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The Truth behind Sleep
I have heard it said that the need for sleep is due
to this physical reality requiring a lot of energy of the
'one mind' to create. I have recently had some new insights into the nature
and the reason behind sleep which I would like to share:
Introduction
When I looked at the above explanation
(a lack of energy in 'Life' being the cause of the need for sleep),
it seemed to imply a
limit to the power of this Mind (The Creator) and I was therefore compelled to question
and even
challenge the idea. It seemed impossible: I had taken this mind (God?) to be limitless, infinite, and
without boundary or restriction. But how can this be correct if apparently 'God' needs to have a rest
from creating this reality as it is too much for 'Him' to do so indefinitely?
Something did not fit right, so I looked closer and soon another possibility was
revealed...
(NB. Later I saw this 'new insight' (described below) actually reinforced the initial
teaching regarding a lack of energy, but not for the reasons I expected; more at
the bottom...)
First, it occurred to me that there are a number of
actions or functions the body carries out as a vital part of being 'alive'
besides sleep,
and these are often entirely choiceless. For example, breathing. If one tries to
stop breathing through will-power alone, the body will soon go unconscious, removing
this function from the personal conscious decision-making process and the body begins
to breath again. Another vital bodily function is the excreting of food waste
and the toxins contained therein (ie. going to the toilet). Trying through will-power
again to not
do this only succeeds for a certain period of time before the pain becomes
impossible to bare and the body takes over naturally.
Then we have eating and drinking, though to a
slightly lesser extent in one sense. It is possible to wilfully refrain from food or water
for quite some time, and the body will not go unconscious or 'take over' as such.
Nature requires the person to continue to function consciously in order to be
able to look for food and water and actually consume it. Instead, the physical discomfort can be
great, and after a while the thinking process can be affected and the mental and emotional
(and of course, physical) functions are seriously impaired (until, as we know, the body ceases to function
at all).
Taking the examples further, there is also the need
to keep warm, and the body will shiver and eventually curl up in a ball to
retain heat. And, if touching a scolding surface, the hand will naturally
withdraw quickly, without thought.
Sleep would seem to fall into the same category as
all the above, where the body does something of its own accord simply because
it needs to. As to the exact reasons why we need to sleep, a quick search online
brings up a range of theories and questions, repeatedly accompanied by the admission that
no-one is sure.
What we do know is that sleep is another function
over which a person has some conscious control. It is possible to miss a whole night's
sleep with fairly minor consequences, and as long as one is able to have one or
two good nights' sleep straight after, it is quickly as if the interruption never
occurred.
However, irregular or disturbed sleep patterns over
an extended period can soon have devastating affects on a person's ability to
function and is a well established method of torture. Without even physically
touching the person, merely preventing them from going to sleep can lead to
massive acute emotional and even psychological problems.
So, what is sleep for? Clearly we have established
above that it is required for mental well-being. Physical rest is not enough
without actual sleep, so it is not even about the body requiring rest. It is sleep
specifically that is required - a detachment from consciousness and/or conscious
'thinking'. (And the requirement for sleep applies to other animals as well as humans).
I am going to leave the scientists to their debates
and experiments about what happens to the body during sleep. To me, all
physical (measured) reasons are secondary to the truth behind what is going on
here, and it is this that I would like to talk about:
The Reason for Sleep
Those familiar with my teaching will know I liken
this existence to a dream (or, perhaps more-so, that I state outright that it is a
dream).
This is how this reality has been interpreted for me in various insights over the
last 20 years, and with each new insight all those received previously are further
reinforced and consolidated.
