Sleep, Dream, Waking, Turiya

Sleep actually does not exist. There is no such thing called sleep. It is an idea that has been recorded in the brain. The body needs rest. The organs, muscles etc are working a lot. They need a period of rest in order to rejuvenate themselves. It is a very natural process. And the body knows how to do it by itself, and when to do it. Mahaprabu realized this one day at a very very deep level and said ‘Sleep does not exist.’  That’s why they call it ‘sleepless sleep’. There is a sleepless state inside, yet there is sleep outside (for the body). This Thoongadhu thoongum nilai is Turiyam. Thannaiyum maravamalu piridhondrai ariyamalum – Not forgetting oneself and not knowing any other is called Turiyam. They call it the 4^th state but actually it is the only state. For understanding it is kept as the 4^th state. Waking, Dream, and Sleep being the 3 states and Turiyam being different from these three, it has been called the 4^th state. Actually there is only Tuiryam. Turiyam means Vizhippu, Arivu, Vizhippudan kudiya oru iruppu – Knowing about its own presence. A drop of this Turiyam, a ray of it reflecting in the brain has created these so-called ideas waking, dream and sleep and these seem to be real. It is like a ray of the sun reflects on something and started acting as the sun! A ray of Turiyam, a ray of this Vizhippu comes out. That’s why in the waking state we feel this Vizhippu (we know we exist). In dream also there is this Vizhippu. We know what happens in the dream. But it is not as clear as what happens in the waking state. The reflection is dull. More dull than this happens in sleep. But there is that ray. Otherwise how does one say ‘I slept really well’. Did you ask someone to confirm this? How can you say it without knowing? Even in that very dull state, there is a ray of Vizhippu because of which the fact that I slept well was recorded.

This ray of Thuriyam called Vizhippu is your chance to retrace the way back. Sleep is very dull. Dream is a little brighter than sleep. Waking is brighter than that. Turiyam is the brightest, the original form of these states. Therefore it is not a state ‘other’ than these 3. People even have given it an order, actually in reverse! Waking first, then Dream, then Deep Sleep then Turiyam. That is wrong.
SC: Yes, there is a notion that deep sleep is very close to Turiyam.
Mahaprabu: Actually, it is a dull form of it. Just for your understanding, I’ll give you an example.

That is why Vaiai Subramaniam says this beautifully about Turiyam: In odukkam – the aspect of contraction, reduction, it appears to be more deeper than deep sleep. In Vizhippu – knowing its presence, it is more aware than even the waking state. A very great book this is. It is the book that Bhagavan read and recommended. It is a pocket-sized book with the most precise and concise description of that Brahmam. See how that Brahma Sakthi, taking the form of Vaiai Subramaniam has spelled all this out, that too in Tamil. Now, look at his definition with my circle example. In contraction (odukkam) it appears more deeper than sleep: the point of sleep is close to Turiyam. And in knowing its presence, (Vizhippu) it is more stronger than the Waking state. He even says, “Actually there is only this one state called Turiyam at all times. Waking, Dream and Sleep are like one long dream.”

See, he calls sleep a dream. It does not exist in reality. Now look at it from this point of view. Start with Dream on the circle. Waking is a stronger Dream, because at least in Dream you say that it was a dream. But Waking you believe to be real. That is how strong it is. That is why Bhagavan says, ‘Is there a world other than the mind?’ So the Waking state is nothing but a brighter Dream. When seen from this standpoint, Sleep is the sharpest, since Waking is the dullest (you don’t even know you are dreaming). So in one sense, you can say Sleep is the dullest, but from another point of view, Sleep is the sharpest of the three. Do you know what sleep is:
SC: An absence.
Mahaprabu: Yes, the absence of personhood, the individual, the ego. There is no SC. Turiyam is ever-present. It cannot be destroyed. You may not feel the presence of Turiyam. You are absent to the presence of Turiyam. ‘You’ refers to Personhood. So if sleep is the absence of personhood, then who has defined sleep? The Person! So how can it be real? And that same ego has defined Waking as the normal state. Actually, it is a very deep Dream! See how the mind tricks us. We believe Waking to be the real state.
SC: Yes, it is fully sustained by Personhood and therefore the most dangerous state! Full Nabarthanmai (personhood) but we have defined it as the normal state.
Mahaprabu: Yes, Waking is a terrible dream. A very strong dream. That’s why Bhagavan says ‘You think you are awake, but in my point of view you are sleeping.’  Therefore Sleep does not exist. But ‘you’ (personhood) define it as a state because you (personhood) have disappeared. You are defining this absence of an idea about yourself, and you are calling it Sleep. It is that point where the last idea about you is there. At all other times, you have strong ideas about you. When that idea drops, you call it Sleep.

Turiyam alone IS

Does the body care whether you drop the idea of person or not? Does the body care whether you dream or not? Irrespective of all this the body exists. It appears, functions and disappears. The existence of the body is sensed by Turiyam. Turiyam alone exists. That Vizhippu knows that Personhood rises in waking, Personhood dulls in a dream, Personhood disappears in Sleep. It is as though these 3 events arise out of Turiyam and contract back into it. [Mahaprabu acted out with his hands, something coming out of a single point, expanding and going back into the same point] the arising of these 3 from a single point.

So what is it that comes out and goes back in? The starting point is Turiyam and the ending point is Turiyam. The same Turiyam alone exists. It is like having a Torch with 3 brightness level switches. First switch dull light, Second switch a bit brighter. Third Switch more brighter. The first switch can be compared to Sleep. The second to Dream and the third switch to Waking. In all states it is light. That light is Turiyam. You can understand it in the reverse too. Total light. Reduce the brightness with a switch and you call it Waking. Reduce further and it is a Dream. Reduce further and it is Sleep. Totally reduced it contracts into Turiyam. The whole universe is functioning like this (again using his hands to depict how from a single point it expands to the 3 levels and contracts back to that point). The whole universe is this Turiyam, and the various bodies are each like that Torch. But the function in each Torch is the exact same. Expansion and Contraction. It is a cyclical process.

