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Originally Posted by Still_Waters
When I went to the Khumba Mela in Haridwar (India) in 1998, I was fortunate to have met a sage who reportedly never slept. I was only in India for 3 weeks but never saw him sleep. In addition, I would wander by his tent besides the Ganges at night and he was always lecturing or just silent. Through an interpreter, I asked him how he did it. He just looked at me and said "chetan nidra" (conscious sleep). The interpreter was a little baffled and didn't know how to translate that for me. However, since I have practiced conscious sleep for years (but not to the the extent where I don't sleep like this sage), I understood.
I spoke to many of the sage's disciples especially those who had been with him for years. None of them reported having ever seen him sleep in the traditional manner. These things DO happen.
When one can remain aware and conscious in the equivalent of the thought-free deep sleep state, one is totally rested without being unconscious in traditional sleep. Tibetan Buddhists frequently practice this. During this process, one can watch dream formation from start to finish as well as the transitions between the three states (deep sleep, dream state, so-called waking state). Thus one can truly know oneself. The process is alluded to in the Mandukya Upanishad, which is the shortest of all the Upanishads.
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Thank you for reminding me...and giving me the confirmation I sought.
I am quite proficient at Yoga Nidra already (given enough room to practice it - which is a huge bugbear right now), so I have to try Yoga Nidra sitting up...which would be akin to meditation, would it not?
Until, you get to the inevitable point where "knowing yourself" means there's nothing
to know...and you go "so what the heck am I supposed to do with
this realisation now"?
I can see the whole play...the "Big Picture" here...but it is choosing what to look at and that is the issue...I try to take in everything, so I don't miss anything...except that which, of course, I do not choose to SEE at the time, even though I am fully aware of its existence.
So, I have become a spectator...