Benjamin Snow Sipes

Seven Layers of Thought

The following is a classification scheme I call “The Layers of Thought,” where each layer describes the nature of the contents of consciousness during mindfulness practice. Each layer contains all the layers below it, and each layer removes something essential to the layer above it.

1. Narrative: Our inner-narration about events or ourselves. The prominent feature is language. Any thought that can be “read out” is in this category.
2. Symbolic Personal: A symbolic/abstract notion of ourselves. While these thoughts cannot be “read out,” they could be articulated upon reflection. The sense of wanting, realizing, and planning arise in this category before becoming narrated in the above layer.
3. Symbolic Impersonal: A symbolic/abstract notion of things that does not implicate a “me.” Contemplating a mathematical formula, the nature of clouds, or any other “thing” that “I” am not implicated in. This is the first layer of “selflessness,” but it’s a very shallow selflessness. Note that emotions exist in this layer but that they are depersonalized, more of the “energy” than the “I am feeling X,” which would be Narration of a Symbolic Personal thought.
4. Fleeting Abstraction: This layer shares features of Layer 3 (Symbolic Impersonal), but its characterized by a lack of structure in time and in thought. Symbolic concepts (e.g., an apple, a force, an emotion) arise and pass away fleetingly in this layer. Lingering on any of these fleeting concepts brings you back up to Layer 3.
5. Sensory Abstraction: This layer is similar to Layer 4 (Fleeting Abstraction), but the abstractions are now solely with respect to the incoming sensory data. You hear wind rustling leaves, and the concept a leaf and wind arises. These concepts can be associated with brief visual abstractions. This also includes a notion of distance–you hear a dog bark and you have an abstract notion of how far away that dog must be and in what direction. Or if you hear a dog bark, what kind of dog it could be (was it a high pitched yelp like a chihuahua or a low grumble like a bulldog). As one more example, this layer retains a notion of your body in space–my head “feels” like it’s above my shoulders and my shoulders “feel” above my chest. This layer could be alternatively described as a “metadata” or an “implicit association” layer.
6. Raw Sensory (Segregated): This layer removes all that “metadata” from the above Layer 5 (Sensory Abstraction). Raw sensations are experienced “in their own place” without creating the implicit associations. Sense data within each sensory modality (touching/hearing/seeing/etc.) become blurred within the modality (e.g., the location of body parts in space goes away), but sensory experience is still strongly segmented by modality (vision still feels different from touching or hearing).
7. Raw Sensory (Integrated): In this layer, the notions of segregation between sensory stimuli becomes blurred. You go from “everything in its own place,” to “everything in the same place.” Senses are unified and become part of an integrated whole of “experience.”
8. Cessation: The deepest layer when only consciousness without content remains. This is not an official “Layer of Thought” because there are no “thoughts” here. To the extent that anyone can reach this layer, the time spent here is likely to be very brief. Although, time itself will stop being perceived entirely, and so the amount of time spent in this layer would be impossible to discern during cessation. I consider this a more theoretical layer compared to the others.

It’s important to note that we cycle through different depths of these layers both during and outside of practice. During a flow-state while playing an instrument, for example, we may be cycling between Layers 1 and 4 with more time spent in Layers 3/4. However, note that one’s sensation of time becomes increasingly distorted with increasing depth, so in the deeper layers it will be increasingly unclear how much time you spent at that layer.

In my personal mindfulness practice, I notice that there is a top-down progression with increasing “layer depth” during a practice session. With increasing practice, removing top-most layers (1-3) becomes more effortless and natural. I also notice that I can oscillate between different layers as I relax into the practice and then lose attention.

As with any classification structure, defining distinct “Layers” is a simplification, and instead these may be better viewed as landmarks on a continuum.