A primary state refers to a state such as those that involve primary emotions (fear, anger, joy, lust, relaxation, pleasure, disgust, etc.). A Meta-state, by contrast, refers to those states that contain thoughts-and-emotions about a primary state: anger at one’s fear, guilt about one’s anger, feeling upset about one’s disgust, fear of one’s fear, depression about one’s fear, etc.

Brain Dynamics
States-about-states (Meta-states) explains the critical importance of the unconscious frames that govern our presuppositional lives. It also explicitly details Bateson’s insights about meta-levels. Bateson argued that we can discern meaning not only via the words or syntax of a structure, but by considering the larger contexts within which the word and syntax occur. This explains how Meta-state technology can have such pervasive and generatice effects in change work.
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