ALL GO THROUGH TEMPORARY DEEP SLEEP BUT FEW STRIVE HARD TO GET BACK TO SOURCE
(Compilation for a Discourse by N.R. Srinivasan, USA, Sept. 2020)
We all spend our time in wakeful, sleep, dream and deep-sleep state in our daily routine. Some may skip dream state. While we are conscious of the first three we have no idea about the deep sleep state and only hear people often say I slept like a log of wood.
“The daily movement of our own consciousness is subject to fluctuating states of the mind throughout the day. Of these shifting mental states, most dominant are the radical changes through waking, dream and deep sleep. The mystery of sleep is the mystery of consciousness and immortality. What is sleep for the ordinary person is cosmic awareness for the Yogi. If you can hold your awareness into the state of deep sleep by Yoga practice your life can become a perpetual Samadhi of bliss or Dharmamegha Samadhi” says David Frawley.
Dreams and the state of deep sleep have been a mystery and a puzzle to people of all ages throughout time. It's no wonder, the average person is "asleep" about one third of his life. Satguru Sivaya Subramaniyaswami speaking on this enigmatic subject writes in Hinduism Today:
“We have a 24-hour continuity of consciousness, from the so-called waking state into the ethereal realm of dreams. But the mind never sleeps--only the physical body experiences this indulgence--and the physical brain perceives and records what passes through the mind, but the astral brain perceives and records...oh-so-much more! Therefore, keeping this in mind, there is a continuity of consciousness twenty-four hours a day, but not all of it is perceived or recorded by the physical brain, either through the day or through the night. This is why it is difficult to remember one's dreams, just as it is difficult to recall the details of one's life and experience, even as short a time as forty-eight hours ago.
In the inner worlds, there is a life not unlike this one, but far more complete, intricate, logical, and much more advanced. Within that world, the astral plane, there are great schools where students gather to learn of a more productive future they can participate in creating when they incarnate. Here they mix and mingle with other souls whose physical bodies are sleeping and whom they will work and cooperate with during their next cycle of birth. The value of sleep for the person on the path is to gain the ability to bypass the lower dream state and soar deeper within to these inner-plane schools. This is done by the repetition of mantras, japa yoga, just before sleep, after relaxing the body through hatha yoga and diaphragmatic breathing.
When japa is well performed and the sincere desire is maintained to transcend the forces of the physical body and enter into the astral schools of learning, the aspirant would have dreamless nights. A deep sleep would prevail. There may be a few seconds of dreaming just before awakening, to which one should not pay any attention, as the astral body quickly reenters the physical.
Sleep is a cleanser for the subconscious mind. By the use of will-power this can be done slowly or quickly. When you sleep, you are cleaning out the subconscious mind and educating it to face the experiences that you must go through as you evolve. This is done automatically, but you can help it by the use of your will.
It is apparent that we dream things that we could not have possibly thought up. Such dreams are a conglomeration of seemingly unrelated happenings that pass through the mind. The unrelated happenings do, however, re-impress the sub-subconscious state, and if remembered, they will in turn impress the subconscious state, and similar happenings will be manifested in our everyday life. To change these impressions, simply tell your subconscious, when you are in the process of remembering a dream, to work out the remaining particles of that experience during sleep rather than recreating it on the physical plane.
A beginner on the path, or even one in the intermediate phase, should endeavor to forget dreams and strengthen the fibers of the mind and psyche through daily sadhana--consistent spiritual disciplines. We especially want to forget bad dreams as quickly as possible, lest by remembering them we impress them in the subconscious and make them manifest in daily life.
Bad nightmares are not natural to the sleeper's mind. Often they are produced by outside influences, such as the neighbors in the next apartment. A child may be tormented by nightmares and wake up screaming, and the solution might be to have it sleep in another room, away from the next-door apartment where the husband and wife are battling, entertaining hateful thoughts. These kinds of quarrels permeate the inner atmosphere one hundred yards around, as far as the loudest voice could be heard if there were no walls.
