Can meditation replace sleep?

Heidley · #1 21-01-2017, 12:35 PM

I'm wondering because I get up really early for work and uni (and often go to bed way too late) and I want to meditate before I go about my day, so I would need to wake up super early but I'm afraid I will be tired from sacrificing sleep to meditate. I'm one of those people who needs a minimum of 8 hours sleep, if left alone I can sleep 11-14 hours comfortably.

Still_Waters · #2 21-01-2017, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heidley

I'm wondering because I get up really early for work and uni (and often go to bed way too late) and I want to meditate before I go about my day, so I would need to wake up super early but I'm afraid I will be tired from sacrificing sleep to meditate. I'm one of those people who needs a minimum of 8 hours sleep, if left alone I can sleep 11-14 hours comfortably.

The Dalai Lama once said that "Sleep is the best meditation" and I interpret this as the "conscious sleep" practice which is also known as "dying before dying". It's common to the Tibetan Buddhist, Sufi, and yoga/Hindu traditions. You might want to investigate this.

When I was at the Khumba Mela in Haridwar, India, I met a yogi who had not slept for years. When I asked him about this through an interpreter, he responded directly to me: "Chetan nidra" (conscious sleep). I understood. While this may be an extreme example, the practice is not particularly difficult. Investigate this if it resonates with you. I've done it for years.

P.S. If done properly, one is as fully rested when one gets up as one would be if one were "unconscious" during sleep as the majority of people are.

Heidley · #3 21-01-2017, 02:26 PM

Thank you for replying! I looked into conscious sleep and I have questions, do you still dream in a conscious sleep? Do you have any tips on not falling asleep? Do you personally still sleep unconsciously? This is definitely something I intend on practicing.

Heidley · #4 21-01-2017, 02:28 PM

Another question, what do I do if I astral project? Wont that deplete energy?

Black Sheep · #5 21-01-2017, 04:24 PM

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Another question, what do I do if I astral project? Wont that deplete energy?

How so?

As Still_Waters had said meditation is the best sleep. Furthermore, with deep states of meditation, Astral Projection is not uncommon. It can actually become difficult to *not* project*, though it is worth it to wait until the crown center opens up and then get a sort of magnetic pulled up and out or expand outwards when the consciousness merges with the world(which is quite fun and still deeply restful as the body is sleeping whilst the mind is conscious/awake).

When you Astrally Project, do you wake up more depleted than when not? If it concerns you, you can always choose to remain in body.

*by difficult not to project, I mean in terms of similar to slipping off a shoe; it's becomes incredibly easy, akin to coming home and taking off the shoes.

TheTruth · #6 22-01-2017, 12:15 PM

BG 2.69: What all beings consider as day is the night of ignorance for the wise, and what all creatures see as night is the day for the introspective sage.

This of course has more than one meaning, but one of them applies to the conscious state of sleep which actually isn't sleep but meditation.

Heidley · #7 22-01-2017, 02:28 PM

@Black Sheep, It's not uncommon for me to be pulled out of body, I've had to fight to stay within myself, maybe that's the part I find tiring. But it was my understanding that astral traveling used energy.

@The Truth, That makes sense. Essentially the reason we sleep is largely due to our bodies need to meditate.

A quote that I found while looking up conscious sleeping put it into words really well, "Sleep serves as a function of a being who has forgotten how to naturally replenish themselves through their breath, diet, meditation and connection to the eternal source."

So from what I understand, even if I am meditating without doing conscious sleeping (as it might take me a while to achieve) I am benefiting in the same ways as I would be if I were sleeping.

Really! · #8 22-01-2017, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heidley

I'm wondering because I get up really early for work and uni (and often go to bed way too late) and I want to meditate before I go about my day, so I would need to wake up super early but I'm afraid I will be tired from sacrificing sleep to meditate. I'm one of those people who needs a minimum of 8 hours sleep, if left alone I can sleep 11-14 hours comfortably.

Wanting more hours in a day by sacrificing sleep for meditation does not sound healthy ...
The need for sleep is natural/organic & regulated like other life sustaining functions like eating ...as well as used to restore/reset major functions such as muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, growth hormone release, relaxing the brain ...
Meditation is a form of relaxing the brain ...

One method of torturing prisoners was denying sleep ...
Sleep deprivation makes people crazy ...

I thinks it's best to simply allow the natural functions we're equipped with be a priority ...
Anything else is a substitue ...

Tobi · #9 23-01-2017, 01:12 AM

Can meditation replace sleep?

No I don't think it can, entirely....

However I have observed that if I enter a state in which I raise my vibrations and am flooded with that energy, it completely removes any tiredness from lack of sleep. It's good to do now and again I think. Maybe just to show us how magic we are.

But I'm not really into defying the laws of nature (call me an old fuddy-duddy) I still like my "Straight-Eight", when I can get it zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Heidley · #10 23-01-2017, 08:29 AM

Some conflicting opinions here, of course I'm not going to give up sleeping entirely to meditate, but I do want a balance and I know meditating may actually be worth that hour of sleep, once my meditation is more mindful that is. But if there are people who practice conscious sleeping and that can suffice as meditation and sleep for them then I am interested in the practise.