Lesson 17 - Meditation Q&A – Was I asleep?

From: Yogani
Date: Tue Nov 25, 2003 0:12pm

New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the
archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first
lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"

Q: I think I fell asleep during meditation, though I don't think I
lost consciousness. It seemed I was awake, but I had no sense of time
or anything. Then I realized my head was on my chest and looked at my
watch. Thirty minutes had gone by. I felt pretty groggy. I felt
pretty unsteady and it didn't feel right to just get up, so I lay
down for a while. Then I was okay. Was I asleep?

A: No sensory experience, no mantra, no thoughts, but still conscious
inside – were you asleep? Probably not. Meditation sometimes produces
a sleep-like state, like you described, but the physiological
parameters are different. The metabolism goes much lower than in
sleep. Heart rate and breathing are much slower than in sleep, nearly
stopped. The body and mind come to a state of complete silence, while
still awake inside. The level of rest in the body and mind in
meditation is deeper than sleep. It is a different kind of rest that
removes impurities; obstructions to consciousness that sleep cannot
reach. However, meditation is not a replacement for sleep, which has
its own dynamics in the daily rejuvenation cycle.

People who have been meditating for years may have less need for
sleep due to the accumulated purity in their nervous systems. It is
not that meditation replaces sleep. It is that the body and mind
gradually have become purified over time and the body needs less
purification during its daily sleep cycle. It is the purity resulting
from long-term meditation and other advanced yoga practices that
generally reduces the need for sleep. In time, consciousness remains
present twenty-four hours a day. Then, daily activities, dreaming,
and deep sleep are all playing like a movie on the screen of our
silent, blissful awareness. In this state we are never asleep
anymore. This is the kind of freedom and happiness we all are capable
of achieving naturally – our unalienable birthright.

You did just right by lying down at the end of your session until you
were able to get up feeling clear and smooth. This is another
circumstance where extra rest after meditation is needed. Much
cleansing went on during the meditation. Many different kinds of
experiences can happen during meditation, ranging from the sublime to
the ridiculous. It is all part of the same process of easily thinking
the mantra and letting it settle in. Then the purification happens.
We let it happen. Then, when we become aware, we return to the mantra
and let the mind dive again. This process, done twice daily for
twenty minutes, will gradually transform your life to bliss.

Remember to count any experiences while off the mantra as part of
your meditation time. It is okay that you became aware of the time
again after thirty minutes. It was a natural event in your
meditation. Whenever anything like that happens and you go past your
allotted time, be sure to go through the appropriate rest period to
finish the session. If you keep your meditation balanced with the
right amount of rest at the end, you will always get up feeling
refreshed and ready for activity.

The guru is in you.

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