4. WAKEFUL SLEEP
Destroying the waking state and transforming it into the distinguished sleep
is subduing and destroying the sleep of delusion.
In the glorious state wherein the mind has died, even deep sleep will become God Consciousness.
Destroying the waking state and transforming it into the distinguished sleep
is subduing and destroying the sleep of delusion.
In the glorious state wherein the mind has died, even deep sleep will become God Consciousness.
R
The ignorance of forgetfulness which makes you say that the waking state is a state of illumination makes you also declare that sleep is a sheath of ignorance.
If the belief that the waking state is the illustrious and unique state of truth goes, then sleep will become and shine as pure non–dual Reality.
–
R
Only those who have established themselves in the lotus–like shrine of the Heart and who have settled in conscious sleep there, without dwelling in the sense objects that deceive those who trust them, have totally awakened to the world of liberation, the firmament of being–consciousness.
The rest have entered the dense darkness, the false ignorance that is termed worldly knowledge, and have gone to sleep there.
–
R
Waking, dream and sleep are mere phases of the mind, not of the Self.
The Self is the witness of these three states.
Your true nature exists in sleep.
Q But we are advised not to fall asleep during meditation
[meditation refers to concentration exercises to make the mind one–pointed or still].
R
It is stupor [unconsciousness] which you must guard against.
That sleep which alternates with waking is not the true sleep.
That waking which alternates with sleep is not the true waking.
Are you awake now? No.
What you have to do is to wake up to your true state.
You should neither fall into false sleep nor remain falsely awake.
Though present even in sleep, the Self is not then perceived.
It cannot be known in sleep straightaway.
It must first be realised in the waking state for it is our true nature underlying all the three states.
Effort must be made in the waking state and the Self realised, here and now.
It will then be understood to be the continuous Self uninterrupted by the alteration of waking, dream and deep sleep.
–
R
The state of the Jnani [Self–realized individual] is neither in sleep nor in the waking state but in the intermediate between the two.
There is the Awareness of the waking state and the stillness of sleep.
It is called waking sleep.
Call it wakeful sleep or sleeping wakefulness or sleepless waking or wakeless sleep.
It is not the same as sleep or waking separately.
It is beyond wakefulness and beyond sleep.
It is the state of perfect Awareness and perfect stillness combined.
It lies between sleep and waking; it is also the interval between two successive thoughts.
It is the source from which thoughts spring; we see that when we wake up from sleep.
In other words thoughts have their origin in the stillness of sleep.
The thoughts make all the difference between the stillness of sleep and the turmoil of waking.
Go to the root of the thoughts and you reach the stillness of sleep.
You reach it in the full vigour of search, that is, with perfect Awareness.
–
Q What is the difference between the Bliss enjoyed in sleep and the Bliss enjoyed in turiya [turiyameaning the 4th state, the state of wakeful–sleep, the state on which the 3 states of waking, dreaming and sleeping appear]?
R
There are not different Blisses. There is only one Bliss which includes the Bliss enjoyed in the waking state, the Bliss of all kinds of beings from the lowest animal to the highest Brahma.
That Bliss is the Bliss of the Self. The Bliss which is enjoyed unconsciously in sleep is enjoyed consciously in turiya, that is the only difference.
The Bliss enjoyed in the waking state is second–hand, it is an adjunct of the real Bliss.
–
R
The state of waking sleep will arise through continuous enquiry in the form of self–questioning. Until this pervades and illumines both the waking and the dream states, you should practice that enquiry unceasingly.
The ignorance of forgetfulness which makes you say that the waking state is a state of illumination makes you also declare that sleep is a sheath of ignorance.
If the belief that the waking state is the illustrious and unique state of truth goes, then sleep will become and shine as pure non–dual Reality.
–
R
Only those who have established themselves in the lotus–like shrine of the Heart and who have settled in conscious sleep there, without dwelling in the sense objects that deceive those who trust them, have totally awakened to the world of liberation, the firmament of being–consciousness.
The rest have entered the dense darkness, the false ignorance that is termed worldly knowledge, and have gone to sleep there.
–
R
Waking, dream and sleep are mere phases of the mind, not of the Self.
The Self is the witness of these three states.
Your true nature exists in sleep.
Q But we are advised not to fall asleep during meditation
[meditation refers to concentration exercises to make the mind one–pointed or still].
R
It is stupor [unconsciousness] which you must guard against.
That sleep which alternates with waking is not the true sleep.
That waking which alternates with sleep is not the true waking.
Are you awake now? No.
What you have to do is to wake up to your true state.
You should neither fall into false sleep nor remain falsely awake.
Though present even in sleep, the Self is not then perceived.
It cannot be known in sleep straightaway.
It must first be realised in the waking state for it is our true nature underlying all the three states.
Effort must be made in the waking state and the Self realised, here and now.
It will then be understood to be the continuous Self uninterrupted by the alteration of waking, dream and deep sleep.
–
R
The state of the Jnani [Self–realized individual] is neither in sleep nor in the waking state but in the intermediate between the two.
There is the Awareness of the waking state and the stillness of sleep.
It is called waking sleep.
Call it wakeful sleep or sleeping wakefulness or sleepless waking or wakeless sleep.
It is not the same as sleep or waking separately.
It is beyond wakefulness and beyond sleep.
It is the state of perfect Awareness and perfect stillness combined.
It lies between sleep and waking; it is also the interval between two successive thoughts.
It is the source from which thoughts spring; we see that when we wake up from sleep.
In other words thoughts have their origin in the stillness of sleep.
The thoughts make all the difference between the stillness of sleep and the turmoil of waking.
Go to the root of the thoughts and you reach the stillness of sleep.
You reach it in the full vigour of search, that is, with perfect Awareness.
–
Q What is the difference between the Bliss enjoyed in sleep and the Bliss enjoyed in turiya [turiyameaning the 4th state, the state of wakeful–sleep, the state on which the 3 states of waking, dreaming and sleeping appear]?
R
There are not different Blisses. There is only one Bliss which includes the Bliss enjoyed in the waking state, the Bliss of all kinds of beings from the lowest animal to the highest Brahma.
That Bliss is the Bliss of the Self. The Bliss which is enjoyed unconsciously in sleep is enjoyed consciously in turiya, that is the only difference.
The Bliss enjoyed in the waking state is second–hand, it is an adjunct of the real Bliss.
–
R
The state of waking sleep will arise through continuous enquiry in the form of self–questioning. Until this pervades and illumines both the waking and the dream states, you should practice that enquiry unceasingly.