The Four Bodies/Four States of Awareness Charts

Mark Griffin continually returned to the topic of the four bodies and their four states of awareness as fundamental aspects of the human architecture. In 108 Discourses on Awakening, Mark Griffin explains:

“The human form has four bodies of increasing subtlety: the physical body, which is the organizational point of matter; the subtle physical body, which is the organizational point of energy; the causal body, which is the organizational point of the mind; and the supra-causal body, which is the organizational point of infinite consciousness. All four bodies are inside the frame of the physical body, subtle sheath within sheath within sheath.”

He goes on to iterate:

“The first three states of consciousness–waking, sleep with dreams, and dreamless sleep are relative to the four bodies. The waking state relates primarily to the physical body wherein the operations of the senses, the mind, and the prana are present.

However, as we enter the sleep-with-dreams state, the awareness of the body and the senses falls away. All we have left is the awareness of the mind and the prana. In this state, we operate inside a condition of pure thought that is culled from the memory of the mind.

Then as we shift into deep sleep, the physical body and the senses shut down and only the life force, the prana, is present. The mind is gone. The senses are gone. The body is gone. Spiritually speaking, this state of consciousness is one membrane away from Atman.”

That leaves the Fourth State. Mark says:

“The sages tell us, “The mind, the body, and the senses make up the dynamics of the psychic apparatus. If the mind is gone, the senses are gone, and the body is gone, another center of consciousness must exist.” And thus it is. The Atman–the fourth state.”

Below, you’ll find two tables by which to view the organization of the four bodies and their attending four states of awareness…