I can devote 7 hours to ( meditation + sleep ) per day . Should I do 5 hour sleep and 2 hour mediation(1 hour twice) **or** 6 hours of sleep and 1 hour of meditation ?please give reason . will 2 hours increase my productivity (please tell from your own experience, not any bookish knowledge ) Will meditating twice will give me **twice** more benefit than meditating once ?

In sleep, the 5 sense doors are closed. And in deep sleep the mind door is also closed. So technically it's nibbana. Isn't it?

Pretty much as the title suggests: does it harm to meditate before sleeping? For me if I meditate seriously my mind is swept over with awakeness. as a consequence when I go to sleep I remain awake for sometime and keep thinking useless thoughts. so it kind of hinders my sleep. Is there a good practice or should meditation before sleep be avoided?

There is a Bön text I found out about recently that I’ve spent a lot of time looking for but haven’t been able to find anywhere as an English translation. The text is: Ma Gyud / Ma Gyudr / Ma Rgyud (Mother Tantra). I think the full translation of the name of the book is: Mother Tantra: The Tantric Cycle of the Sun of Compassion (Ma rgyud thugs rje nyi ma'i rgyud skor). Or it might also be: Secret Mother Tantra Cycle (Ma rgyud gsang skor), which was first promulgated among humanity by the Royal Shen Milu Samleg / Samlek [Mi lus bsams legs] I found references to the Mother Tantra in Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s book “The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep”. I’ve also come across some more info about it and its structure here: http://www.surajamrita.com/bon/MotherTantra.html There might also be some other names for it here: http://drenpa-namkha.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-Title-of-mother-tantra.pdf I’d really love to read and practice from the source material. I suspect, however, that there may not be an English translation of it available, as I haven’t found any traces of it online. Would anyone be able to point me to a page or pdf online of this original text where it’s been translated, or send me a copy if you have one? Or alternatively, know of an English translation I could buy as a kindle or physical book? Thanks in advance for any help!

I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the possibility of there being “Astral Projection” in Buddhism. I know “Tibetan Sleep Yoga” is involved with Lucid Dreaming, which is the internal. Yet I was wondering if Buddhism had a concept where you could leave your body. Any help would be amazing!

I'm having a really hard time. Not just in my meditation practice, but in my life in general. I've established a habit of 20 minutes of meditation first thing in the morning, then another 15 minutes in the early afternoon. I also try to take mindful breaks, I regularly take mindful walks, and I will meditate when I need a break or I'm feeling very stressed. I started meditating probably 3 years ago, and my routine has been pretty strong for the past 2 years. I usually use headspace meditations, and sometimes I just meditate on my own in quiet. I've read a few books about meditation, zen, etc, but I've never gone to a meditation retreat or anything hardcore like that - and given my work and young kids, I don't consider that an option. I think I started meditating in a healthy way. I wasn't trying to solve any specific problems, I just wanted to be more mindful in my daily life. But I did think regular meditation would be a healthy habit to adopt, and that it would be a safeguard of sorts against other ills. However, I now find myself really frustrated because I've actually started to get more anxious, and I've barely slept for the past month. I've tried to mindfully just accept my anxiety, not fight it, and I think that's generally fine, but the insomnia is debilitating. There is no major life event that I can think of that's causing this, I don't understand it, but I'm very disappointed that my meditation practice hasn't helped more. I've tried to increase my meditation recently to see if it would help, but I just keep getting worse. I'm very frustrated and I can't help but think what's the point of spending all this time meditating? Could I be doing anything wrong? Has anyone had any similar experiences? Any advice?

According to Lama Surya Das, novice monks traditionally meditate 23 hours a day, with one hour for sleep. I met another American lama who said the same thing. How is this even possible? Even if the monk goes into deep meditation, is one hour of sleep enough? And these were novices. I have wondered about this for years, and can't seem to find anything about it on the web. I often meditate when tired, because of chronic insomnia, and I often wonder what the relationship between sleep and meditation is. Does anyone know anything about this practice? Sorry if this is not specific enough, but I don't know anything else about this practice, but I find it extremely intriguing.

I sleep the hours which are said to be needed, but I still feel sleepy. I've been drinking coffee recently to eliminate grogginess, and it does work for me. However, I was wondering if there are other methods of eliminating grogginess?

What are the proper relax / Sleep practices for a practitioner of meditation methods? As to Buddhist point of view what is sleep and how to cope with it?

I tried vipassana meditation and where i used to follow my belly for the inhale exhale. Every time I practised, I found that my sleep quality was disturbed. I found myself tired next day after the disturbed sleep. Did anyone experience the same?

