Since they are fully aware, are they immune to the dullness of consciousness which afflicts non-realized beings?
Perhaps their body sleeps while their mind stays in meditation...
Do Arahants need to sleep?
Do Arahants need to sleep?
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
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JamesTheGiant
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Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
People think that arahants are somehow Supermen.
No. An arahant sleeps and eats and shits just like any other human.
No. An arahant sleeps and eats and shits just like any other human.
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
.
In a section about Sigalovada Sutta at ATI it says :
In a section about Sigalovada Sutta at ATI it says :
...so if the Buddha slept, then presumably others who are Arahants sleep too.Now it was the custom of the Buddha to rise from his sleep at four o'clock
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/au ... el014.html
Last edited by Aloka on Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
I imagine they need less sleep because their brains and bodies don't expend as much energy with stress, worry and so on.
However I also imagine that whilst they have a body, they need to get some sleep, as it is clearly a necessary thing to do. We wouldn't do something so dangerous as lose conscious awareness every night if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Might seem far fetched saying that when we sleep indoors in comfortable beds, but most of our ancestors risked attack from predators, or other humans by going to sleep. Our brains and bodies need it to function else we wouldn't put ourselves at such risk every day.
The nature of their sleep and whether it differs from how you or I sleep is up for question, but I don't think whether they do or not is up for question.
However I also imagine that whilst they have a body, they need to get some sleep, as it is clearly a necessary thing to do. We wouldn't do something so dangerous as lose conscious awareness every night if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Might seem far fetched saying that when we sleep indoors in comfortable beds, but most of our ancestors risked attack from predators, or other humans by going to sleep. Our brains and bodies need it to function else we wouldn't put ourselves at such risk every day.
The nature of their sleep and whether it differs from how you or I sleep is up for question, but I don't think whether they do or not is up for question.
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
Thanks for the comments.
So is the consensus perhaps they do sleep but it's greatly reduced then? I read Buddha did sleep but for only 1 hour per night. Yet I'm not sure if this is the same "sleep" as lay people conceive.
The reason I ask is I've heard Buddhists indicate that as awareness becomes purified, dream becomes lucid dream, and lucid dream becomes meditation, therefore at high states of awareness there is no sleep. One rests in meditation.
Some monks at Theravada monasteries take a sitting vow, and never lie down, even for years. They spend all night in Lotus pose and are rested. To a normal person, this is impossible because they would fall over.
There are retreats in Thailand where one doesn't lie down, instead there is a group sitting practice for 2 weeks. So lines between sleep and non-sleep are blurred.
If "sleep is a fluctuation in the field of consciousness when there is a thought or impulse towards non-wakefulness".... Then when one rests in perfect concentration or jhana, there would be no thought towards sleep.
Majhimma Nikaya 53 says:
"And how is the disciple of the noble ones devoted to wakefulness? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, sitting & pacing back & forth, cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the first watch of the night [dusk to 10 p.m.], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the second watch of the night [10 p.m. to 2 a.m.], reclining on his right side, he takes up the lion's posture, one foot placed on top of the other, mindful, alert, with his mind set on getting up. During the last watch of the night [2 a.m. to dawn], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. This is how the monk is devoted to wakefulness."
I see what you mean about not being superhuman, even though Superconsciousness leaves fragmented human consciousness behind. If mind and body become balanced, relaxed, and the energy flows unimpeded, the machine is running optimally. This could lead to sleep being drastically reduced or it's nature changed from a normal human's sleep.
So is the consensus perhaps they do sleep but it's greatly reduced then? I read Buddha did sleep but for only 1 hour per night. Yet I'm not sure if this is the same "sleep" as lay people conceive.
The reason I ask is I've heard Buddhists indicate that as awareness becomes purified, dream becomes lucid dream, and lucid dream becomes meditation, therefore at high states of awareness there is no sleep. One rests in meditation.
Some monks at Theravada monasteries take a sitting vow, and never lie down, even for years. They spend all night in Lotus pose and are rested. To a normal person, this is impossible because they would fall over.
There are retreats in Thailand where one doesn't lie down, instead there is a group sitting practice for 2 weeks. So lines between sleep and non-sleep are blurred.
If "sleep is a fluctuation in the field of consciousness when there is a thought or impulse towards non-wakefulness".... Then when one rests in perfect concentration or jhana, there would be no thought towards sleep.
Majhimma Nikaya 53 says:
"And how is the disciple of the noble ones devoted to wakefulness? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, sitting & pacing back & forth, cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the first watch of the night [dusk to 10 p.m.], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the second watch of the night [10 p.m. to 2 a.m.], reclining on his right side, he takes up the lion's posture, one foot placed on top of the other, mindful, alert, with his mind set on getting up. During the last watch of the night [2 a.m. to dawn], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. This is how the monk is devoted to wakefulness."
I see what you mean about not being superhuman, even though Superconsciousness leaves fragmented human consciousness behind. If mind and body become balanced, relaxed, and the energy flows unimpeded, the machine is running optimally. This could lead to sleep being drastically reduced or it's nature changed from a normal human's sleep.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
They sleep but they dun dream.
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
Thanks for the above. Regarding the different watches of the night, where did you find these?archaic wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:42 pm Majhimma Nikaya 53 says:
"And how is the disciple of the noble ones devoted to wakefulness? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, sitting & pacing back & forth, cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the first watch of the night [dusk to 10 p.m.], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the second watch of the night [10 p.m. to 2 a.m.], reclining on his right side, he takes up the lion's posture, one foot placed on top of the other, mindful, alert, with his mind set on getting up. During the last watch of the night [2 a.m. to dawn], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. This is how the monk is devoted to wakefulness."
I see what you mean about not being superhuman, even though Superconsciousness leaves fragmented human consciousness behind. If mind and body become balanced, relaxed, and the energy flows unimpeded, the machine is running optimally. This could lead to sleep being drastically reduced or it's nature changed from a normal human's sleep.
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Polar Bear
- Posts: 1348
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Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
It seems to be an educated guess by Ajahn Thanissaro. It’s from his ATI translation here: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html
You might want to check out a thread on the sutta central forum:
Three Watches of the Night
"I don't envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, leads to great benefit."
"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."
"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."
Re: Do Arahants need to sleep?
Thanks!