Sri Mahaprabu called me around 2:30 AM! The topic of sleep came up. In his characteristic style he asked ‘Have you given rest to the body?’ (Mahaprabu never ever says things like ‘Did you sleep’ etc. as the sentence makes no sense. Neither is there a ‘you’ nor is there ‘sleep’. There is only the body and it rests when it needs to. Please read the other talks on Sleep and you’ll see why Sleep is a habitual made-up concept without any basis in reality). I replied, ‘Almost slept’. What came out of him was a very insightful talk with a clear guiding path forward.

Mahaprabu: You have to drop sleep. There is a state called Sleepless-Sleep. You see, We all ARE. We Exist. This Existence is 24 Hours. This is our true nature. Call it X. All the Jnanis and the Vedas have been saying that IT is a state that always exists. Therefore does X have sleep?
SC: No.

Mahaprabu:: Yes, sleeping is not a characteristic of this. So who is sleeping? It is something else. OK. What is that we are trying to feel, trying to attain?
SC: X.

Mahaprabu: Yes, and that X is that which never sleeps, always aware. Now tally, and correlate these two. We are trying to attain X, and X is always there, doesn’t sleep, always aware. So how we should be?
SC: We should be like X, without sleep.

Mahaprabu: Yes! This is the problem, not just for you, but for everyone. OK, so if only from 10 AM to 11 AM you experience X, will it be enough? No. So when will you know for sure and experience X that never sleeps? Only if you personally experience it when the body is asleep. Only then you will say X never sleeps, something else is sleeping. Therefore in order to experience the sleepless nature of X even when the body is sleeping, you have to be awake. Now what is that ‘You’ referring to? Careful, there are 3 things. Body (Y) is sleeping. Body doesn’t care whether there is an X that never sleeps or not. X never sleeps. X also does not have a need to realize that it doesn’t sleep. X doesn’t need to know. Body doesn’t care to know. There is a 3rd thing. That intention to know X, I am saying ‘You’, is not nabarthanmai (ego), but Gavanam, Attention. Not ego because when you cross the body and head towards X, you have to drop the ego. Once you go past the ego, the attention will be there, right? Yes. Is that attention separable from you? No. It is that Attention that needs to know that Y (Body) is sleeping, X is awake. Now this attention is related to what, its origin is what? X or Y?
SC: X

Mahaprabu: See what a game this is. The attention that comes out of X, does not know that X is always awake, eternal. It (X) is existing all the time but it is not felt. What is the reason? Lack of attention. So how can you fix it? Only by Gavanam, Attention. So then, are Attention and Sleep antonyms or synonyms? Antonyms. Therefore do you have to drop sleep or not? You have to drop sleep. So you the ego needs to do what with sleep? You have to drop it. Without dropping it you cannot attain. So, Sleep should not be a big deal for you going forward. If you are really interested in attaining this Truth, where you should not focus, and for what you should not give importance? For Sleep. That’s all.

Imagine you are a scientist who is observing closely something very interesting. Will he give importance to sleep? No. At least he can afford to say ‘Let me sleep a bit’. But you are a scientist observing the one that doesn’t sleep! Can you say ‘Let me sleep a bit.’? Here also you can make excuses, but the exercise will not be complete!

SC: This may be an excuse, but after some time the body seems to give up and fall asleep.

Mahaprabu: That’s not a problem. Body is not all related here. Attention is no way related with the body.
SC: In theory yes, but for me, in practice they both appeared to be tied together.

Mahaprabu: Yes, Yes. It appears that way. But ask yourself. Is attention related to body?
SC: No, in fact when I am attentive, there is no ego, neither an idea of the body is felt.

Mahaprabu: Yes, that’s what I’m telling. Your worrying about sleep has no meaning. Attention is not related to Ego. Attention is not related to body. So does Attention need to worry about the body?
SC: No. Which means, that which is worried about the body and sleep is something else.

Mahaprabu: That’s it (Laughing). Who else, Mr. Ego is the one worrying. So understanding this, you have to go beyond it. You have to counsel yourself. Attention is inborn. Ego is not inborn. Attention’s focus is on X. If the body falls as sleep, Attention is not concerned. You have to clear this stage. This only you can do. Since you are the individual (ego) who has the problem! (Laughing).

SC: This attention, since it belongs to X, can we take X as Sat, and Attention as Cit?

Mahaprabu: No, we cannot split Sat and Cit. It is SatCitAnandam. We say it as 3 things (Laughing), but it is one. Wherever Cit is, Sat is behind. For example, I’m saying Sat as X, Cit as Y, Ananda as Z. But you can’t take SatCitAnanda as X+Y+Z.  I say them as X, Y and Z as you know those 3 words as separate words. Based on your understanding I’m saying SatCitAnanda is the combination of X, Y, Z. But you can’t take it as X+Y+Z. I’m saying SatCitAnanda is really W! (Laughing).