I use the Tara mantra as my focus during Samatha meditation prior to beginning Vipassana but lately I am beginning to wonder...am I falling asleep? I can't tell, really. I don't get drowsy but my mantra becomes so quiet that it begins to merge with the thought-stream that it is resting on, and then I lose awareness of both until my consciousness returns to the fact that I am still chanting, but without any awareness of what, if anything, I was actually thinking about-the thoughts being too quiet to catch or to get caught in. But just as there is no going, there is no returning either (no waking up) with this experience, just very subtle ebb and flow. When I began a regular meditation practice about five months ago discursive thought would become loud enough to break my concentration. It still does, of course, more often than not, and I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of "getting caught up in the flow" only to return to the mantra. But lately it is like meditation has lost its urgency. It has become so much a part of my life. It has become like that ebb and flow and I just want to rest in the stillness of that. It is just so beautiful...but then I start to think that maybe it is an escape from being present and that my mind is playing with me. I would really like to know what is going on, and if there is somewhere I should be going with this, some way that I should be practice with it skillfully.

Often around 2:00 p.m. after eating, my body falls tired. So I have to stop studying. I am myself a long term meditator, but I rarely meditate when I am tired. Is meditation a good substitute for sleep? In other words, around 2:00 p.m., if I am going to meditate mindfully for an hour instead of sleeping, will this meditation be able to replace sleep?

I like to meditate sometimes just before bed. Invariably I end up drifting off into dream type states and ending the mediating early. Is it a waste of time to meditate when tired or conversely are there some particular benefits to doing it then? Many thanks as always

I have read somewhere that Arhats (people who attained Nirvana) do not sleep like normal people do. Instead they just stay calm in a suitable position to give the rest required for the physical body, but their mind is always alert... Is this true?

Does anyone know if one can fall asleep into a dream while in the process of mindful insight practice and still maintain mindfulness and concentration? This would be different than establishing mindfulness while dreaming.

I noticed a reply Andrei made on a post on the results of meditating, that you become aware in your sleep while dreaming, so that your mind knows it's a dream: - [Mindfulness during sleep](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/2855/254) - [Do Arhats sleep?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/92/254) This is a major confirmation sign of correct practice in Ancient Daoism (which i've been reading for years now, not knowing which is correct practice) -- and i would like Andrei's advice (and whoever else would like to share their insight) on practice technique and how you have managed to get to this advanced level.

The other night at a group meditation meeting, I mentioned to another practitioner that sleep is a 'lazy form of Nirvana'. My memory tells me that Tara Brach or another teacher jokingly referred to sleep in that way, but after looking on Google, I can't find the reference :\ I would feel a little guilty if my reference was false, but I know that Nirvana is in a lot of ways the opposite of sleep and I'm sure she did too. I ask this as a joke, but has anyone heard of sleep referred as a 'lazy form of Nirvana?' If so, which teacher made that reference?

I’m wondering what your meditation practice’s effects are on your sleep. I’m asking this because I have a strange tendency, habit of waking up with very troubled thoughts and memories of past hardships. I’m meditating before and after sleep not only for spiritual goals but also for the purposes of relaxing and letting go of these thoughts. What are you experiences? Do you know if Buddha had anything to say on this matter? I would love to hear what you have to say! Thank you for your kindness, A Buddhist

Does drowsiness as a defilement only refer to a psychological state of mind? I know that emotions manifest also as physical phenomena, but how do I distinguish between physical exhaustion and psychological defilement? If I am done with my job or school I'm feeling sometimes exhausted. How do I know if I have this defilement in me? Now of course if I ate a lot then it's clearly a defilement. Just for convenience I was thinking that the next time I'm feeling physically exhausted I am going to meditate even if just for 5-10 minutes to give myself the chance to have a sense of achievement and well.. maybe the sleepiness disappeared by then. Any thoughts or sutta references? (I am aware that the Buddha advised to combat drowsiness and if everything fails one can take a nap)

I have an issue picking meditation to practice during my free time as a medical student. My free time is limited and my stress levels are sky high. What is the best meditation practice for me out there? something that will keep me awake as well as improve my power of focus. My attention deficit is creating huge problems in my studies. --- Thanks you guys... the 1st answer is the most comprehensive. I do remember when I was a teenager I used to practice Metta mediation and had a better time falling asleep. But as I became a medical student and am currently studying in my 3rd year, my mind got clogged with the ever increasing amount of knowledge and stress, that I felt like I was trapped in this dogma of man made knowledge and lost all the freedom I had as kid. But I feel now, that that freedom I lost is actually mostly because I lost my path as a meditator and a Buddhist practitioner more than anything else. I should find the time to do these little things, because they are those little things that makes us complete. Thanks so much for the responses!