Spiritual Message for the Day – The Three States by Sri Swami Sivananda

Baba Times Digest© | 13 December 2014 12.42 EST | New York Edition


The Three States

Divine Life Society Publication: Self-Knowledge by Sri Swami Sivananda

Brahman, the Absolute stands for ever as a silent witness. He is not seen by the worldly people on account of the veil created by the avidya. As soon as the veil is removed by meditation, Brahman shines in its native glory and splendour. The meditator becomes That when he knows That.

Jagrat is the waking state in which man enjoys the five gross objects of senses as sound, etc., through the five organs of knowledge viz., ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose. He is conscious of the world. He has externalised consciousness (Bahih Prajna). Jiva is called in this state as Visva.

A king gets into his car and moves about in the city. This corresponds to Jiva’s wandering in the world in the wakeful state. He returns back and enters his palace. This corresponds to the dreaming state. He enters his bed room at night. This corresponds to the deep sleep state.

The surface of the lake is compared to the conscious mind. The bottom of the lake is compared to the subconscious mind. The objects that come from the bottom of the lake to its surface are compared to the images that come to the surface of the conscious mind from the subconscious mind. The Vikshepa Sakti that disturbs the mind is compared to the wind that disturbs the water of the lake. During the waking state the Vikshepa Sakti, the Sankalpas of the individual and the senses disturb the mind. In the dreaming state, the Vikshepa Sakti alone disturbs the mind. In deep sleep the mind is at perfect rest.

Sometimes during waking state also the mind passes into a state of quietude for a very short time and it is free from Sankalpa and the two currents of love and hate. In this state, the Prajna or consciousness is internal (Antah Prajna). It is not united with the mental Vrittis.

The experiences of the waking state are reproduced in the dream through Vasanas and Samskaras, with alterations, additions and mysterious combinations. It is the mind that creates all the dream pictures. Mind is the subject. Mind itself is the object. Mind itself assumes the forms of a woman, horse, cart, driver, road, river, city, etc.

The Self is covered by Avarana during sleep and by Vikshepa during the waking states. That which is above Avarana and Vikshepa is Atman.

The scientist draws his conclusions from his observations and experiences of the wakeful state only. Hence they are not correct. True experience includes the experience of the three states viz., waking, dreaming and deep sleep states. The Vedantin studies the three states. He gains more real knowledge from the deep sleep state. He gets a clue for the existence of the fourth state or the state of Turiya from a study of the deep sleep state.

Svapna is the dreaming state in which man enjoys the five objects of senses and all the senses are at rest and the mind alone works. Mind itself is the subject and the object. It creates all dream-pictures. Jiva is called Taijasa in this state. There is Antah Prajna (internal consciousness). The scripture says: “When he falls asleep, there are no chariots in that state, no horses and roads, but he himself creates chariots, horses and roads.” (Briha. Upa. IV, 3-9-10)

The dreaming world is separate from the waking one. Deep sleep is separate from both the dreaming and waking world. To the dreamer the dream-world and the dream-objects are as much real as the objects and experiences of the waking world. A dreaming man is not aware of the unreality of the dream-world.

He is not aware of the existence of the waking world, apart from the dream. Consciousness changes and this change in consciousness brings about the waking or dream experiences. The objects do not change in themselves. There is only change in the mind. The mind itself plays the role of the waking and the dream.

The dreamer believes in the reality of the objects of the dream as well as the different experiences in the dream. Only when he wakes up from the dream, he knows or realises that what he was experiencing was a mere dream, an illusion and false. Similar is the case with the Jiva in the waking world. The ignorant Jiva imagines that the phenomenal world of sense-pleasures is real. But when he is awake to the reality of things, when his angle of vision is changed, when the screen of Avidya is removed, he realises that this waking world also is unreal like the dream world.

The wise consider the wakeful as well as the dreaming condition as one, in consequence of the similarity of objective experience in either case. As are dream and illusion or a castle in the air, so say the wise, the Vedanta declares this cosmos to be.

The happiness that you derive from deep sleep is positive bliss. It is not mere negative pleasure. It is not derived from direct contact with sensual objects. It is the causal body or Anandamaya Kosha that functions during deep sleep.

As soon as you wake up, the dream becomes unreal. The waking state does not exist in the dream. Both dream and waking states are not present in deep sleep. Deep sleep is not present in dream and waking states. Therefore all the three states are unreal. They are caused by the three qualities Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Brahman or the Absolute is the silent witness of the three states. It transcends the three qualities also. It is pure bliss and pure consciousness. It is Existence Absolute.

This is the difference between deep sleep and Samadhi. When you return from deep sleep, you have no knowledge of the Self. You retain the same mind, the same Vasanas the same thoughts, the same Samskaras which you had before you had gone to sleep. But in the case of Samadhi, the Yogi or the sage comes out with full illumination. He is endowed with Knowledge of the Self. His old Samskaras are burnt in toto. There is annihilation of mind (Manonasa). He is a changed man now with equal-vision and balanced mind. He is free from all doubts, fear, desires. He can clear the doubts of all.

Deep sleep is the seed and the states of wakefulness and dream are the fruits thereof. Deep sleep is but very little removed in one of its aspects from Samadhi or union with Paramatman. If it were not so and the consciousness were not to revert again to the condition of wakefulness and dream, deep sleep (Sushupti) would be but the state of Samadhi or supreme consciousness.

Turiya or the fourth state transcends the above three states. The sage who has controlled the mind and the senses, who is above body-consciousness and the three Gunas, who is identifying himself with the Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahman is in the enjoyment of this blissful or superconsciousness state. This is the transcendental state of Moksha.

The slight interval or Sandhi between deep sleep state and the waking is called Tushnim Bhuta Avastha or state of quietude of mind. Similarly there is an interval or Sandhi between the waking and the deep sleep state. In the former Sandhi, the mind is coming out with the experience of Rasa of deep sleep; in the later Sandhi it is going into the recesses of the heart with the experience or Rasa of the worldly objects. In these two Sandhis the mind is free from Sankalpa and attraction or repulsion.

The seeker after Atma Tattva should see it at the junction between the waking and sleep state. He should see that bondage and liberation is due to delusion of Maya of the individual and not a reality.—Bhagavatam VII, 3-V

 

Excerpts from: The Three States - Self-Knowledge by Sri Swami Sivananda

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If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore

If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE >>> Email to BT Digest Editor ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)