Awareness through Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji

Awareness through Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji:
"question. Whether we are aware or unaware during sleep depends on our level of evolution. As human beings, all of us have three states of consciousness - jagrat or wakeful state, swapna or dream state and sushupti or deep sleep state. Our unconscious mind governs all our instinctive reactions. For instance, we involuntarily cringe when we see something disgusting or automatically reach for a glass of water when we are thirsty. We breathe 21,600 times a day without being conscious of it. Similarly, the body’s cycle of sleep and wakefulness is also dictated largely by the unconscious mind. As long as we allow our unconscious mind to control us in this way, we will continue to experience sleep as a state of physical unconsciousness. Routine noises and minor discomforts rarely disturb us, but anything that is unusual immediately awakens us. This happens because our senses relax and screen out all routine stimuli when we sleep. So the sensory input that goes to the brain during the state of sleep is minimal. This also occurs whenever we meditate deeply. However, there is one major difference between sleep and meditation. During sleep, both our senses and mind are asleep, but during meditation, our senses are asleep while the mind is awake. When we are established in this state of constant Soul Awareness, the mind is wakeful and meditating even when the body is asleep. Once we reach this stage, we experience sleep only as physical rest and never as a state of physical or mental unconsciousness."