The consciousness that is your essential nature, atma, is the sakshi, awareful witness, of all mind’s activities when you you are awake, dreaming, or in deep dreamless sleep. In deep sleep, you remain conscious, but there’s nothing to be conscious of. That consciousness is all-pervasive and is reflected or manifest differently by every mind as the divinity dwelling within.
Swami Tadatmananda is a traditionally-trained teacher of Advaita Vedanta, meditation, and Sanskrit.