The Spiritualization of Sleep - Asoonya Sayana Vratham
 [Click here for Kala Bhairava Siddha secrets.]
A young man approached a Siddha who seemed to be fast asleep.
In a low voice, he asked, "Sir, Are you sleeping?"
The Siddha didn't open his eyes, but said, "Son, Don't you know that the whole world will fall asleep if I sleep?"
The Siddha sleeps the sleepless sleep or yogic sleep.
He's fully conscious even though he may appear to be sleeping.
He's completely spiritually active while seeming to be asleep.
In other words, the Siddha has completely spiritualized the act of sleeping
and thus his sleep is actually sleep yoga.
This is the state the Siddhas would like for all of us to reach.
But to achieve this state, we should learn how to spiritualize each and every activity.
The spiritualization of every aspect of day to day life
is nitya yoga.
If karma neutralization is the first step towards God,
then the spiritualization of every aspect of life is the first step towards
karma neutralization.
As we have said elsewhere,
the Sathguru's Sathguru, Sri La Sri Idiyaapa Siddha Easar,
revealed the ageless wisdom of the Agasthiar
lineage through practical everyday means by
embedding each and every divine instruction in day to day experiences.
He conveyed that the
most ordinary of everyday occurrences is replete with spiritual
meaning and consequences; he taught that even the most mundane of activities
must be performed with deep spiritual awareness. Such an attitude aligns
the very core of one's being with the Divine Will and thus makes
one ready for the ascent into the world of spirituality. This practical
wisdom is the very foundation of spiritual life.
What happens if we don't spiritualize our daily activities?
We accumulate more and more karma and this takes us farther and farther from God.
If we want to go closer and closer to God, the spiritualization of everyday activities is very important.
One of the activities in which we spend 30% to 45% of our lives is sleep.
And thus spiritualizing sleep is very important in the karma neutralization process.
What is a Vratham?
The spiritual training process is multi faceted. The Siddhas and rishis have
given us many authentic spiritual procedures to help us advance on the spiritual path.
Yatra (pilgrimage), nama japam (repeating the Divine Name), nama keerthanam (singing the Divine Name),
dhaanam (selfless giving), dhyanam (meditation), vratham (observing spiritual vows),
homam or havan (fire ceremony), pithru tharpanam (ancestral worship ceremony),
abishekam (bathing the deity), pushpa archana (offering flowers), alankar (decorating the deity),
neivedyam (offering food to the deity)
- these are some of the procedures that a spiritual aspirant should practise.
Of the aforementioned spiritual procedures, the vratam procedure is the observance of spiritual vows.
Many vrathams involve fasting. Some involve staying awake.
And there are many other variations, like shaving the hair off one's head in a temple
as an offering of one's vanity at the feet of God.
Vrathams have been handed down to us by the Siddhas and rishis,
but there's some personalization possible.
A great vratham is circling the
Arunachala Hill 1000 times. But you may decide to do it 5000
times or 100 times or 51 times or 21 times or 12 times or
just once. That's up to you; it depends upon your sincerity
and the depth of your longing for the Divine.
Improper Sleep Patterns
As we have said elsewhere, timing is an important part of spiritual practice.
Doing regular pooja at brahma muhurtham or usha kaalam or abijit muhurtham or nitya pradosha kaalam
is very helpful on the spiritual path. But to do this regularly, one must have a regular schedule.
This would mean a regular sleep schedule as well.
However, many of us sleep at odd hours.
A common excuse for this is the high pressure modern life.
But the Siddhas know that the real reasons are laziness, lethargy, irresponsibility, improper eating habits,
needless anger and a general lack of interest in the spiritual world.
Spiritual aspirants should control this by being disciplined about their pooja and other schedules.
Pooja in the High Pressure World
The Siddhas do not accept the excuse that the high pressure modern life causes one to be irregular
in their pooja. They advise us that as pressure increases in life, one should be that much more
aware of the importance of regular pooja, dhaanam, dhyanam and other virtuous deeds. For it is
these punya activities that serve as a divine
raksha protective shield for us amidst all the modern pressures.
A human needs six to seven hours of sleep. The rest of the time should be spent in
nama japam, bhajan, kirtan and other spiritual activities while attending to one's daytime duties.
The Siddhas advise us that we should learn to do mental japam of Gayatri and other mantras while
doing all daytime activities.
In fact, the Sathguru teaches advanced spiritual aspirants
how to do pooja in their sleep and thus helps them put their sleep time to spiritual use as well!
But most of us don't graduate to this level.
While we may not do bad deeds in the sthoola (physical) world during sleep,
we commit bad karma in the sookshma (astral) world.
To control this, we must learn how to spiritualize the act of sleeping.
Sleeping While Journeying
Don't sleep while journeying, say the Siddhas.
Modern travel is prone with accident possibilities.
Whether it's by road, train, air or sea,
the possibly of a deadly accident exists.
The Siddhas say that one can set up a protective
spiritual shield by doing pooja in the mind (manasika pooja) while
journeying. To do this, one has to stay awake during the journey.
What kinds of mental pooja can one do while journeying?
| * | We can picture a favorite temple of ours and do mental pradakshinam of the temple. We can picture ourselves circling the Arunachala and other sacred hills. |
| * | We can picture a paada yatra (pilgrimage by walk) to a very holy place like Tirupati or Palani or similar kshetras. |
| * | We can mentally do abishekam for a Siva Lingam or a Ganesh or other moorthis. |
| * | We can do selfless service in the mind - for example, we can minister to lepers, the handicapped and the blind. |
| * | We can picture ourselves doing service at a favorite temple of our choosing - for instance, cleaning the shrine of Lord Ranganatha at Srirangam or painting the shrine of the Universal Mother at Samayapuram or renovating Lord Shiva's important shrine at Keezh Soorya Moolai. |
| * | We should also do nama japam and kirtan while journeying. |
Note that this kind of mental pooja should be done at the same speed that one would do it in the physical world.
For example, your mental Arunachala girivalam should take the same time that a physical Arunachala girivalam
would take. Only then does mental pooja become real pooja.
This kind of mental pooja while journeying creates a protective spiritual raksha shield not just for the
one who does this pooja, but it also protects everyone else in the vehicle. Thus it becomes a great
selfless pooja as well. This selfless pooja rejuvenates the one doing it and thus removes the
tiresomeness of a long journey as well. This is the Siddha way of spiritualizing the act of journeying.
This is something that all of must do, say the Siddhas.
Sleeping in Unfamiliar Places
There's another reason for not sleeping while journeying.
While journeying one is in the company of unfamiliar people
in an unfamiliar place. Thus one can not be sure about the prevailing thought vibrations in the vehicle.
Given today's world, the chances are high that the thought vibrations in the bus would not be of a spiritual nature.
If one sleeps in the middle of these unclean thoughts, there's a good possibility that one can come under the
control of evil, unclean spirits. These evil spirits can do great harm to one's sookshma sarira (subtle body)
and cause great trouble on the spiritual path. The bad effects of this takeover may be felt immediately or weeks
after the journey. It's because of this takeover that one sometimes dreams of doing evil acts in
sleep. These evil acts count towards one's bad karma! Thus one has to be careful about where they sleep.
The Siddhas advise us that the only way to avoid these ill effects is to stay awake and do mental pooja while journeying.
It's also important to do Kala Bhairava pooja before embarking on a journey.
Click here to learn more about this Siddha insight which has been conveyed
to us by Sathguru Venkataraman exactly as he learnt it from his Siddha teacher,
Sri La Sri Idiyaappa Eesa Siddha.
Asoonya Sayana Vratham According to the Siddhas
There are many kinds of sleep of which two are important: peaceful sleep and disturbed sleep.
Disturbed sleep indicates an overflow of karma on that day.
Spiritual aspirants should stay watch over their sleep patterns so that they can understand
the flow of karma in their daily lives.
Sleeping at odd hours, at odd places, excessive sleep and improper sleeping habits - these are collectively
referred to as asoonya sayanam, say the Siddhas.
The result of this is that we waste many precious spiritual opportunities, we accumulate bad karma and thus
more births, we fall prey to evil spirits and we falter on the spiritual path.
But there's something we can we do about this problem.
Since we spend 30% to 45% of our lives in sleep, a spiritual aspirant must be serious about
spiritualizing the act of sleeping, advise the Siddhas.
If we are truly remorseful about improper sleeping habits and want to sincerely reform ourselves,
the Asoonya Sayana Vratam spiritual vow as specified by the Siddhas can help us enormously.
What can continued practice of this vratham do for us?
| * | It helps regulate our sleeping habits which in turn makes regular pooja schedules possible. |
| * | It regulates a spiritual aspirant's astral travels. |
| * | It helps one read and intrepret dreams. |
| * | It teaches one the art of deep sleep. |
| * | It corrects sinful thoughts emitted during sleep. |
| * | It assures a peaceful passing instead of violent, painful or traumatic death. |
| * | It helps provide the right spiritual channels for the spiritual advancement of those of our ancestors who died in their sleep. |
| * | It makes one spiritually active during sleep and thus helps us use sleep time to neutralize karmas. This is like adding 30% to 45% to one's lifetime for the purpose of karma neutralization! |
| * | It rectifies the spiritual oddities of those who work night shifts. |
| * | For men, it helps recompense the sin of swapna retas skalitham, the emission of seminal fluid during sleep. |
What's the Siddha way of observing this vratham?
This vratham is to be observed from sunrise on the Asunya Sayana Vratham day
(as mentioned in the special dates section of the Agasthiar panchang)
to sunrise the next day.
A night's sleep can be divided into eight distinct periods, say the Siddhas.
Keeping this in mind, the vratham period is divided into eight periods as well.
| 1. |
From sunrise (say, 6 a.m.) to 7 a.m.
Perform theertha pooja, i.e., abishekam, kalasa pooja and the like.
|
| 2. |
From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Perform worship in a temple, preferably one where
you can get darshan of a sayana kola moorthi, i.e., the Lord in a recumbent posture.
This article has a few pictures of the Lord's recumbent form.
|
| 3. |
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Perform agni pooja, i.e., homam (havan) fire ceremony,
deepa jothi pooja, dhoop pooja and the like.
|
| 4. |
From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Perform mantra pooja and mantra japam, i.e., Gayatri
and other mantra japa.
|
| 5. |
From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Perform nama pooja, i.e., namavali recitation, bhajan, kirtan
and temple worship.
|
| 6. |
From 8 p.m. to midnight.
Recite various sahasranamas (1000 names of the Lord).
|
| 7. |
From midnight to 4 a.m.
Perform yoga asanas, mudras and dhyana yoga.
|
| 8. |
From 4 a.m. to sunrise (say 6 a.m.)
Perform abishekam, pushpa archana, neivedyam, annadhaanam (feeding the poor)
and have darshan of another sayana kola moorthi, i.e., the Lord's recumbent form.
|
Can one sleep during this vratam? This vratham is about sleep and thus the Siddhas
advise us that we should remain awake throught out this vratham.
Can one eat during this vratham? If you can remain without food during this vratham, that would be
excellent, say the Siddhas. However, if you want to consume liquid food like milk or juices, that's
acceptable. You can even consume some solid food if you want, but that would be third in the
preference order.
If one can not observe all the Asoonya Sayana Vratam days in a year, what does one lose?
In the spiritual world, nothing ever goes to waste, say the Siddhas.
But it's important to perform everything to completion.
Missing a vratham is generally indicative of the need for strengthening one's faith in the Lord.
So if you want to observe all the Asoonya Sayana Vratam days in a year and could not,
then (1) please try to do so the next year.
(2) Or if you have utmost faith, the Lord
will devise a way in which you can get the vratham benefits through some other means.
(3) Or you can try to get a family member or a friend to do the vratham for you.
While this is not the same as doing it yourself, the act of conveying the knowledge
of the vratham to another and making them do it will get you some of the benefits
of observing the vratham.
Observing this vratham as specified by the Siddhas is a very powerful spiritul exercise.
This procedure has been conveyed to us
by Sathguru Venkataraman exactly as he learnt it from his Siddha teacher,
Sri La Sri Idiyaappa Siddha Eesar.
Please convey your mental thanks to the Sathguru, his teacher and the Agasthiar lineage of
Siddha teachers. Share this information with one and all and make them observe this vratham
too. This is a practical way of showing your gratitude for the spiritual knowledge they have
conveyed to you.
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