Sleep Deprivation

[Jitendra Hydonus]

To me a factor that I’ve noticed over many years is that I’m just not functioning properly both mentally or physically without proper sleep. I’ve made mistakes in driving, over reaction to sexual behaviors, bad food/drink consumption, and mood swings, when deprived of sleep. So although I believe it is important to keep a spiritual routine, I think that sometimes it’s better to get some sleep then to force yourself to do some spiritual activities you feel are necessary and then backslide in other areas of life. Guess life can’t always be so spontaneous and there is a balance between spontaneity and planning. Ask the Master’s on that one!

[mccoy]

You are not the only one who suffers from sleep deprivation. Today science has re-evaluated sleep. Traditionally, people sleeping little have been viewed as the real workers and achievers, but that has been shown to be the wrong sphere of thought.

The right sphere of thought is that we must achieve a balance between sleep and wakefulness, according to our own individual daily needs. At times we can sleep less, but chronic lack of adequate sleep is dangerous and sometimes may be deadly (for example, when driving).
The only way to sleep little without damage to health is to be able to plunge in very deep meditation, where evidently the whole body, brain included, enjoys a restorative state similar to sleep.