I teach that this dream (physical reality) is
created by an emotional attachment to being separate (within the One Being) and the need to express
this; and, like all emotions, it comes in waves. Many of us will be familiar with
being very upset or angry about something, and how it plays on our mind for a while,
causing strong feelings which
seem to sap our emotional and mental strength. The feelings can be extreme as we fight to keep a grip on
the situation: 'Will it ever stop?!'. And then, suddenly, it has gone, as if a
creature has had its fill and moved away, and one is left feeling
washed out and empty. It's not long though before the thoughts and feelings return again,
as if with a new strength, and one goes through it all again. Thankfully the
cycle is not endless, and there comes a time when the feelings don't have the
same debilitating power and the toll on our inner energy is not so great... And
then, quietly,
in time, they are gone for good (that is, with regards to this particular
painful matter at least. It will not be long
before another instance disturbs us and the process is repeated).
Coming back to the purpose of this page, the above description, as far as I can see, fits
well with what happens in the sleep/wake cycle that we endure (or should that be
'enjoy'?) throughout our lives,
and explains why sleep is necessary, or more-so, inevitable. 'Deep Dreamless Sleep' is the
opposite polarity to being 'awake' in our busy lives, in the same way as feeling washed out and
exhausted is the opposite of feeling furious or overcome with grief - one must
follow the other.
Conclusion
I used to believe (through being told by spiritual
authority figures, as well as my own experience and reasoning at the time) that
'Deep Dreamless Sleep was the
nearest to the Ultimate Reality that one can get, but that it is not actually
'it', as even in Deep Dreamless Sleep the total absence of 'Being' is not yet complete'.
However, I am beginning to
see, for the first time, that 'Deep Dreamless Sleep' is only experienced as
being so 'deep' because
the sense of separation from the whole that is experienced within the individual
is so vivid when awake (in the dream here). (And this extreme separation results in the living physical world being so so 'real').
And, in the same way as having endured an extended
emotional period and the following period is one of a complete lack of vibrancy,
I see Deep Dreamless Sleep as another example of this pendulum action.
Furthermore, when all the need to be separate has
been 'lived out' or dissolved (in day-to-day living throughout the 'life'),
eventually the shift into/through Deep Dreamless Sleep and into Death itself
will be no shift at all, because the extremes of the pendulum will be minimum,
and both polarities very close to each other...
To explain further:
Like all emotions and the results of their affects,
the pendulum swings at lesser and lesser extremes before coming to rest in the
middle. Being 'Awake' (ie. struggling in the world here) has its polarity which
is 'Deep Dreamless Sleep', and I am suggesting that these two extremes will
eventually lessen to two new 'states' or polarities: Simply being 'Awake' (ie.
in the 'Buddhist' sense, of still
dreaming this world, but less and less affected by circumstances of life), Vs
'Dreamless Sleep' (where there are still images, followed by an absence of all
experience; but you may notice the lack of the word 'Deep, ie. there is no more
'Deep Dreamless Sleep')...
Eventually, when all is finished and there is no
more pendulum action at all, there is simply 'Being', where there is no Dream to be
lost in nor to wake up from. The two poles have merged into one, where one is
totally 'aware' but without an object to be aware of, as none is needed. This is
both the beginning and the end.
GOING DEEPER...
The Nature of Sleep Continued:
As I consider this further, another thought occurred
to me: As I experience the two states currently, being 'Awake' and 'Dreamless
Sleep', often there is a middle reality which one passes through, both on the
way to Dreamless Sleep and on the way back to being awake. This is the state we
usually call dreaming. Since this phase would seem to be the middle between both
extremes, it follows that this state could very well be the Ultimate Reality!
This is new, but it makes sense...
In the 'Spiritual Life' it is common to put much
emphasis on going beyond this dream or illusory/temporary existence (Maya), and
the suggestion that the Ultimate Reality could be yet more dreaming would be outrageous to
most seekers. But this attitude, now I look at it, appears to be a blatant
denial of the fact that this existence is here and, accepting that it is only
dreamt, the 'Being' responsible for dreaming/creating it is clearly 'designed'
for doing just that. As much as 'I' may (or may not) wish to say that anything
non-permanent should not exist, it has to be considered whether this physical 'reality' is precisely what is
'meant' to happen (whilst removing any judgment from the word 'meant')...
