Tag Archives: deep sleep

Deep Sleep, the “After-glow” and Energy Dynamics – 1/2

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We all know the feeling. We wake up after a good night’s sleep and say, “I slept very well,” “I feel relaxed,” or “I feel refreshed.” The feeling is immediate and unmistakable. Yet there is something intriguing about it. What exactly are we experiencing when we say this? Are we remembering what happened during Deep Sleep? Or is something else happening?

This seemingly ordinary morning experience opens the door to a profound question: What does Consciousness actually know when we wake up from Deep Sleep?

Deep Sleep

Advaita Vedānta considers waking, dream and Deep Sleep to be the three familiar states of experience. Yet the waking mind has no direct access to what was actually present during Deep Sleep. “Deep Sleep” is a name given from the waking state to a condition that the waking mind did not experience as an object.

Sureśvara makes this epistemological point with remarkable precision in his Bṛhadāraṇyaka Vārttika:  Continue reading →

Upadesa Sahasri (Part 35)

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Part 34

Part 36

18.170–184
In a series of verses, Shankaracharya explains how Tat Tvam Asi (TTA) should be taught and understood. As in the case of any sentence, in order to understand the meaning of TTA, one must understand the meanings of the words Tat, Tvam, and Asi.
The direct or literal meaning of Tat is Isvara, the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the universe. Tvam means you, the individual (jiva), and Asi signifies that Tat and Tvam are identical, that is, Isvara = Jiva.
An equation is meaningful only when its two sides are apparently different but essentially the same. If the two sides are apparently identical, the equation serves no purpose. Thus, 5 + 4 = 10 – 1 is meaningful, whereas 9 = 9 is not. For one who understands addition and subtraction, both 5 + 4 and 10 – 1 resolve into 9, thereby validating the equation.

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Āvaraṇa and Vikṣepa

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The Twin Powers of Illusion

Most seekers of Advaita Vedānta eventually encounter a perplexing riddle: if Brahman is the only reality—one without a second—how is it that we perceive a world of dizzying multiplicity and feel ourselves to be limited, suffering individuals? Traditional teaching addresses this paradox through a sophisticated pedagogical framework known as the two ‘powers’ of ignorance (avidyā) or illusion (māyā): Āvaraṇa and Vikṣepa. While these terms are cornerstones of modern Advaitic study, they represent a nuanced evolution in the tradition that is vital for any serious student to understand.

Defining the Terms: Concealment and Projection

In the technical vocabulary of Vedānta, ignorance is not merely a passive lack of information; it is often described as a functional force with two distinct aspects.

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Upadesa Sahasri (Part24)

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Part 23

Part 25

17.17 and 17.18                                                                                                         During dream, one mind is divided into subject (knower), object (known) and instrument of knowledge. The divisions are unreal. Likewise, in the waking state, one consciousness appears differently when desires in the intellect causes action. The desires arise because the jiva thinks that it is incomplete though it is essentially complete. The desires and actions are revealed by consciousness. The waking state is a superimposition on consciousness, the substratum. The divisions in the waking state are as unreal as the divisions in the dream. The ideas of interior and exterior in the waking state are unreal like reading and writing which are interdependent. Reading depends on a written page without which nothing can be read and writing also depends on reading as we first read and then write. So, both of them are unreal as the sounds represented by written letters are all-pervasive and have no forms. Hence, they can neither be really written nor read.

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Upadesa Sahasri (Part 10)

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Part 9

Part 11

11.10 is about avasthatraya prakriya- teaching on the basis of three states of experience. Vedanta uses ordinary experience to reveal extraordinary fact. Self is the unchanging observer of the three states. Vasanas are mental impressions left over from the experience in waking state. They are seen in the dream. They are like colour of the cloth coloured in turmeric. Self, the observer and the illuminator of the vasanas must be different from them and their locus, the mind. In waking and dream states what we experience are the contents of the mind which are illumined by Self. It follows that in the waking state also; Self is different from them. Self is different from the triad, knower, known and knowing.

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Brihadarankya Upanishad (Part 15)

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Part 14

Part 16

4.3.15 to 4.3.17                                                                                                            After enjoying the dream world, a jiva goes to deep sleep or to the waking state. During dream he is only a bhokta though seemingly attached to action. There is no real attachment. He is not a karta and does not earn karma. The Upanishad says that similar to the dreamer, the Self is not attached to any action.

4.3.18                                                                                                                             Self is like a big fish. As the fish swims alternately between two banks without becoming affected by what happens on the bank, the Self moves between the dream and waking states without being affected by what happen in these states.

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ChAndogya Upanishad (Chapters 6 to 8) Part 11

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Part 10

Part 12

Chapter 8 Section 2                                                                                                          (8.2.1 to 8.2.10)
A person who practices dahAropAsana  goes to Brahm Loka after death where he has two choices: one of liberation and other of enjoyment.  In the former choice, he can enjoy the pleasures of higher qualities which last until the end of one cycle of creation and he takes rebirth in the next cycle of creation.  Additionally, he gets extraordinary powers. He can enjoy the pleasures of all 14 worlds. It is the greatest material pleasure which cannot be acquired by physical effort. One view is that by meditation, the mind acquires extraordinary powers and can project and enjoy such experiences in the waking state. No physical effort is required. Any experience is effectively in the form of a thought, and a powerful mind can create thoughts. Meditation on Isvara gives powers of Isvara except the power of creation.                                                                                  A seeker of liberation is not interested in enjoyment and special powers. He has the choice to get the Vedantic teachings from Brahmaji, become enlightened and be liberated

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BrihadAranyaka Upanishad (Part 4)

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Part 3

Part 5

Chapter 2 Section 1 

2.1.1 to 2.1.14                                                                                                                   It is a dialogue between GArgya, a BrAhmana and a kshatriya king AjAtshatru of KAsi. GArgya has learnt VedAs and he knows Saguna Brahman. AjAtshatru is a jnAni. GArgya visits AjAtshatru and offers him to teach Brahman. AjAtshatru understands that Gargya’ s main intention is to get dakshinA, i.e., teacher’s fee for teaching. He gives him 1000 cows for his proposal to teach. Though GArgya’s knowledge is confined to Saguna Brahman, he thinks that he knows everything and is proud. He says that he meditates on aspects of Saguna Brahman, namely, sun, moon, lightening, space, air, fire, water, looking glass, sound of breath of walking man, directions, shadow. and asks the king to meditate on these aspects.

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ChAndogya Upanishad (Ch 6 to 8) Part 3

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Part 2

Part 4

6.5.1 to 6.5.4
The teacher asks the student to pay attention to what he is about to say. The mind is essentially formed of food; the prana is essentially formed of water and speech is essentially formed of fire. The Upanishad captures the state of mind of the student who says, “It is very difficult for me to understand all these things. Please clarify this a little more. That I am made up of the three elements and that I have nothing in me of my own are unheard of. This is strange indeed. It looks as if I cannot exist at all independently. I am ‘somebody else’. Unbelievable! Please explain further.” “Yes, I shall tell you, in detail, dear boy. Listen attentively.”

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Tat Tvam Asi (Part 2)

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Part 1

Part 3

Existence inheres every worldly object. Before creation, all the worldly objects are in seed (unmanifest) form in Existence and the creation unfolds gradually. Existence manifests everywhere whereas consciousness is manifested in subtle body only, e.g., mind, intellect. A jiva is a mind-body system and is sentient and has emotions of happiness and sadness. Consciousness (Chit) does not undergo any change as it is present in the mind like a reflection (ChidAbhAsa. It is individual self or individual soul ( jivAtmA).

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