Question: Prabhuji, one question that came up is related to the statement of Self being witness of the three states. How can Self witness Sleep? There is no experience and no proof that consciousness exists in sleep. We only know when we are awake and it is an inference.
Sri Prabhuji:
Very good question. Understanding the deep sleep state is important.
Let us look at the experience of sleep.
1. Is sleep an experience ? What is the experience in sleep ? Is it a state of no experience?
2. Deep sleep is a state of deep relaxation and peace. Because of this deep relaxation and peace every living being seeks peace of sleep. Absence of sleep causes psychological disturbance.
3. When someone wakes up from sleep he says I had blissful sleep/sound sleep. Is this statement based on inference or experience ? Everybody has clarity about peace in deep sleep. Unless it is your own experience of sleep how can anybody make a confident statement about nature of sleep? Not a single human being has doubts about peace in deep sleep. Any inference will require deliberation. Peace in sleep is not inference but experience. The peace is called Ananda.
4. Any inference will have element of doubt associated with it. For example there is smoke on mountain top and inference is where there is smoke there must be fire. But there can be doubt – the smoke can be due to chemical not fire. About peace in sleep not a single person in 8 billion people have doubt and hence it is not inference but experience.
5. When we ask someone what do you see in sleep. He will say “nothing”. Nothingness is a statement of fact. It is not inference. Inference will have an element of doubt. In sleep there was an awareness of absence of things (nothing). Hence sleep is a state of awareness of absence of objects and not absence of awareness. The awareness is called chit.
6. When a sleeping person’s name is called he will wake up. This means there was awareness in sleep not absence of awareness.
7. Does a person exist in sleep ? Obviously he does. Otherwise person who slept and woke up are not same. The existence is called sat.
8. Thus sleep is a state of existence – consciousness – bliss (sat-chit-anand). In sleep I cannot express myself and something. If I do that I will wake up and no longer sleeping. Sleep is a state of experience without expression. We should not mix up expression, experience and existence.
Student: Sir, on point 3 I request you to kindly clarify.
It is true that when I wake up from deep sleep I feel peaceful, refreshed and blissful.
But this blissfulness is not experienced during deep sleep but experienced at the moment of waking state, just after waking up from sleep and we infer and derive that it must be the result of Good Deep Sleep I had before waking up.
Also during sleep there is no experience of objects, space or time, so we cannot have peace as a separate experience during sleep but we are in our real true nature as Peace or Ananda, which we express as experience of bliss and peace after waking up.
Sri Prabhuji: “But this blissfulness is not experienced during deep sleep but experienced at the moment of waking state, just after waking up from sleep and we infer and derive that it must be the result of Good Deep Sleep before waking up.”
# This is not a fact. Blissfulness experienced after waking up is called relaxation. It is no way comparable to peace in sleep. No person in the world has any doubt about peace in sleep. Peace in sleep is not an inference – actual experience.
“Also during sleep there is no experience of objects, space or time, so we cannot have peace as a separate experience during sleep but we are in our real true nature as Peace or Ananda, which we express as experience of bliss and peace after waking up.”
# There are two types of experiences – experience of objects and experience of SELF. Happiness from the experience of objects requires mind. It is called – vishyayananda. In sleep there are no objects and no mind. The peace experience is the peace of SELF – called swarupa ananda. Swarupa ananda does not need a mind.
Student: Sir, kindly also clarify when you say peace of the SELF.
1. Is Peace or Ananda a separate experience, experienced by the SELF or the SELF itself.
2. What is this relaxation, we feel after waking from deep sleep, is it the Consciousness or bliss filtered through our mind?
Sri Prabhuji:
1. “Is Peace or Ananda a separate experience, experienced by the SELF or the SELF itself.”
The word Ananda comes from “Ananta” which means limitless – no limitation of space, time, or objects. The word ananda translated into regional languages gives a feeling of “lot of happiness” – this is not correct. We can use the word “Peace” instead to denote limitless SELF. It is not a separate experience. It is the nature of SELF itself – limitlessness.
2. “What is this relaxation, we feel after waking from deep sleep, is it the Consciousness or bliss filtered through our mind.”
Relaxation is the reflection of peace of SELF in body, mind, intellect.
Student:
On the same line of thought also please clarify the meaning of the word “Atmajyothi”, The Light of the Self. Is the SELF different from the LIGHT.
Sri Prabhuji:
Prajnanam Brahma – Awareness is Brahman. Awareness is light. SELF is light – atma jyoti. All perceptions, thoughts, feelings ( inner and outer) are seen in this light. Hence the light “of” the Self is used with reference to the manifest universe.
Ego thinks I am seeing the world. It is communication to the ego that the world is seen in the Light “of” the SELF.
Student: That is, the world is not separate from the Self but is the product of the SELF and resides in the SELF and is known by the SELF. Till ego understands that “Light of the SELF” is none other than SELF itself. Ego is like a shadow which will disappear in the presence of this light of understanding.
Sri Prabhuji: Yes