Then I came across this passage in Nagarjuna’s “Letter to a Friend”, written to a king of the time, indicating the possibility of a slightly different interpretation of this instruction.
“O Knowledgeable One, recite all day
And in the first and last watch of the night.
Then in between these two sleep mindfully
So that your slumbers are not spent in vain.”
To me this seemed to be saying that if one goes to sleep in a dharmic frame of mind, the sleep will continue in that vein, and not be wasted.
I raised this with my Rinpoche and he confirmed that this was a reasonable interpretation for our way of life. He then went on to remind me how, during my extended, solitary retreat, after a short time I was quite often not clear whether I was asleep, dreaming or awake. This state of being is a direct result of being in isolation, when the familiar daily routines are abandoned, and the “sleeping” time becomes an integral part of the practice.
So the message I have taken from this is that it is important to create some reminder of dharmic practice immediately before dropping off to sleep. I try to spend at least 10 minutes reading from one of my favourite texts and then recite the Vajrasattva 100-syllable mantra as I am falling asleep. I can’t guarantee how effective this is, but I’ll just keep following the Mahayana principle that aspirational activity will in time transform to become an integral part of being on the path.
My favourite texts right now are Letter to a Friend, Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the text from HH the Dalai Lama’s teaching on Awakening the Mind (Based on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta) and HE Chogye Trichen’s Commentary on Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen’s Parting from the Four Attachments. Open any of these at any page, whatever you read will be totally relevant.
Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Yours until next time, Vajramate.