As I look at it now, it is seemingly likely/logical
that the 'Ultimate Reality', the end or 'neutral' state, is one similar to our
familiar dream state (ie. when asleep in bed); with images appearing and
feelings rising from what is 'experienced', all flowing effortlessly from one to
another. There will still be apparent rules (laws), present in one instant and not there in the next,
such as flying, walking through walls, changing shape or location, etc. and all with no
holding on of one moment (or movement) into the next...
So, I don't know if this explanation has ever been
said before, but while there will very likely be a background of simply 'Being'
(but being 'nothing'), I see the 'dream state' as continuing to be a major part
of the 'Neutral state' or ultimate end point (after death) - ie. without the extremes...
The 'extremes' referred to at the end of the last
paragraph relate to being 'alive' and 'deep dreamless sleep. ie. Here currently,
a strong
attachment to one specific train of thought or imagined scenario has to play
itself out to a conclusion, with each new 'day' picking up pretty much where the
last day left off, and the dream continues. (As with the words given to me when I had the insight that
this was a dream, over 20 years ago now, 'A Dream it may be, but The Dream goes
on!'.
(Taking this explanation back to our own day-to-day
experience, have you ever tried to stop thinking about something but found it
impossible to do so? Followers or Seekers of the Spiritual Path may know this
well (in their meditation), as they fight daily to remain conscious in the face
of the incredible pull of the mind to day-dream, or indeed worry about a
situation. When one scenario is complete in the worldly sense and the worrying can finally stop,
there is relative peace, for a while, but it is often not long before another
scenario occurs and sets us off again. Regardless of what is occurring, the
day-dreaming process is always with us in some form or other, even if only
waiting in the wings for a chance to dash onto the stage and steal the
limelight. And that is the nature of the sleep-awake cycle).
So, at last it seems we unveiled have the story
behind being 'awake' and of sleep, and even of the cycle of life and death,
explained and reflected for us so clearly in our own familiar thinking process!
Daily life and living is the microcosm of the greater, and indeed Ultimate
Truth, hidden in plain sight for anyone who is ready to see!
Why is this new?
I have not heard the above said before. Why would this be?
(accepting that the above may be correct and I have not just lost the plot). Why would other Enlightened and/or
Liberated individuals not say the same things?..
Probably because the thinking mind tends to work in a linear way:
eg.
'We start here, go through this and this, and end up here; and then, when we
have had enough, we return via the same route'. However, as one embraces the
insight that this existence is created by (and for) the emotions and their need to
experience and express, accompanied by the knowledge that the emotions are not linear but are
pendulous in their behaviour, swinging from one extreme to the other, one's
perspective and thus the way the knowledge is interpreted shifts.
NB. Of course, it is not beyond all possibility
that another human being has indeed had the same insights I have had, into this
and all other matters. The Truth is not exclusive. What varies is a person's
ability to interpret the information and express it, and this will depend on
their mental makeup as well as the path they have lived. My own path has been one of
facing and dissolving emotions (so I have acquired a solid understanding as to how they
work, and tend to think along these lines), as well as the insights coming to me
in a manner relating this existence to a dream.
These two factors gave rise to the above explanation, and indeed are the basis for my own
teaching and approach. (As to how much my being dyslexic has affected my thought
and reasoning process (my mental makeup), I could not say).
Purpose of sleep... Another
Conclusion!
Having explained all the above, and thinking I had uncovered some
hidden mystery and in doing so had contradicted every Spiritual Teacher who
went before me (let's say), it has occurred to me, all things considered, that
the reason for sleep is therefore that this existence cannot be sustained as the emotional
energy
must swing back the other way; and it could therefore be said that the energy debt
must be repaid.
So, we find we have come full-circle, and return to the initial
explanation that sleep occurs because the
energy required to create this existence is great and cannot be sustained, and
this results in the polarity that we call 'Sleep'. It is just that now I
have a much clearer understanding as to how and why.
Thank you
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