My journal of small revelations

[Guest guest]

22 Jan 08

Ah! Blessed Sleep!

 

I love waking up fresh from sleep, I love going to sleep, closing my eyes, and giving up control, letting someone else take over.. I love taking small naps, let my body get some rest and wake up refreshed..

 

For as long as I remember, there’s always been a negative connotation to sleeping. In general, people seem to think it’s a waste of time, that if one could wake up sooner, they could ‘do’ more, or they keep up later, watching TV, considered relaxation, so they can sleep later. And for as long as I can remember, I loved to sleep. I used to jokingly say it’s my second hobby. I don’t mean lolling in bed, being lazy (although that may be nice too, sometimes), but just going along with what my body is asking for.

 

I do enough all day long. When I sleep, it’s a way of ‘being’ – my mind is not fighting to control my thinking and my body – it gives up. It’s a show of faith in the ways of nature, to be able to fall asleep, and lose consciousness, in a way. And then someone else takes over, a higher power, a higher consciousness.

 

I read a fascinating book recently – the “Adwaita Rahasya”, written by a Sai devotee, Dr. Chandra Bhan Gupta. He makes a detailed analysis of the four different phases of sleep, and the four different types of consciousnesses, two of which are primary consciousness and secondary consciousness. Secondary consciousness is me – the little soul. Primary consciousness is of course God. He says, each night, when I go to sleep, my soul, or the secondary consciousness, leaves the body, and merges back with the Primary consciousness. And when I wake up, it comes back into the body – it’s the awareness in the background. It was a fascinating read – parts of the book even made me cry!

 

I finally understand why I crave sleep sometimes, and get cranky when I go without it for too long – Just like a child left in school too long, my soul gets homesick, I think, and wants to go home, and visit my divine mother, get nourished, and nurtured, and when it comes back, it’s happy and cheerful.

 

And so the days go on, live during the day, die a little each night, wake up the next day, and continue on this journey some more, on and on, until I go home for good, taken back in, once and for all.