Sleep and Turiya

Wisdom Teachings
Inner Realities

When we wake up in the morning, we don't know how the waking up happened. We become aware that we are awake, but what actually awakened us? It is not the alarm clock - we can wake up and come into consciousness without an alarm clock. What stimulated the passage from sleep to wakefulness?

We don't know how sleep came either. What made us fall asleep? We cannot sleep as we wish. Sleep has to come. There are people who cannot sleep even when they want to sleep. Awakening and falling asleep are passages unknown to us. It is said in the scriptures that not even the devas know these transitions. We are withdrawn from wakefulness after some time, and we fall asleep only to emerge again later. The whole process is a pulsation like breathing in and breathing out. The pulsating principle is there day and night.

We are sure that we exist even during the hours of sleep, otherwise none of us would dare to sleep. By inference we know that there is existence and pulsation in sleep. But we do not know how we exist there and how we get there. Themind is absorbed in sleep; our waking consciousness is interrupted. However, the pulsating principle continues to work even in sleep; our heartbeat and breath function without interruption. The pulsation is stronger than the mind principle. The intelligence of pulsation contains more awareness than the objective mind of the waking state. And this awareness is superior to the awareness we have of ourselves. We are pure pulsating consciousness in sleep, a consciousness that is continually pulsating. Pulsation is the passage between waking and sleeping and is our true dwelling place. Nature takes us back to this abode while we sleep and brings us forth again.

Very few fiery seekers explore the mystery of how they slip into sleep, how they awaken from sleep, from whence they awaken, and what and where they were before that awakening. A disciple or a yogi can consciously enter their abode; the conscious steps of return are called yoga practice.

The wisdom teachings emphasise the importance of remembering the moment that separates sleep from wakefulness. During this state of consciousness, we belong to both worlds simultaneously. When we awaken, we have just emerged from pure existence and have not yet enveloped ourselves in thoughts. At the moment of awakening, we experience the 'diamantine consciousness' or the 'diamond of consciousness'. It is the original state of consciousness and life. It is consciousness itself in its purest manifestation. It is like a brilliant white light without a thought, like a radiant sky without a cloud. Without this state as a basis, we cannot think. Pure existence is what we call God. It exists whether we are aware of it or not. We should pause for a moment at the time of awakening and remember from where we have awakened, and not quickly jump into the day's activity. Otherwise, we immediately envelop ourselves with thoughts and the radiance of the diamond is hidden. This moment is the hour of sunrise for us, even if we do not see the sunrise because we sleep longer.

Sunrise and sunset are the diamond moments for the respective region on the planet. They are the outstanding moments of the day and are considered sacred. Working spiritually at these times brings the best results. Sunset is related to drifting into sleep and sunrise is related to coming out of sleep. We should attune ourselves daily to these two moments so that we recognise the diamond quality that we are: the continuous state of consciousness that belongs simultaneously to the physical and subtle qualities.

When we have awakened from the sleeping state, we should ask ourselves the question we experience in the depths: 'Who am I, where have I awakened from, what has awakened me, and where am I? 'Where am I?' does not mean the place where we are at that moment. When we awaken, we move in our own being from the depths of our heart towards the Ajna centre. When we sleep, we enter into the heart lotus. The heart lotus is between the heart centre and the throat centre. It is called 'the point of pure existence within'. When we awaken, we are in the East. The east within us is the brow centre or the Ajna centre. From this point we command the body to get up and enter into our daily activities.

Every morning when we awaken, we feel that we are “I am”. When we fall asleep, we go through the state of transition from the conscious to the unconscious state. It is the point where we lose our conscious identity and then fall asleep. This state, about which we normally know nothing, is called THAT etc. in terms of wisdom. It is called 'Samadhi' in the scriptures, a state of 'oneness' with God. In this state there is no consciousness, thought, speech or action.

Starting from THAT, we experience ourselves as I AM when we are awakened. We say 'THAT I AM' because we have heard it from others. But there are also people who have gone through the process of experiencing THAT and have come back as I AM. They are called the sons of men who have transformed themselves into Sons of God.

Samadhi is considered as a state that is sleep-like but is not really sleep. In Samadhi there are no perceptions and so no perception of the I AM. There is no observer, only THAT. We exist, but we do not feel that we exist. It is simply existence unto itself, but not existence in relation to anything. Awareness comes forth from this state. Consciousness springs forth like an impulse, and it leads to the awakening of consciousness. This awakening is referred to in the scriptures as the 'Turiya state of existence'. Turiya means 'the fourth' in Sanskrit. It is the fourth state of consciousness, the background that underlies and permeates the three states of waking, dreaming, and sleeping. For this, we are concerned with the process of how we slip into sleep and how we emerge from sleep. This semi-consciousness is the living consciousness; it takes us from the world of matter to subtle, causal matter and then to pure consciousness.

To reach this super-consciousness, we should try to remain conscious until sleep catches up with us. This gradually leads to the Turiya state where we are neither awake nor unconsciously asleep. A part of us remains conscious. To promote the Turiya state, we can regularly contemplate on how sleep comes when we go to bed and intensely imagine how we are beyond sleep. Over time, this leads us into realms of light. There we also meet many exalted beings.

With proper preparation, the sleeping hours are hours of meditation. They are even more helpful than our prayer or meditation exercises during the day, when we usually remain mentally active. We can also offer our willingness to serve humanity to one of the Masters unknown to us. Contact is then automatically made during sleep and we receive guidance.

We should give high priority to sleep and not disturb a rhythmic sleep with other priorities. It is strongly recommended to ensure a good and regular sleep duration, to go to bed at 10.30 pm at the latest and to wake up at 5.00 am. It is also important to prepare for sleep. We cannot watch film series until just before sleep. Before sleeping, we should purify the body and the mind. We purify the mind by reading a scripture. It is also recommended to keep a candle or bed lamp burning and to light an incense stick, preferably sandalwood. This protects our physical body while we exit with the astral body during sleep. It is good to keep the window open at night so that wind can enter and to cover ourselves warmly. As a rule, we should lie with our head to the east and our feet to the west when we sleep. The bed should have pleasant colours and not dark colours. Black, dark brown and strong grey colours dampen our energies.

There is a simple exercise we can do every evening before sleep. When lying in bed, we connect with our breathing. We go to the upper part of the chest, the seat of the higher heart centre. We then imagine that we are moving upwards with each breath. We visualise a field of light in the brow centre and stay there until sleep comes. We can also visualise a light in the sky with the stars, waiting for sleep to come.

In this way we create alignment and make ourselves available for teachings during the night hours. There are invisible helpers who guide us into the subtle world when focused on our forehead, we consciously fall asleep. With right preparation, these make it easier for us to be uplifted in the sleeping hours. Sometimes we may be taken to an ashram - a subtle training centre - where teachings are imparted to our super-consciousness. These teachings are not in a particular language, but mentally. Those who are still bound to their language and have not yet attained telepathic understanding understand them in their language. This teaching happens during a few minutes, but it has an effect of several hours. We may not remember it immediately, but the knowledge remains in the background and slowly reveals itself to us.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Teachings of Master Morya. Div. seminar notes. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India