When people begin to meditate and are on the spiritual path--and this means that they do accomplish making a difference in their behavior, their beliefs, attitudes and daily actions--their dream life will reflect these results as well. For them, the dream karmas can be worked out. Karma is often qualified as a force that is sent out from us and returns to us, generally through other people. We do experience in the inner worlds, while the physical body is asleep, forces going out from our thoughts, feelings and what we say and think, and these obviously are dream karmas, real karmas that will eventually manifest on the physical plane unless re-experienced and dissolved within the dream world.
Sleep and death are brothers, with the exception that in sleep the silver cord is not broken, which is the psychic umbilical cord between the astral body and its physical duplicate, or of the physical body and its astral duplicate. Therefore, when one begins the regular practice of sadhana, meditation, mantras, correcting behavioral patterns in daily life, the astral body is able to disconnect from the physical body and an astral reality is experienced, which is not a dream in the sense that dreams are usually denoted to be.
When you wake up during the night, discipline should be applied lest you just roll over in a semi-conscious state and return to the dream world, going back into a subconscious or lower astral area--which might be negative, might be positive--you don't know. To avoid this, you should become fully awake. Sit up and listen for a minute or two to the high epee sound or go into the light within your head if you are able. Then, if you wish, consciously lay down and go back to sleep, just like you did when you went to bed in the first place. If you then have difficulty returning to sleep, you can assume you have had sufficient rest for your physical body.
Some dreams come from the person's emotional nature, some from subconscious fears, and some from just playing back experiences in daily life. But certain dreams are brought by the Gods. Dreams from the Gods come to very religious people who live a disciplined life of sadhana, rising at four in the morning, and living Hindu Dharma to the best of their ability. They have attracted the attention of the Gods because they have penetrated the realms of the Gods. If they let down, then they would not have those kinds of visitations any longer. And there are prophetic dreams, which come from the superconscious mind, beyond the subconscious. It is a state of mind that sees into the future and into the past simultaneously, is able to read the akashic records. The most prophetic dreams come in the early hours just before sunrise. The more subconscious-cleansing type dreams come before that time.
If we postulate that dreams have reality, we must then acknowledge that what we remember of them is our uninhibited states of consciousness, experience, unencumbered by society, local and national customs or inhibitions planted into the mind by parents at a young age. Knowing this will let us see who we really are, underneath the facade, encumbered by society, suppressed by beliefs and attitudes of the waking state. We are free in our dreams. No one is looking at us. Society, family and friends are not judging us.
The key here for the seeker is not to carry the dream into daily life and then start to do what he did in the dream in the physical world. This would only make more karmas and compound the situation, stop the sadhanas and open a door for perhaps endless other karmas or a complete life change, change of personality. The remedy is to perform certain sadhanas, tapas, penance, self-inquiry, even a penance for having the dream, while remembering the high standards of virtue and good conduct that should have been maintained during that sleep cycle. This explains the Hindu point of view that one should not steal even during dreams, commit adultery, harm anyone or act against dharma, the yamas and niyamas, in any way.”
Upanishads say the soul rests in Brahman during deep sleep or Sushupti. How to know the soul resides in Brahman during deep sleep?
Here is what Vyasa says in Adhyaya 3 Pada 2 of the Brahma Sutras about the Soul in deep Sleep: “The absence of that dream (i.e., dreamless sleep) takes place in the nerves and the Self, as it is known to be so from the Upanishads. For the same reason, the soul’s waking up is from this supreme Self.”
Here is what Adi Shankaracharya says in his Brahma Sutra Bhashya, for instance: 'The absence of that,' i.e.the absence of dreams--which absence constitutes the essence of deep sleep-takes place 'in the nâdîs and in the Self;' i.e. in deep sleep the soul goes into both together, not optionally into either. Scripture says of all those things, the nâdîs, &c., that they are the place of deep sleep; and those statements we must combine into one, as the hypothesis of option would involve partial refutation.... That again the nâdîs and the pericardium have to be combined as places of deep sleep appears from their being mentioned together in one sentence (Through them he moves forth and rests in the purîtat). That that which is (sat) and the intelligent Self (prâgña) are only names of Brahman is well known; hence scripture mentions only three places of deep sleep, viz. the nâdîs, the pericardium, and Brahman. Among these three again Brahman alone is the lasting place of deep sleep; the nâdîs and the pericardium are mere roads leading to it. Moreover (to explain further the difference of the manner in which the soul, in deep sleep, enters into the nâdîs, the pericardium and Brahman respectively), the nâdîs and the pericardium are (in deep sleep) merely the abode of the limiting adjuncts of the soul; in them the soul's organs abide.
