Consciousness exists on many levels with many co-processes. Without careful meditative practices, we tend to view our minds along a linear path as we change ou

Consciousness exists on many levels with many co-processes. Without careful meditative practices, we tend to view our minds along a linear path as we change our focus from thought to thought. We are immersed in our stream of consciousness. That stream is our identity. Meditation forces a meta-examination of that stream and recognize that it isn't the one flowing river that you normally feel it to be. Meditation allows you to exercise other levels of your consciousness that can recognize, observe, and even control those other parallel threads of consciousness. I have read that there are possible pitfalls for people already suffering from paranoid schizophrenic-ish disorders. I think they're already dealing with an out-of-control sense of not having a single stream of consciousness that they always recognize as themselves. I can only speak for myself, but I don't find the sensation of a multi-threaded "me" all that alarming. YMMV