Our states of being

Per the Upanishads, there are four states of being. They are:
* Jagruthi: Being awake. In Tamil, 'Jagruthaiya iru' means be careful, derived from be awake & aware of what you are doing.
* Swapna: Dreaming.
* Sushupthi: Dreamless sleep.
* Turiya: The state where you are constantly aware. What if we are aware that we falling asleep, dreaming, in deep sleep? (Source: Upanyasam of Haridas Giri). Yogis say that in advanced stages, we get into this state. In Tamil, a person who gets into this state is called a Turavi.

The different stages of sleep are when our bodies tap into an infinite source for regeneration & knowledge. Here are examples of famous ideas that were obtained during sleep: Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table of elements, James Cameron's Terminator character, the Beatles' Yesterday, Keith Richards' opening verse of 'I can't get No Satisfaction'. (Source: Discover Life magazine, Summer 2018, Feeling Good).

There are also four undesirable conditions. They are:
* Mrithyu: Death. We all fear death.
* Jaraa: Old age. Growing old and getting the ailments of old age is undesirable for all of us.
* Vyaadhi: Sickness.
* Janma: Being born, which causes us to go through the other undesirable conditions.

There is a lot of symbology in Hindu scriptures & temples to get rid of these undesirable states. http://vedham.blogspot.com/2018/08/three-secrets-of-shiva-birth-death-who.html

What are we actually? Per Paramahamsa Yogananda, we have three types of bodies.
* Bhootha: Physical. Pancha Bhoothas mean the five elements of Prithvi (earth), Jala (water), Agni (fire), Vayu (air) & Akasha (space). The body that we get from these elements in the Bhoota Udal (body in Tamil). This body is called the Annamaya Kosha. Annam is food, Kosha is covering. Annamaya is the flesh derived from food.
* Sthoola: Astral. This is covered by the Praanamaya Kosha (breath & life-force), Manomaya Kosha (mind) & Jnanamaya Kosha (intellect). When the physical body dies, the mind & underlying layers are still active, until they find another body. This provides the dream images during the Swapna state, including sensory powers of sense such as sight, smell, hearing, taste & touch. When people with near death experiences talk about seeing their own body being operated upon (Eg: last case in National Geographic's Moment of Death documentary), it is this astral body that they are using.
* Sookshma: Causal. This is covered by the Aanandamaya Kosha (bliss). This is our state during Sushupthi (dreamless sleep), when the most bodily & mental regeneration happens.

You should never take someone's word for this. Per the Yogis, Acharyas & saints, the only way you can discover for yourself whether this is true or not is through meditation (Dhyaana).

A simple beginner's meditation technique that I'm practicing is to observe your own breath. Breathe normally, when you inhale: mentally say Ham, when you exhale, mentally say Sa. When you realize that your mind has wandered, simply bring it back & continue. I can testify that this improves concentration, makes the mind calmer & reduces addiction to the smartphone and social media. (Technique derived from Swami Rama's Himalayan Academy). (Word: Hamsa, the mythical bird that can sift milk from water when they are mixed. In the world, the good & bad are constantly mixed & it is difficult to sift those. One who can sift this has Viveka-discrimination & is a Hamsa. One who is great at sifting this & providing the right information gets the title of ParamaHamsa or the great Hamsa. Eg: Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. This meaning is derived from Paramahamsa Yogananda's autobiography of a Yogi.) (Technically, this is a Dhaarana technique, where Dhaarana means external concentration. We're using our own breath to focus. Eventually, this can lead to Dhyaana, or focusing inwards, which is meditation. I'm not able to get to Dhyaana yet, so I don't know how this feels like. These are Angas-limbs in Patanjali's Ashta-anga yoga).