Nor do we finally maintain that the nâdîs, the pericardium, and Brahman are to be added to each other as being equally places of deep sleep. For by the knowledge that the nâdîs and the pericardium are places of sleep, nothing is gained, as scripture teaches neither that some special fruit is connected with that knowledge nor that it is the subordinate member of some work, &c., connected with certain results. We, on the other hand, do want to prove that that Brahman is the lasting abode of the soul in the state of deep sleep; that is a knowledge which has its own uses, viz. the ascertainment of Brahman being the Self of the soul, and the ascertainment of the soul being essentially non-connected with the worlds that appear in the waking and in the dreaming state. Hence the Self alone is the place of deep sleep.
And here is what Ramanujacharya says in the Sri Bhashya: “Next the state of deep dreamless sleep is enquired into. Scripture says, 'When a man is asleep, reposing and at perfect rest, so that he sees no dream, then he lies asleep in those nâdîs' (Kh. Up. VIII, 6, 3); 'When he is in profound sleep and is conscious of nothing, there are seventy-two thousand veins called hita which from the heart spread through the pericardium. Through them he moves forth and rests in the pericardium' (Bri. Up. II, 1, 19). 'When a man sleeps here, he becomes united with the True' (Kh. Up. VI, 8, 1). These texts declare the veins, the pericardium, and Brahman to be the place of deep sleep; and hence there is a doubt whether each of them in turns, or all of them together, are that place. There is an option between them, since they are not in mutual dependence, and since the sleeping soul cannot at the same time be in several places!--To this the Sûtra replies--the absence of dreams, i.e. deep sleep takes place in the veins, in the pericardium, and in the highest Self together; since these three are declared by Scripture. When different alternatives may be combined, on the ground of there being different effects in each case, it is improper to assume an option which implies subtilizing of some of the alternatives. And in the present case such combination is possible, the veins and the pericardium holding the position of a mansion, as it were, and a couch within the mansion, while Brahman is the pillow, as it were. Thus Brahman alone is the immediate resting-place of the sleeping soul.
Now as to why we say that the soul resides in Brahman during deep sleep, here is what this chapter of the Chhandogya Upanishad says:
“Learn from me the true nature of sleep (svapna). When a man sleeps here, then, my dear son, he becomes united with the True, he is gone to his own (Self). Therefore they say, svapiti, he sleeps, because he is gone (apîta) to his own (sva). 'As a bird when tied by a string flies first in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down at last on the very place where it is fastened, exactly in the same manner, my son, that mind (the Jîva, or living Self in the mind, see VI, 3, 2), after flying in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down on breath; for indeed, my son, mind is fastened to breath.”
Swami Vivekananda felt the need for the sleeping soul in every individual to wake up and spiritually advance and lead the others too. Later he felt that the soul of India too should wake up from its deep slumber re-echoed by the Indian Nightingale Sarojini Naidu who wrote the poem :”Arise, Awake, Stop Not till Thy Goal is Reached”
Sleep is the state of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy – by one or more or all of these-and be free. All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak. Stand up and express the divinity within you.
My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to manifest in every movement of life.
Teach yourselves, teach everyone his real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity.
Infinite power is in the soul of man, whether he knows it or not. Its manifestation is only a question of being conscious of it….with the full consciousness of his infinite power and wisdom, the giant will rise to his feet.
I proclaim to the whole world with trumpet voice, “There is no sin in you, there is no misery in you. You are the reservoir of omnipotent power. Arise, awake, and manifest the Divinity within!”
Men are taught from childhood that they are weak and sinners. Teach them that they are all glorious children of immortality, even those who are the weakest in manifestation. Let positive, strong, helpful thought enter into their brains from very childhood.
