The Three States of Consciousness in Advaita Vedānta

In Western philosophy and modern neuroscience, investigations into human consciousness almost exclusively take their stand in the waking state. The waking world of physical objects, people, time, and space is assumed to be the primary reality, while dreams are viewed as mere psychological or neurological by-products, and deep sleep is regarded as a passive state of unconsciousness. Traditional Advaita Vedānta, as expounded in the Upaniṣads and systematised by Ādi Śaṅkara, identifies a fundamental flaw in this approach: examining reality solely through the lens of waking experience provides only a fraction of the overall picture.

To arrive at an unobstructed understanding of the Self (Ātman), Advaita employs a rigorous analytical methodology known as avasthā-traya-prakriyā—the systematic enquiry into the three states of consciousness. By analyzing the waking state (jāgrat), the dream state (svapna), and the deep-sleep state (suṣupti), Advaita demonstrates how our sense of identity shifts across different realms of experience. Each state possesses its own unique field of operation, its own distinct ‘experiencer’ ego, and its own subjective universe.