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The topic of the retreat, and its goal, is the turiya state—the elusive fourth level of human
consciousness. During the typical human experience, say the Yogis, most of us are always
moving between three different levels of consciousness—waking, dreaming or deep dream-
less sleep. But there is a fourth level, too. This fourth level is the witness of all the other
states, the integral awareness that links the other three levels together. This is the pure con-
sciousness, an intelligent awareness that can—for example—report your dreams back to you
in the morning when you wake up. You were gone, you were sleeping, but somebody was
watching over your dreams while you slept—who was that witness? And who is the one who
is always standing outside the mind’s activity, observing its thoughts? It’s simply God, say the
Yogis. And if you can move into that state of witness-consciousness, then you can be present
with God all the time. This constant awareness and experience of the God-presence within
can only happen on a fourth level of human consciousness, which is called turiya.
Here’s how you can tell if you’ve reached the turiya state—if you’re in a state of constant
bliss. One who is living from within turiya is not affected by the swinging moods of the mind,
nor fearful of time or harmed by loss. “Pure, clean, void, tranquil, breathless, selfless, endless,
undecaying, steadfast, eternal, unborn, independent, he abides in his own greatness,” say the
Upanishads, the ancient Yogic scriptures, describing anyone who has reached the turiya
state. The great saints, the great Gurus, the great prophets of history—they were all living in
the turiya state, all the time. As for the rest of us, most of us have been there, too, if only for
fleeting moments. Most of us, even if only for two minutes in our lives, have experienced at
some time or another an inexplicable and random sense of complete bliss, unrelated to any-
thing that was happening in the outside world. One instant, you’re just a regular Joe, schlep-
ping through your mundane life, and then suddenly—what is this?—nothing has changed, yet
you feel stirred by grace, swollen with wonder, overflowing with bliss. Everything—for no reas-
on whatsoever—is perfect.
Of course, for most of us this state passes as fast as it came. It’s almost like you are
shown your inner perfection as a tease and then you tumble back to “reality” very quickly, col-
lapsing into a heap upon all your old worries and desires once again. Over the centuries,