Hear day and night that you are that Soul. Repeat it to yourselves day and night till it enters into your veins, till it tingles in every drop of blood, till it is in your flesh and bone. Let the whole body be full of that one ideal, “I am the birth-less, the deathless, the blissful, the omniscient, the omnipotent, every-glorious Soul! Think on it day and night; think on it till it becomes part and parcel of your life. Meditate upon it… All your actions will be magnified, transformed, defied, by the very power of the thought. Bring this thought to bear upon your life, fill yourselves with the thought of your all-mightiness, your majesty and your glory.
You are strong, omnipotent and omniscient. No matter that you have not expressed it yet, it is in you. All knowledge is in you, all power, all purity, and all freedom- why cannot express this knowledge? Because, you do not believe in it.
Come up, O Lions! You have infinite strength, infinite energy. Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached.
Love and charity for the whole human race that is the test of true religiosity. Where it is dark night for the (sense-bound) world, the self-controlled (man) is awake. It is daylight for him. . . . And where the world is awake, the sage sleeps. Where is the world awake? In the senses!
It is grand and good to know the laws that govern the stars and planets; it is infinitely grander and better to know the laws that govern the passions, the feelings, and the will, of mankind.
When man has been sufficiently buffeted by the world, he awakes to a desire for freedom; and searching for means of escape from the dreary round of earthly existence, he seeks knowledge, learns what he really is, and is free.
[Source – notes taken from the editorial of Prabuddha Bharata Magazine June 2018 by Hindu Blog]
How do we get at the glorious Soul?
śraddhayā medhā medhayā manīṣā manīṣayā mano manasā śāntiḥ śāntyā cittaṁ cittena smṛtiḥ smṛtyā smāraɱ smāreṇa vijñānaṁ vijñānenātmānaṁ vedayati (Mahanarayana Upanishad)
By faith mental power comes. By mental power sense-control is made possible. By sense-control reflection is engendered. From reflection calmness of mind results. Conclusive experience of Truth follows calmness. By conclusive experience of Truth remembrance of it is engendered. Remembrance produces continuous remembrance. From continuous remembrance results unbroken direct realization of Truth (Vedic Science or Vijnaana). By such realization a person knows the Ātman. Atmana vindate Veeryam--One gets strength knowing Atman/
Drawing our attention Kathopanishad mantra Uttishthata Jagrata, Vivekananda says “Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of you there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe this, and that power will be manifested. Man stands on the glory of his own soul, the infinite, the eternal, the deathless – that soul which no instrument can pierce, which no air can dry, nor fire can burn, no water can melt, the infinite, the birth-less, the deathless, without beginning and without end, before whose glory space melts away into nothingness and time vanishes into non-existence. This glorious soul we must believe in. Out of that will come power! -
uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varānnibodhata | kśurasya dhārā niśitā duratyayā durgaṃ pathastatkavayo vadanti ||
Arise, awake; having reached the great, learn; the edge of a razor is sharp and impassable; that path, the intelligent say, is hard to go by.
Commenting elaborately on this Upanishad Sankaraacharya writes: “Oh, living beings sleeping in beginning-less ignorance, i.e., turn towards the acquisition of the knowledge of the âtman; and awake, i.e., put an end to the sleep of ignorance, horrible in form and the seed of all misery. How? Having approached excellent preceptors who know that, realize the âtman taught by them, the innermost and in all, thus ‘I am he.’ This is not to be neglected.”
Even though Christianity does not recognize they have considerably drawn help from Upanishads to learn about the Sleeping Soul, we can site lot of reference to sleeping soul in the Holy Bible.
Some wonder if we will recognize our loved ones in heaven or if our spirits will be without form like a ghost or a wispy cloud, but certain passages in the Bible suggest we will have a bodily form. The Bible doesn't give us details, but several passages suggest we will have recognizable intermediate bodies as in Pitruloka.
Lewis Sperry Chafer refers to 2 Corinthians 5:1–5 where he explains "the concept of an intermediate body between death and resurrection":
This conscious, intermediate state is not an intermediate cleansing place between heaven and earth, like purgatory, a concept that is never found in the Bible and contradicts the gospel. Rather, it's a temporary body, intermediate between the time of death and the resurrection, which will take place when Jesus returns.
