Re: Sleep duration purported by scriptures
Originally Posted by
IcyCosmic
Namaste all,
I have always been intrigued by the scientific (mainstream) dialogue of sleep levels and the way they deduce it. Of course I assumed it would not be as refined as something purported by Eastern philosophy as it was sure to explore more dimensions. I eventually saw that Sadhguru said 4 hours is the optimum, saying the body is like a car and if you took obscene amounts of petrol for a low mileage; then you are inefficient. Of course you would work up to this stage. Just like you can't start with heavy weights in the Gym. With further exploration I saw many scriptures recommending waking up early, I have seen ISKCON members telling me to wake up at 4AM, and also people talking about Brahma-muhurta and so on.
This is all fine and dandy, but yesterday I came across a article that said sages and hindu scriptures allott required sleep (for mental recovery) based on units. & each time of day yields different units. 7 units are required for most people - depending on the mental stress you suffer daily this may increase. 9PM - 12:00 yields 2 units per hour, 12:00 - 6, yields 1 unit per hour, 6:00 - 9:00, yields 1/2 a unit per hour, and the time from 9:00 AM to 9:00PM yields no units. This seems to be linked with the position of the moon, and interestingly there is a relationship with the moon and mind in astrology.
If this is true, can someone please cite a source? A scripture or a authoritative guru?
Thankyou.
Namaste Friend,
I do not know what our scriptures say regarding this but I'll speak based on my observation.Those who say 4 hours of sleep is sufficient clearly don't do any work and sit idle all day.If a person works at the office,and does some or other domestic chores daily,he/she would get exhausted and require good sleep to recover.Instead if that working person sleeps only for four hours then I can say that his/her lifespan would reduce.People who don't do physical & mental work will say such things,especially people who have given up Grihasta ashrama can afford to say such things,they have no responsibilities,no work targets,no family,no need to buy groceries,no shopping trips,no need to attend any events and they also have disciples who do all work for them.If a person does nothing,how will he/she get sleep?For such people 4 hours is optimum.
But we are Brahmacharins/Grihastas.From my own experience 7 hours of sleep is optimum,less that that will affect both physical and mental well being.Kids and those above 55 years can sleep for 8+ hours.
I can guess why the above system came into existence.In the olden days,most people were farmers and there was no electricity.People would complete all work by sunset,retire to bed early and get back to work by sunrise.Now we have vehicles,but in the past people needed to walk on foot for miles to reach farms/work place, so they used to get up early(Brahma Muhurta),complete some activities and start off to work.Also,sleeping during the day would not have been encouraged as it hampers productivity.And for the Brahmanas involved in study of the scriptures and worship,early morning would be ideal to commence their duties as there wouldn't be disturbance and they would complete study before it gets dark.In this way a day might have divided into periods and assigned points/units to encourage people to be industrious and make best use of natural sunlight.
My job requires me to work sometimes in night shifts and I need to sleep during the day that times but it is not good for health.My colleagues too say the same thing.But also as EM Ji said, different people have different sleep patterns.
Last edited by Ram11; 22 April 2015 at 11:31 PM.
He dances in the golden hall of Chidambaram, Let us worship His rosy anklet girt Feet.
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