identity. And yet, just when you think you’ve settled into a new state of being, life will nudge you into exploring another threshold, another deepening. This process is infinite, there is always more to be revealed, not in a striving sense, but as a natural evolution of being. As each layer stabilizes, you make room for the next to arise, like waves on the ocean returning to stillness before the next swell.

It’s tempting, along the way, to compare your experiences with those of others, especially if you are in community with fellow seekers. But beware: no two journeys are the same. Your insights, awakenings, and challenges are part of a highly personal and sacred unfolding. Looking sideways will often lead to confusion, self-doubt, and unnecessary striving. You may wonder why your experience doesn’t look like someone else’s, or why certain states come easily to others and not to you. But this work is not about mimicry, it is about authenticity. Trust what is showing up for you, even if it doesn’t fit your expectations.

So above all, be gentle. Be patient with yourself as old structures unwind and new awarenesses comes online. Extend compassion toward the parts of you that resist, fear, or doubt. Let your own unfolding be enough. You are not behind. You are not broken. You are being re-formed by a deeper intelligence that knows exactly what you need. The most powerful thing you can do is stay lovingly present to yourself as you walk this sacred, mysterious, and often surprising path.

Thank you for joining me today. If any this resonates with you, I encourage you to subscribe, share this podcast, and leave a review. Until next time, remember: awakening isn’t something you achieve. It’s something you allow.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Three Petals. To learn more about Jim Trofatter or this podcast and associated blog go to thethreepetals.online where the words the, three and petals are one continuous string of letters. Contact information is on the website. 

The Three Petals Podcast is hosted by buzzsprout.com and the podcast and curated transcript can be found at thethreepetals.buzzsprout.com

To learn more about Trillium Awakening go to www.trilliumawakening.org.

Music was written by JK Productions and was obtained free of charge from www.Pond5.com, that’s www. Dot P-O-N-D, the number 5 dot com.

This episode of the Three Petals was developed in conjunction with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

This is Jim Trofatter and I hope to see you next time on The Three Petals: Where the Infinite Meets the Intimate.