[SufiMystic] Deep Sleep State

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At 2/2/2002-11:18 PM Jan Sultan wrote:

>sufiMystic

>[sufiMystic] Deep Sleep State

>

>The deep sleep state is with you 24 hours a day.

>It is just that when you wake up the screen is not blank anymore. Your

>daily 'movie' obscures the 'blank screen'.

>And yes, you can learn to be 'aware' when in the deep sleep state. You can

>even see a dream arising and just push it away. Though you will have to

>recover the 'lost' sleep another time. Believe me, all very scary stuff.

>

>Love You

>Jan

 

Here is some stuff I unearthed regarding being aware during the deep sleep

state. From Nisargadatta, Aziz Kristof and Susan Segal.

The only reason I can think of that brought about this deep sleep state

awareness for me was that it was a thorn in my side. I had not accepted the

advaidic arguments about the deep sleep state. My fear was that it all was

in our brains, and that once our brains slept, as in deep sleep, existence

ceased.

So, as they say, Ask and the answer will come! Just make sure you connect

directly!:-)

 

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Awareness is primordial; it is the original state, beginningless, endless,

uncaused, unsupported, without parts, without change. Consciousness is on

contact, a reflection against a surface, a state of duality. There can be

no consciousness without awareness, but there can be awareness without

consciousness, as in deep sleep. Awareness is absolute, consciousness is

relative to its content; consciousness is always of something.

Consciousness is partial and changeful, awareness is total, changeless,

calm and silent. And it is the common matrix of every experience. Since it

is awareness that makes consciousness possible, there is awareness in every

state of consciousness. Therefore, the very consciousness of being

conscious is already a movement in awareness. Interest in your stream of

consciousness takes you to awareness. It is not a new state. It is at once

recognized as the original, basic experience, which is life itself, and

also love and joy. (29)

 

The mind is discontinuous. Again and again it blanks out, like in sleep or

swoon or distraction. There must be something continuous to register

discontinuity. Memory is always partial, unreliable and evanescent. It does

not explain the strong sense of identity pervading consciousness, the sense

" I am " . Find out what is at the root of it. (307)

 

The person merges into the witness, the witness into awareness, awareness

into pure being, yet identity is not lost, only its limitations are lost.

It is transfigured and becomes the real Self, the sadguru, the eternal

friend and guide. You cannot approach it in worship. No external activity

can reach the inner self; worship and prayers remain on the surface only;

to do deeper meditation is essential, the striving to go beyond the states

of sleep, dream and waking. In the beginning the attempts are irregular,

then they recur more often, become regular, then continuous and intense,

until all obstacles are conquered. (447)

----------------

Aziz Kristof

From the point of view of one who is in the state of Presence, it feels

like an experience of absolute subjectivity. To prove that this is so,

some practitioners try even to bring this state to the Sleep State. But

this is unwise, for to be aware during sleep ultimately can create serious

imbalance in the psyche. The presence of awareness during Sleep State

interferes with the natural healing process of our subconscious. To know

when to control and when to let go is a function of intelligence. There is

no need to control the sleep state, as there is no need to control the

moment of death, when all dissolves into the Source and there is no force

in the universe that can stop it.

 

Enlightenment does not necessarily bring awareness to the sleep

state. Many seekers unquestioningly adopt the belief in the necessity of

becoming aware of the inner state in the Sleep State. It is fine for the

older masters who have completed their personal growth. In the case of

young people, bringing awareness to the Sleep State is very unhealthy. It

hinders the natural process of self-healing and the release of the

subconscious mind in the dream state. The decision as to whether awareness

is present in sleep or not belongs to the Absolute itself. For those who

have shifted to the Absolute State, there is no longer will operating as

far as " being within " is concerned. If we look more deeply into this idea

of being aware in sleep or controlling the Dream State, what we find is

fear. Many even fear that they will not be aware in the moment of

death. It is madness.

 

Here, we are entering the mystery of awakening to the Uncreated. There is a

stage of realisation which the Buddha experienced and later called reaching

Nirvana. At this stage, consciousness merges with that which is prior to

consciousness. The experience of it is like entering a deep sleep state

while remaining fully present. Here, one is fully present and fully absent.

There is no movement in that state, only absolute stillness exists. The

absolute stillness is the presence of the Uncreated. And the presence of

the Uncreated is the absence of consciousness. The meeting between these

two is called the Absolute State. The ultimate experience is of non-abidance.

-------------

Susan Segal

Walking home from that bus ride, she felt like a " cloud of awareness "

following the body. The cloud was a witness located behind and to the left

of the body and completely separate from body, mind and emotions. The

witness was constant and so was the fear, the fear of complete physical

dissolution. The witnessing continued for several months, even during

sleep, and Segal had to endure the fear and the accompanying stress,

finding relief in long and frequent sleeps.