From integral worldview to cosmic consciousness and ultimate unity
The Quantum Leap from 2. to 3. Tier Consciousness
The movement from Second to Third Tier consciousness marks a profound evolutionary leap. I would even call it a kind of
Quantum Leap — from an integrative, multi-perspectival ego to a direct realization of Spirit itself.
In the higher stages of 2nd Tier Consciousness we navigate the world with wisdom and compassion.
• 2nd-Tier Levels of Consciousness: The first stage is marked by the ability to embrace and integrate all previous altitudes of the 1st Tier, the different stages of self-centered Consciousness.
◦ Teal — Integral: This is the first 2nd-tier stage, we become multiperspectival and we can actively integrate and utilize all previous altitudes as needed. It is an individually focused stage where systemic thinking and intuition-level cognition emerge, allowing for the understanding of systems and natural hierarchies. There’s a drive to find connecting patterns and unities beyond diversities. This stage sees the world as alive and evolving, with natural hierarchies and flexible thinking.
◦ Turquoise — Integral: While still within the 2nd-tier, this stage is more communal and relies more on emotions than Teal. Individuals perceive the world as alive, loving, and evolving. Having integrated previous altitudes at Teal, there’s now a willingness to deeply question knowledge, believes, and nature of being-ness, with greater openness to forms of knowing beyond the intellect. The focus shifts towards attending to and healing the fragmentation created by earlier developmental stages.
Third Tier Consciousness transcends the very idea of a separate self. This why I use the words Cosmic Consciousness or Unity Consciousness to indicate the all-inclusiveness of it.
It’s exceedingly rare, but maps do exist.
• 3rd-Tier Levels of Consciousness: These altitudes are considered transpersonal and spiritual in nature, focused on a direct sense of wholeness and an awareness of awareness. They are Kosmocentric, meaning identified with the whole world and Universe. These levels are beyond what most humans experience.
◦ Indigo: This altitude marks the beginning of our journey into these transpersonal levels. It is called super-mind, beyond the ordinary mind and the junction between the 2nd- and 3rd-tiers. Here, individuals begin to drop their identification with the body-mind, seeing beyond the illusion of a separate self. They tune into a broader sense of self beyond thought and physicality, realizing that mental concepts deeply influence our experience of the world. There’s a sense of the Divine in all things, and compassion becomes cosmos-centric.
◦ Violet: At this stage, the transpersonal components from Indigo strengthen. It’s called meta-mind, moving beyond ordinary mind. A defining feature is “feeling-awareness,” where intellect, feelings, knowing, and being all come together. The sense of separation further breaks down, with a deep feeling of intimacy with the surroundings. Mysticism can be a prevailing form of spirituality, and knowledge arises from intuition, direct inner contact and direct knowing.
◦ Ultraviolet: This stage delves deeply into transpersonal territory and links to the Witness State, characterized by the realization of “I have thoughts but I’m not those thoughts” and an almost constant awareness of awareness. It’s described as “feeling witness” or “warm witnessing,” a loving and welcoming awareness. Thoughts and emotions are perceived as arising from beyond the mind. There’s an identification with pure consciousness, and absolute and relative truth become increasingly difficult to distinguish.
◦ Clear Light: This is the highest altitude of development, conjoined with the highest state of consciousness. It requires non-dual awareness to access and is described as superhuman, characterized by oneness with God and all the manifestations of God. There is no self, subject, or object; all experience is unified as “One”.
Absolute and relative truth merge completely. There’s an awareness of the same consciousness looking out of all beings, immersed in this oneness.
Dichotomies are transcended, resting in a deep underlying Unity.
Here I try to map out how the transition unfolds, the obstacles that appear, and the catalysts that can support the journey into the unknown and beyond.
How the Transition Is Accomplished
The leap to Third Tier isn’t automatic. It demands a series of radical shifts in identity and sustained engagement with higher states of awareness.
Central to this shift is disidentification from the egoic self:
we move from “I am my thoughts and feelings” to “I am the awareness in which thoughts and feelings arise.”
This is the birth of “The Witness” — the subtle psychic self observing all phenomena.
At 2nd Tier Consciousness, glimpses of spiritual unity are common, but they are often fleeting. To move into 3rd Tier, these glimpses must be stabilized.
Meditation, especially Vipassana Meditation, contemplative practice, and ongoing state training help convert temporary peak experiences into enduring traits.
