"One of the most powerful things you can do for spiritual advancement is a sleep meditation".
Your sleeping hours can be a time of your greatest advancement.
This sleep meditation is a practice that is not very known. And no matter how busy our lives are, we can always create the time and space to fall asleep in a conscious state.
It can help us in our daily life far beyond what we can comprehend with our mind. It is one of the most powerful things that we can do. It does not take any extra time in our life, but is requires consciousness, focus and desire.
It is something that requires our conscious mind to really grasp a hold of.
A sleep meditation is a very basic spiritual practice that you can incorporate into your life.
It takes little bit of time to really have this practice become very natural in your life, but at a certain point, it will.
If you have children, bring this teaching to them! Meditation for children is easy and fun to do.
At night while we sleep there is a part of us deep within that does not become unconscious, and that part of us is being attended to by a benevolent spiritual presence.
Also at night the veils of illusion and our ego is not so densely present and therefor the help, guidance and power from the true realm can be of greater assistance.
The full benefit of what can go on at night during our sleep hinges strongly upon the state we fall asleep in.
For purpose of understanding how this works we can say there are 2 ways to fall asleep:
In order to connect to the right state of consciousness inside of ourselves it helps to prepare the way.
Complete your day as best as you can.
As you go to bed, do your things you normally do to prepare for sleep; shower, brush your teeth, your hear, your beard, toilet etc.
Then as you get into bed, I suggest you sit up first.
Once you are ready, sit up in bed, close your eyes.
Take a deep breath.
Bring you attention to your heart.
What in the deepest part of your heart is important for you?
What is your deepest hearts desire?
Is it a:
Whatever it is for you, whatever comes to you...
Trust it.
Feel it.
Welcome it.
Nurture it.
Become absorbed in it.
Be taken by it.
And now with an openness and recognition that there is a benevolent Source that connects us all let this feeling and focus in your heart be as strong as you can let it be.
Lay yourself down on your pillow and let this focus and feeling in your heart be the last thing you were aware of before falling asleep.
You went to sleep in a conscious state of prayer. Well done!
It might be helpful to do a guided meditation for a couple of times till you feel confident you can do it on your own. The following guided sleep meditation is for you.
Much happens while we are asleep because a part of us does not sleep. And the more you practice falling asleep in the consciousness described above the more movement will happen and the more aware you can become of the movement. Some of the things that people frequently recorded to have happened with the sleep meditation are:
You may not remember in the morning because the true evolution of your awareness is beyond your body and mind. But if you will pay attention to your state of awareness before you fall asleep and again pay attention when you wake up, you will be able to see a difference, an increase in your awareness.
"Just see how much society could raise its consciousness with no loss of waking time, how much this world would change if this one principle gets out and is properly taught and people properly capture it and properly practice it.
What a magnificent difference it would make to the world"
Gourasana
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