viparyaya: wrong knowledge or misconceptionĪll of the states of consciousness are interlinked and some states, such as daydreaming, are a combination of the five.pramana: correct knowledge - composed of direct perception, correct deduction, and testimony from authority.There are five modifications of consciousness: The awareness of ones self as a singular body is known as asmita or “I-ness”.Ĭhitta (while not mentioned in the book) refers to the unconscious mind. The ego is constantly changing as it feeds off the mind, but it can be perceived as something that is constant. Ahamkara is ones identity or I-shape, with the stem a ham meaning “I” and akara meaning shape. Rather than reacting, intelligence interrogates memory and sensory input, drawing creative comparisons.Īhamkara is ego or self. This layer is both cognitive (logical, decision making) and conative (action-taking and intentional). reflexive, meaning it has vision or darshan and 2. It is the first inner layer and mediates between manas and ahamkara. These states aid in self-observation and self-knowledge.īuddhi is intelligence. They are the dull state, distracted mind, oscillating mind, pointed attentive mind, and samadhi (restrained consciousness that is experienced in a timeless state of absorption). There are five qualities of the mind, known as bhumis.

It is often characterized by indecisive and reactive to both memory and senses - an often harmful behavior. In other words, it is the gatherer and storer of information and explorer and experiencer of the outside world.

It is the outermost layer composed of our memory and senses.

Light on life bks iyengar