Sleep as a State of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta by Arvind Sharma. Advaita Vedanta is a widespread philosophical system of India. One of the well-known doctrines associated with Advaita Vedanta is that of avasthatraya, or of the three states of consciousness: waking (jagrat), dreaming (svapna), and deep sleep (susupti). Out of these three states of daily experience, Advaita Vedanta often draws on that of deep sleep to validate an argument, point a moral, or even adorn a tale.
From the book:
“From a different “common sense”, dreams suggest a “reality” (taken to be the external physical world) which is merely a mental creation. As dreamers believe their dreams are real (and not merely their mental creations), we now believe waking is real, and not such a creation. From waking state, we “know” dreams aren’t real; in the same way, once we become brahman, we will know waking is not real. Thus, one should not aim for waking’s critical self-awareness, but for “awakening” from the “dream” (or nightmare!) of daylight vicissitudes.”
Download the ebook Sleep as a State of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta by Arvind Sharma here: