This repository provides a descriptive map of distinct layers of human experience that are often confused, collapsed, or treated as interchangeable.
It is not a theory of reality, a spiritual framework, a developmental ladder, or a system of personal improvement. It exists to help readers recognise what kind of experience they are having, what that layer can and cannot do, and where common category errors arise.
The goal is orientation, not instruction.
Each layer described here is valid within its own domain, but limited. No layer is treated as more “real”, “advanced”, or authoritative than the others.
This is not:
Experiences often described as mystical, transcendent, or symbolic are included as experiences, not as explanations or sources of authority.
Throughout this repository, coherence refers to the capacity to remain oriented to reality, responsibility, and constraint while navigating different layers of experience — especially under stress, uncertainty, or contradiction.
Coherence is not defined as emotional calm, internal pleasantness, or the maintenance of a preferred state. It is defined by functional integrity under load.
(An explicit definition of coherence is provided in the Human–AI Coherence Corpus.)
This repository is best read slowly, as an orientation map rather than a linear argument.
This repository is part of the Human–AI Coherence Corpus (HACC) and is intended to be read alongside related work, including:
Links to these repositories are provided in the HACC index.
This repository is intentionally non-exhaustive and may evolve.
Its purpose is to clarify distinctions, not to close questions.