Layers of Self-Consciousness

We are self-conscious creatures, and various spiritual traditions, among them Sufism, describe levels of self-awareness in interesting and important ways. Traditionally, Sufism describes seven levels of self-awareness (consciousness) in the following ways:

Nafs al-ammara: The commanding or obsessive-compulsive self, known in the Christian tradition as the "carnal mind," which is governed by our desires, passions, and instincts.
Naf al-lawwama: The accussative or blaming self which occurs when conscience is awakended and realizes the extent to which its actions are controlled by the first level.
Naf al-mulhama: The balanced self which marks the beginning of genuine spiritual integration when a person is freer from the tyranny of the ego and begins to be balanced by spiritual energies.
Naf al-al-mutma'inna: The tranquil self, or self-consciousness which experiences peace as a dynamic equilibrium, attaining a degree of detachment from the world and deeper awareness of the divine Presence.
Naf al-al-radiyya: The fulfilling self which is being is being filled with spiritual Presence, the prelude to union with divine Consciousness.
Naf al-maridiyya: The self of deep satisfaction because, in total submission, God is merging into the individual's consciousness.
Naf al-kamila: The completed self because consciousness is in a state of full union with the divine Presence, having attained cosmic or universal consciousness.

It is easy to imagine that as each of these layers is added, the rest would somehow disappear, but this does not seem to be the case. Each layer of conscious awareness does not disappear when one grows into the next, but continues to exist as a latent "operating systems" (Cynthia Bourgeault) that can be activated by certain triggers. What is difficult is that when they are triggered and come alive, in an activated state they wield influence over self-awareness once again. They were "dead" (not operating) perhaps for a time, but now they seem to have a life of their own. Indeed, this appears to be exactly the experience the Apostle Paul is describing in the seventh chapter of his letter to the Romans.

A spiritual and growing human being reflects this difficult complexity. Higher states of consciousness in a certain sense "complicate" our lives, and yet the passageway into a stable state at the higher levels of self-awareness is crucial if we are to become "completed" human beings, the full anthropos that the early Christian tradition talked about.