Meta-awareness is derived from the work of developmental psychologist, John Flavell, who coined the term "metacognition" (ca. 1975) to describe a phenomenon where a person has cognition about cognition or, stated another way, thinking about thinking.

Meta-awareness is modern academia's term for the ancient concept of {tip content="Detachment, also expressed as non-attachment, is a state in which a person overcomes his or her attachment to desire for things, people or concepts of the world and thus attains a heightened perspective. It is considered a wise virtue and is promoted in various Eastern religions, such as Jainism, Taoism and Buddhism."}Detachment{/tip}. While faliling to note this earlier, Eastern, source, Wikipedia does acknowledge that writings on metacognition date back at least as far as two works by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC): {tip content="On the Soul
On the Soul is a major treatise written by Aristotle c. 350 BC.
Although its topic is the soul, it is not about spirituality
but rather a work in what might best be described as biopsychology,
a description of the subject of psychology within a biological framework."}On the Soul{/tip} and the {tip content="Parva Naturalia
The Parva Naturalia (a conventional Latin title first used by Giles of Rome:
\"short treatises on nature\") are a collection of seven works by Aristotle,
which discuss natural phenomena involving the body and the soul.
They form parts of Aristotle's biology."}Parva Naturalia{/tip}.

The Fourth Way provides the best assessment of this ancient concept using graduations of awareness/consciousness ranging from self-remembering to self awareness to self-consciousness. Other elements of the Fourth Way expand upon this ancient concept, helping to better understand how to cultivate this significant, but poorly understood, state of mind.