Scripture not only assures us of our souls' destiny; God's Word also offers insight on the future of our earthly, physical bodies, which will be resurrected at the Rapture. Christians can learn about resurrected bodies by considering Jesus's body after His resurrection. We know from Bible that Jesus after resurrection ate and drank, that the disciples could touch Him, and that He had flesh and bones yet could move at will without physical limitations.
Fears and questions about death are natural, but the Bible offers peace like Upanishads. Believers can take courage in the knowledge that the rest God provides for us after death is so much better than any so-called "soul sleep” in routine life. While death is sorrowful and painful, for those who know Christ (similar to realizing Brahman), the time beyond death carries with it marvelous hope. For Christians, death means they will finally, immediately be face-to-face with their Father or the Supreme (that we call Sayujya or Samadhi in Upanishads).
We also hear such calls from Western Philosophers like Longfellow:
“Life is
but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returns,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Life
The Quote is from a poem titled “A Psalm of Life”. We should expect, therefore that it is about life, and it is. But it is not just about the fleeting life in physical form. It is also about eternal life in spirit. That is the life that really matters. Life is not, we are assured, a mere dream. Nor is it empty, meaningless. But it is those things if we look only at physical life, which is brief and full of misery and illusions.
Sleeping Soul
Longfellow tells us this negative view of life happens only to those whose soul is sleeping. This makes one wonder who that might be. Most of us have been led to believe that our souls are awakened when we are born. But the great mystery schools of the past and present teach otherwise. They teach that we come into this world with our souls in a deep sleep, a kind of coma. If we don’t make the effort to awaken it, its great powers cannot help us.
The Grave is Not the Goal
That seems like an obvious statement. No one goes through life thinking that the goal is a grave. Yet many actually act as if that is the goal. Without realizing it, they head in the direction of the grave and make no effort to turn away.
Longfellow (perhaps inspired by our Upanishads) is telling us that the grave is the end of the physical body, but not the spirit and soul. The soul is immortal. It is spirit and so it exists outside the limitations of matter. It does not age. Neither does it rot. It does not reside in a grave after the body dies.
The soul moves on to spiritual realms, realms of higher consciousness. The question is, will it go on its own or take you with it? Most people seem to think they are attached to the soul by some unbreakable chains so the soul can go nowhere without them. That is not the case. The soul is capable of separating from the body and mind. It often does so when the person commits a horrendous crime such as murder. It may also do so when you die. To prevent that, you must awaken the sleeping soul and become one with it while you are still alive physically.
Buddha, St. Francis, Gandhi, and others were all active in their spiritual awakening. They knew that it is almost impossible for oppressed or hypnotized people to become spiritual awake, so they fought against the oppression—in non-violent ways. That is the correct way to be a soldier of God. So awaken your sleeping soul now, if you haven’t already done so. And then help others do the same. Jesus in his speeches lamented: “Of what use is gaining the whole world when you have lost your (hold) soul (in slumber)”
“I am reminded of Swamiji's(Vivekananda) exhortation to our people: 'Teach yourself, teach everyone his real nature. Call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity.' Swamiji's call for evolution of self-conscious activity is indeed the evolution of righteousness in the heart. When there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in character. When there is beauty in character, there is harmony at home. When there is harmony at home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world. Hence let us work for the evolution of the enlightened citizen, which is the mission of Swamiji. Such enlightened citizens should have a strong body and indomitable spirit as advocated by Swamiji in order to 'Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.' The goal is a prosperous India with peace in itself and giving it to the whole world’’ spoke Abdul Kalam Azad inaugurating a Ramakrishna center.
Dreams and the state of sleep have been a mystery and a puzzle to people of all ages throughout time. It's no wonder, since the average person is "asleep" about one third of his life. But the mind never sleeps--only the physical body experiences this indulgence as Jagatguru Subramanya Swami says.
The jivatma resting in the Paramatma during the state of sushupti is different from the atma reaching the Supreme One, as a result of acquiring Brahma jnana. Jivatmas that unite with Paramatma in sushupti state rise again to continue with their samsaric life. Once asleep, they lose their identity. When they wake up, they are again fully conscious of who they are. Their losing their sense of identity during sushupti is as temporary as sleep itself. Brahman, which has all the jivas as body, is very subtle.
