In Stages & States, Mark Griffin presents a precise map of consciousness, distinguishing between the developmental progression of awakening and the temporary experiences that arise within it. Framed as a teaching on completion, the discourse reveals how spiritual growth unfolds through both irreversible stages and repeatable states of awareness, offering a clear structure for understanding the evolution of consciousness.

Griffin defines a stage as a permanent shift in development—an irreversible transformation in the structure of awareness—while a state is a temporary condition of attention that can arise and pass within any given stage. This distinction provides a critical framework for interpreting spiritual experience, clarifying why profound states may be glimpsed before they are stabilized as lived realization. These insights directly support the process described in The Natural State, where realization becomes continuous rather than intermittent.

A central theme of the teaching is completion: the yogic act of integrating experience so that it becomes distilled knowledge rather than lingering psychological residue. Griffin explains that all experiences leave impressions within the system—energetic, emotional, and cognitive traces that shape future perception. Through conscious completion, these impressions are reduced to their essential insight, allowing the practitioner to retain clarity without carrying forward distortion. This process parallels the mechanisms described in Modifications of the Mind, where conditioned patterns accumulate and influence identity.

The teaching then maps stages and states onto the four bodies—physical, subtle, causal, and supracausal—along with the classical states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. This framework reveals how consciousness moves through different layers of experience, from sensory engagement to subtle perception and ultimately to formless awareness. As the practitioner progresses, deeper absorptions emerge, including savikalpa samadhi and Nirvikalpa Samadhi, where the distinction between subject and object dissolves entirely.

A key insight is that advanced states can be temporarily accessed before the corresponding stage is stabilized. These glimpses are not accidental; they create a karmic imprint that accelerates future development. Through practice, refinement, and sustained attention, these states gradually become integrated, transforming into stable stages of realization.

Ultimately, Stages & States provides both a diagnostic and a roadmap. It allows practitioners to understand where they are within the process of awakening and how to proceed with clarity and precision. The teaching culminates in the recognition that all stages and states are pervaded by a deeper, ever-present awareness—the nondual reality described in Everything & Nothing. In this recognition, the practitioner is invited not only to progress through stages, but to rest in the underlying consciousness that includes them all.