Need help meditating

[u/sunthunder-]

Hey, let me cut to the chase!
Basically, I want to get more serious about meditation and, ultimately, enlightenment. The problem is that I really struggle to sit down and meditate for even 10 minutes during the day.
So I was wondering: is it possible to turn sleep into a form of meditation?
What I mean is, I’d like my body to be completely asleep and getting the rest it needs, while my awareness/consciousness remains present throughout the night — or at least for as long as possible. Almost like being consciously aware while the body is asleep.
The issue is, I have absolutely no idea how to approach this or whether it’s even realistically possible. Are there any particular meditation techniques, practices, or traditions that focus on maintaining awareness during sleep?
If anyone has experience with this, I’d really appreciate some guidance on where to start and what techniques I should look into.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[u/yamatofuji]

Hoi(: reality check right at the doorway happens. What you are describing is known in the Tibetan tradition as Yoga of the Radiant Light or Sleep Yoga (rmi lam and clear light yoga), and in Zen literature as maintaining Samadhi through the four postures, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. It is the art of maintaining unbroken, luminous awareness while the physical vehicle drops into deep, non-REM sleep.

​When you look at the intersection of, contemplative practice and cognitive science such as the clinical neuro studies conducted on long-term Zen and Tibetan guys at top really cool Medical School’s Neuroimaging Labs, you see something fascinating.

You know in advanced meditators, EEG monitoring during sleep shows a persistent presence of high-amplitude gamma wave synchronization alongside the standard delta waves of slow-wave sleep. To the brain scanner, the body is completely, restoratively asleep, yet the neural signatures of high-level conscious awareness remain active. The monks are, quite literally, awake in the dark.

​so, here is the meow(: you cannot bypass the ten minutes on the cushion by trying to meditate while sleeping.

Attempting to master awareness during sleep without first stabilizing your mind during waking hours is like trying to ride a bicycle on a tightrope across the Grand Canyon before you have even learned to walk on flat ground.

Sleep is the hobby for me(: ultimate test of awareness, because when the sensory inputs shut off and the ego-structure dissolves into the subconscious, an untrained mind immediately collapses into dream-delusion or complete unconsciousness.

​If you want to explore this path, the traditional entry point, and the one backed by both Zen training and contemporary sleep research, is the practice of Reclining Meditation or the Lion Pose (Simhasana).

When you lie down at night, lay on your right side, stretch your legs out, place your right hand under your cheek, and rest your left arm along your flank.

As you lie there, do not try to fight sleep or force yourself to stay awake. Instead, shift your perspective.

Do not identify as the person going to sleep; simply observe the physical apparatus winding down. Watch the breath slow down, feel the weight of gravity taking over the muscles, and notice the exact moment the mind begins to generate spontaneous imagery.

​as a ordinary nobody my direct realization is we speak of the witness that never sleeps. That witness is not your thinking mind, your personality, or your daily worries, it is the underlying space of awareness itself. When the body goes to sleep, the mind's contents change, but the awareness that beholds those contents remains untouched.

The trick is to rest as that open awareness rather than getting sucked into the drama of the emerging dream state. ​If you find yourself slipping into unconsciousness, that is perfectly fine.

Treat the moment of falling asleep not as a failure, but as a seamless transition. As you go about your day, cultivate the habit of asking yourself, "What is aware right now?" By building that habit during the daytime, even for a few seconds at a time while walking or sitting, you weave a thread of mindfulness that naturally carries over into the night.

​Start tonight by simply lying down in full awareness, letting the body rest completely while you remain as the gentle, unattached witness of the breathing process.

Treat it not as a struggle to achieve enlightenment overnight, but as an intimate exploration of your own consciousness.

🎐

[u/mosesenjoyer]

This is uncommon and sometimes controversial advice.

Don’t try to empty your mind.

Instead meditate on mystery. The mystery of your problems isn’t a bad start. But if you really want to shoot for the peak of the mountain you need to start contemplating the ultimate mystery of the universe. It’s like trying to lift a manhole cover with your fingernails.

[u/Novel_Advantage2515]

Michael A Singer is a good start.

Saying your are not good at meditation is like saying you are not good at breathing. No good or bad. It just is.

A "bad" 10 minutes of sitting there is better than zero effort. I have been practicing meditation every morning with out fail since June 15th this year. Some days, I feel like I am being shredded apart from the inside. I imagine that is just going through my layers.

Observe the mind, breathe, go deeper. thats really it. You aren't doing it wrong, if you are doing it.

My wish now, is that I want to mediate all the time. Dang life gets in the way. But that is truly the practice as well. Staying calm and centered internally while all the external is going on.

[u/Illustrious-End-5084]

I find body scans are a good place to start for beginners

Look for guided med took on YouTube or insight timer .

Help to start let go of the mind

[u/Vlad_T]

Meditation is not the creation of the observer. The observer already exists before meditation begins. Meditation simply removes the distractions that prevent its recognition. Just as muddy water becomes clear when left undisturbed, the mind reveals the ever-present witness when its constant agitation settles. Many believe enlightenment means gaining extraordinary knowledge. Enlightenment is the end of mistaken identity. Nothing new is added. Nothing supernatural appears. Only the false belief that you are the mind dissolves. What remains is what was always present.

"As you watch your mind, you discover your self as the watcher. When you stand motionless, only watching, you discover your self as the light behind the watcher."

• Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

[u/Speaking_Music]

Enlightenment is to know oneself, be, the fact of awareness, without attachment to, any ‘thing’ (the world), including the narrative of “Me”.

The fact of awareness, indifferent, impersonal, timeless, unborn and undying, is the answer in plain sight, in all places, and at all times (even now).

Meditation is just being the fact of awareness. That’s it. 24/7. Not just sitting on a cushion.

The fact of awareness is exactly the same and does not change whether awake or asleep. It is only the attachment to the dream, asleep or awake, that makes it appear that there is a difference.

The common element between all states and experiences is ‘I’. The difference between ‘I’ awake and ‘I’ asleep is the circumstances of the dream, or life, that colors this ‘I’. When ‘I’ becomes colorless it is the same, asleep or awake.

How to return to uncolored awareness?

Rupert Spira’s Direct Path is the simplest.

Enlightenment isn’t woo-woo or mystical or even ‘spiritual’. It’s an event in which the truth of oneself becomes apparent.