Over time, the Witness becomes a constant background of our being — a steady awareness behind all activity.
Yet even the Witness must eventually be transcended.
We realize that the observer and the observed are not two.
All phenomena, including the Witness, arise within the single flow of reality/consciousness.
This flowering into Non-dual Awareness — sometimes called “Oneness” — is the signature of Third Tier Consciousness / Cosmic Consciousness / Unity Consciousness.
Parallel to spiritual practice, psychological integration is essential. The shadows and traumas of the ego as well as collective and archetypal shadows must be recognised, faced and healed, otherwise, they subtly distort or block the ascent.
In this sense, transpersonal development doesn’t bypass the human — it completes it, then moves beyond.
Practices from Buddhist Dzogchen as well as transpersonal psychology, offer precise guidance. They emphasize recognizing the nature of awareness itself — open, luminous, beyond thought — and resting in it until the realization becomes effortless and all-encompassing.
Hindrances on the Path
The journey to Third Tier is tricky, the road less travelled.
Several major obstacles tend to arise:
• Fear of Ego-Death: Even a highly developed ego resists its own dissolution. The terror of disappearing can cause us to unconsciously cling to familiar patterns or retreat into safer spiritual states.
• Deep unresolved Psychological Shadows: Unintegrated emotions, traumas, even collective or archetypal unconscious drives can erupt, derailing the process or creating spiritual bypass — an illusion of transcendence masking unresolved pain.
• Subtle Spiritual Ego: Pride in one’s spiritual achievements can harden into a new, hard to conquer form of self-identity — “I am awakened” — which prevents the deeper surrender needed.
• Dark Nights of the Soul and Existential Crises: As the self dissolves, one often passes through periods of profound emptiness, disorientation, or despair. These “dark nights” can feel like regressions, but are in fact purifications.
• Mistaking Regression for Transcendence: Without discernment, early, pre-rational states – like oceanic fusion like a baby – can be confused with true spiritual realization, leading to confusion and inflation.
• Isolation and Lack of Guidance: Few around us have walked this path and companionship is rare and hard to find. Without wise mentors, supportive communities, or spiritual maps, it’s easy to get lost or to doubt the validity of one’s experiences.
What Supports the Transition
Many factors can nurture and accelerate the move into Third Tier Consciousness and I think its is really important to use such resources:
• Consistent Contemplative Practice: Daily meditation that cultivates direct awareness of awareness is foundational. From personal experience I know that Samata and Vipassana – the original meditation Buddha taught – as doing exactly that.
Whether through mindfulness, self-inquiry, or resting in pure being, repeated contact with the ground of consciousness gradually reshapes one’s center of gravity.
• Shadow Work and Psychological Healing: Honest engagement with one’s emotional wounds, projections, and unconscious patterns ensures that the ego is mature and flexible enough to surrender when the time comes. A transpersonal therapist with a strong background in meditation may be helpful to avoid self-deception.
• Wise Teachers and Communities: Whether through direct mentorship, spiritual transmission, or collective practice, being in contact with others further along the path provides invaluable orientation and encouragement.
• Integral Life Practice: Balancing body, mind, spirit, and shadow work ensures that no dimension of the self is neglected. Physical health, ballanced nutrition, ethical action, and intellectual clarity support the flowering of spiritual realization.
• Practice of Surrender and Not-Knowing: Letting go of the need for control, certainty, and personal accomplishment allows the deeper current of being to carry one beyond the ego’s limits.
I very much believe in this one!
Faith — not blind belief, but trust in the unfolding process — becomes a living support.
• Skillful Handling of Spiritual Emergencies: Understanding dark nights and spiritual crises as part of the process helps one endure them without despair. Grounding practices, support networks, and psychological resilience are key to get thru a dark night of the soul and come out the other end – transformed.
• Moments of Grace: Peak experiences — whether in meditation, nature, or even through carefully guided psychedelic journeys — can offer glimpses of the unity awaiting beyond the self. When integrated wisely, they nourish the deeper transformation.
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In essence, the transition from Second to Third Tier Consciousness is not about climbing “higher”.
It is about falling deeper into presence, into surrender, into the seamless unity of all that is.
It is a movement from integrating reality to being reality.
No longer from the vantage point of a self, but as the living, breathing Cosmos itself.
Cosmic Consciousness
Unity Consciousness
Consciousness as All That Is
Om Tat Sat
