The Difference Between Sleep and Meditative Concentration

The Difference Between Sleep and Meditative Concentration   So-called meditative concentration (samādhi) means that the mind's thoughts are concentrated and not scattered: the six faculties are gathered in, the mind rests on a single object, and does not engage in scattered and disordered grasping. The eye consciousness and mind consciousness focus on one material sense-object, shutting out all other sense-objects; or the ear consciousness and mind consciousness focus on one sound sense-object, shutting out all other sense-objects; or the mind consciousness focuses on one mental sense-object, shutting out all other sense-objects. In these states of focus of the six consciousnesses, the mind consciousness takes the lead, and the manas governs all dharmas. If the manas does not engage in scattered grasping but only rests on a few mental sense-objects, the six consciousnesses can then focus on a single object. Because the manas is the consciousness that makes decisions, and the six consciousnesses must all obey the manas's directives, only by subduing the manas can the cultivation of meditative concentration be effective.

So-called sleep means that the six consciousnesses are temporarily extinguished and do not manifest; only in this way can the body and mind eliminate fatigue. If the six consciousnesses do not cease, the consciousnesses have active manifestation, just as in the waking state, and this is not sleep. In that case, the body and mind cannot obtain true rest, and the body still feels just as tired as before.

Sleep is divided into two kinds: with dreams and without dreams. When asleep without dreams, the six consciousnesses do not arise; only the eighth consciousness and the seventh consciousness remain at their posts, sustaining the life activities of the physical body. When dreaming, the mind consciousness participates in slight discriminative activity within the dream; in this case the sleep is not deep, the body cannot obtain sufficient rest, and fatigue will be felt the next day.

In both meditative concentration and sleep, the seventh consciousness and the eighth consciousness are operating. In meditative concentration, the seventh consciousness has already been effectively subdued, so its grasping is reduced; the less and the lighter the grasping, the deeper the mind consciousness enters concentration. In sleep, the seventh consciousness still grasps at the body faculty and mental sense-objects; it merely knows that the body needs rest and does not let the six consciousnesses come out to discriminate.

In the states of concentration prior to the first dhyāna, the six consciousnesses discriminate the six sense-objects, but the degree of discrimination of the six sense-objects differs, the degree of single-mindedness of the consciousnesses differs, and the feelings of body and mind also differ. In the first dhyāna, the nose consciousness and tongue consciousness do not manifest. In the meditative concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, the first five consciousnesses have disappeared, leaving only the sixth, seventh, and eighth consciousnesses; the mind consciousness abides in a relatively deep and subtle state of concentration, discerning the mental sense-objects of the concentration state. In the samādhi of non-perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti) and the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti), the mind consciousness is also completely extinguished, leaving only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses.