Consciousness is immediacy, but the immediate is pure positive content or qualia, and by that is the very object of consciousness and hence exactly what consciousness is not - so the content points via negation to the actuality which in turn becomes another kind of positive content which is negated again, and so on. So there is both a positive and a negative apprehension involved and they cannot be separated - at best they alternate. This doesn't mean that consciousness is inherently dialectical but that any way of trying to apprehend it must be, must go that way. It is a way of trying to point in an impossible direction. This squares with some traditions, but it is somewhat out of the line that would speak of 'altered states' and their classifications. Is it far away or is it close up? Is it inhibited by what is called ego or is it the nakedness of experience inclusive of ego? Is not knowing more or less real than knowing? Can you answer yes or no? Is there something at stake or not?