We are all stuck in the idea of those 3 levels. So when one torch that is in the bright state sees another torch in the dullest state we say ‘He is sleeping still!’ ‘I woke up’ etc. We are defining things based on these so-called 3 states only. But a Jnani has realized that these 3 are just variations of the same light. And that all that exists is light alone. Turiyam is the only state. It alone appears as this. Again, this is just for your understanding. Nothing can describe it exactly.

Darkness and Brightness are nothing but levels of light. From a point it itself comes out and goes back into itself. When it comes out we say brightness. When it shrinks we say darkness. It is like from a highly concentrated singular point something bursts out into a sphere of colorful crystals and contracts all the way back into that single point. These crystals are dogs, cats, humans, mountains, oceans, etc.

SC: When does that contraction happen?
Mahaprabu: I am talking about Avyaktam. In the beginning all these were unmanifest in that point. Today they are manifest. Again they will become unmanifest. The whole universe will. So anything and everything that comes out of this point has what? A strong connection to the Center. That is why it is able to retrace its way back to it. At the macro level, at the Universe level this expansion and contraction happens. At the micro level the same thing happens. I am talking about Turiyam, Sleep, Dream, Waking. Turiyam expands from that point and returns to itself. I am seeing this exact same rhythm in the Universe. The harmony is the exact same. This appears short-term, but the universe appears long-term. And when these two rhythms coincide, you realize that the universe itself does not exist. This is the point of Realization. In that state, Turiyam is the point and Turiyam is the sphere and Turiyam is every single glitter in that sphere. The point is the sphere and the glitter. For example, the Arunachala hill that you see is nothing but a single glitter, no different from any other glitter. It is your brain that is defining these things are separate. For example, Tiruvannamalai is a creation in your mind based on the information brought in by your senses. Based on the sensory information you have defined ‘This is a place, that is a mountain’ etc. You have forgotten that you and that are the same. This separation has become a habit. Nothing is apart from Turiyam. That is why you like to go to Natural places. Because there is a Unity there. You don’t separate the mountains for example.  So in reality something else exists. But we are living based on our own definition of things! When you are the water can you distinguish a big wave or short wave or even a wave? A strong magnetic field is contained in a point. It expands to a large circle. It shrinks back. It is the same magnetic field at all times.

All this cannot be understood by the mind. There is only one opportunity here for you: You can be the point or you can be the sphere. You cannot avoid the point. It is happening. The only thing you can do is to Realize and Dissolve into it. Once you have dissolved will you sit here talking about all this? It is like a red glitter seeing a green glitter and saying that you are Red and I am Green, without knowing they have a common origin.

This not-knowing and knowing is the whole game. Ignorance and Awareness. Between these two poles the whole play is happening. Whether the glitters are aware or unaware in ignorance, the rhythm of contraction and expansion will not change. So these definitions of humans, living things, and non-living things are all false. That’s why the Ribhu Gita strongly says ‘Throw away this Bedha buddhi’ Throw away this ‘idea’ of differences. It is only in your mind.

Even now just because you understand all this you are not in the Abhedham state (non-differentiating). Only when you experience the Abhedham state you will be in it. Otherwise you won’t go there. But this understanding is essential for you to go to that Abhedham state. Otherwise you won’t even make an attempt.

What to do?

So only one thing needs to be done. Consciously you should not allow the misconception. It must be done with total dedication. Having known all this, you can’t cheat yourself unconsciously. Any cheating will become aware to you. Since you are conscious to the understanding. It will tear you apart. It won’t let you be in peace. So quickly come over to this side. This transit stage should be crossed quickly. Otherwise you will torture yourself. For Mahaprabu the sadhana period was 10 years: 1993 to 2003. In 1993 I had this understanding very clearly. So whenever I cheated myself, I was doing it consciously. It was torture. It was like each time I cheated it was as though I was cutting myself with a blade each time. From 1993 – 1997 it was terrible. I needed support. No one to help me. Any moment death can happen. Only in 1997 I made a strong decision that I cannot befool myself consciously. That I should cross this phase and come out of it. So 1997-2002, those 6 years I had taken the step consciously not to cheat. Now there was no guilt when I missed. Whatever suffering I encountered, I was willing to face. But I would not face the suffering that came from cheating. That self-suffering, conscious suffering I would not allow. I wanted freedom from that self-suffering. From 1993-1997 it was as though I had not even started the journey. But from 1997-2003 it was like someone had given me a map and knowingly or unknowingly I was progressing. But imagine the situation before that, when you know you have to go someplace (meaning you have the understanding about suffering and you know what to do), the map also is given, but you are not even starting the journey.

Guru’s help

So, give top priority to this and come out of the suffering. There is a natural rhythm happening continuously. (Again pointing to the contraction-expansion motion) You are able to accept it, correct? If so, then the Master’s goal is to bring you into that rhythm. To do that, it creates a rhythm in the Master-Disciple relationship which matches the overall rhythm. Once you match this rhythm that the Master is creating for you, you will be in the track. You will understand then. The greatest help a Master does to a disciple is to bring him to this rhythmic state. Once that happens, you will understand.

See yesterday the content was all about Love. Today it spoke very deeply about Turiyam. All these are needed for you. These are entering your consciousness so that you are forced to complete this journey. You cannot cheat yourself anymore.