This is the sixth day of Paramita Week

All types of meditation cultivate and focus on the development of at least one level of human mentality.

What are these levels or structures of human consciousness? We can think of human consciousness – as some modern philosophers have – as composed of three layers or levels of awareness. At the most basic level is immediate experience, direct awareness of some appearance, internal or external. We hear sounds in our environment; we see objects, movements, shades of light, colors; we smell fragrances, taste flavors, and feel the tactile character of our world. …

A second layer of human consciousness – reflective thinking – goes beyond direct awareness. In thought we step back out of immediate awareness in order to inquire and reflect on some dimension of it. When engaged at the reflective level of consciousness, we raise questions about what we have experienced, we deliberate, and make judgments: Is this really what it appears to be; is this tool really the best one for this purpose; does this activity conflict or cohere with my moral or political convictions? By employing the mental tools of critical thinking, the reflective level of awareness enables broader and more nuanced understanding. This expansion of consciousness makes deliberate choice among alternatives possible, and its cultivation enhances our capacity to make sound decisions. …

The third form or level of human consciousness is self-awareness, or reflexive consciousness. At this level, the mind bends back in awareness of itself. Beyond the objects of our awareness at the first level and our thinking about them at the second is the self-awareness of the one whose experience this is. Whereas the things of experience and our thoughts about them can become objects of reflection – we can get them in front of our mind’s eye in order to contemplate them – the one who does this cannot be similarly objectified. This is so because every time you attempt to step back to look at yourself or your current engagement in any activity, the one who steps back to look is the one at whom you hope to look. I cannot see myself as subject – my subjectivity as such – in any direct way because I am always the one doing the seeing. …

These three levels of consciousness constitute the structural options of human awareness, at least so far in human evolution. In immediate experience we are aware of the world. In reflective experience, we step back out of immediacy to question or ponder this world. And in reflexive experience, we encounter or get a sense of the one whose experiences these are. Since everything we experience falls within one of these three domains of awareness, or some combination of them, it is helpful to think of meditation as developing the skills and insights associated with each of these levels.