This cross-cultural examination explores the varieties of conscious experience and attempts to understand and explain consciousness in Western and Eastern spiritual traditions and see how they differ from and complement each other. It then attempts to reconcile the two traditions.

This cross-cultural examination first explores the varieties of conscious experience and reflects on the attempts to understand and explain consciousness in the Western scholarly and scientific tradition. The next section deals with Eastern spiritual traditions and how they differ from and complement the Western viewpoints. In the final chapters the author reconciles the two traditions for a comprehensive understanding of what consciousness is, and considers how such an understanding may be helpful for a cross-cultural assessment of behavior, as well as for enhancing human abilities and wellness.