This our daily routine experience in life is only to remind us that this temporary state of Sushupti enjoying Brahman lead us nowhere and we should strive for permanently joining with the source and lose identity! Rivers coming from different directions all enter the sea. Once they enter the sea, can you pinpoint where in the ocean the water from different rivers is located? It is all Ksheerasagara and we become part of it and there is no need for repetitive nature sushupti.
The mantra in Mahanarayana Upanishad (MNU) says:
vedāntavijñānaviniścitārthāḥ saṁnyāsayogādyatayaḥ śuddhasattvāḥ
te brahmaloke tu parāntakāle parāmṛtāḥ parimucyanti sarve ||
Having attained the knowledge of Immortality consisting of identity with the Supreme, all those aspirants who strive for self-control, who have rigorously arrived at the conclusion taught by the Vedanta through direct knowledge, and who have attained purity of mind through the practice of the discipline of yoga and steadfastness in the knowledge of Brahman preceded by renunciation, get themselves released into the region of Brahman at the dissolution of their final body.
The mantra says that Yogic science helps one to master Vedic science. Practicing yoga with renunciation (sanyasa yoga) one attains eternal joy by dissolution of the final body and entering into Yoganidra avoiding sushupti and reaching highest state of Samadhi!
Samadhi seems to be our goal to end the temporary and repetitive nature of Sleeping Soul. Both Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa Samadhis are considered temporary states in that you can only fully experience them by withdrawing from normal life. Even the Great Enlightened Yogis close their eyes to meditate. An even higher level of Samadhi is Dharmamegha or the “Cloud of Virtue” Samadhi.
Patanjali says that this level arises when you have lost even the desire to know God or to be enlightened. This Samadhi cannot be gained by effort, it reveals itself when all effort has dissolved. It is a Divine Gift, beyond notions of Absolute and relative.
When even the temptations of the Yogic Powers cause no distraction, it is said that Pure Knowledge showers down like a Cloud of Virtue, bringing liberation and the Bliss of the Divine.
In Advaita this is Jivanmukta—liberation while still in a physical body. The afflictions of all karmas have been removed, the Yogi becomes ever free and shines in his or her own glory. It is said that in this state, the Yogi sees without eyes, tastes without tongue, hears without ears, smells without nose, and touches without skin. His/her mere intention can work miracles. The Yogi simply wills and everything comes into being.
Sri Aurobindo came upon earth to teach this truth to men. He told them that man is only a transitional being living in a mental consciousness, but with the possibility of acquiring a new consciousness, the Truth-consciousness, and capable of living a life perfectly harmonious, good and beautiful, happy and fully conscious. During the whole of his life upon earth, Sri Aurobindo gave all his time to establish in himself this consciousness he called supra-mental, and to help those gathered around him to realize it. “If we can hold this Consciousness into the state of deep sleep our life can become a perpetual Samadhi of bliss” says David Frawley.
We in our state of transitional being as humans are made to believe in God/higher order that rules our life and the Universe, as in the mantra “vidhartaram havamahe Vasoh kuvidvanaati nah”--we invoke the Creator of the Universe who witnesses our thoughts and deeds. This thought is very useful and is the foundation of religions, and fulfills the gaps in our fortunes, limitations in our achievements and existential concerns. The best way to believe in god is to make a god of ourselves to fill up our deficiencies, maintain ideals, and hope. This helps to lead a life of fulfillment and live in peace but not in pieces leading a spiritual life while enjoying life. But rare few who do not want to continue with this repeated temporary being give up this concept of Saguna Brahman and embrace Nothingness (knowing the Unknown) and we see it has also worked well for people who are totally disillusioned with life and ready to give up like Sankara, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna and others. Such people can also hold on their Consciousness into the State of Deep Sleep and interact with others! But they too have witnessed this pleasure and pain in life! When we are weak and vulnerable we need somebody to lean on when we can't make it and here Saranagati surrender to the Unknown helps! This is the path shown by Staunch Advaitins like Appayya Dikshitar about whom I talked about a lot in the past. May be we are still in our elementary school unlike these rare few but yet we can be on the right path with right approach!
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