The State of Cultivation Before Realizing Tathāgatagarbha (2025-07-11)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: Master, you said that these past two nights, was I suffering from insomnia, or was my manas diligent, or what is going on? I just cannot fall asleep. Whether lying down or sitting up, the sound of the Buddha's name keeps reciting in my mind without cease, and the teachings on contemplating the Dharma principles that you, Master, instructed me to practice also keep turning in my mind. Last night I could not sleep. In the first half of the night, just after I lay down past eleven o'clock, in a state between sleep and wakefulness, a bright sun appeared in my mind and shone on me, waking me up. After waking, I felt hot and excited, my mind was stirred and I could not sleep all night. I felt dryness in my mouth and thirst; I drank water three or four times but it did not quench my thirst. After a while, when I lay down and was just about to fall asleep, I vaguely heard a gentle voice, like that of an elderly person, saying to me: "Hurry up and apply effort." Since I could not sleep anyway, I sat up and contemplated the Dharma principles, feeling that there were endless Dharma principles to contemplate in my mind.
Assessment: What is going on with Ven. Shi Ruyuan's inability to sleep? The reason is that when the spirit is full, one does not feel like sleeping. What specifically does "spirit" refer to? Spirit refers to a person's mental state. If the energy within the body is sufficient, the mental state is good, and the person is energetic—not dull or drowsy, not wanting to sleep—and thus does not need excessive sleep to replenish energy. Why must a person with insufficient spirit sleep? When the body's energy is insufficient and consumption is relatively high, the spirit is deficient, and sleep is needed to replenish energy. Why do sentient beings need sleep? Because for humans in the Sahā world, the physical body is composed of the four great real seeds, and it needs the qi and blood generated from gross food to maintain the normal functioning of the physical body. Qi and blood are the source of energy; when qi and blood are sufficient, energy is abundant, and a person is energetic and not dull.
Both meditative concentration (samādhi) and sleep can replenish and regulate qi and blood, and therefore people need sleep; meditative concentration can substitute for sleep in replenishing qi and blood. Sleep can replenish energy; the energy the body needs is the qi and blood that nourish the five internal organs and six viscera, the sinews and bones, the muscles, the skin, and so on. During the day, the bodily, verbal, and mental activities of the five aggregates consume a certain amount of qi and blood; at night during sleep, the qi and blood of the five internal organs and six viscera are automatically regulated, and when the regulation is sufficient, one automatically wakes up. Therefore, the more one consumes during the day, the more needs to be replenished during the night's sleep, and the longer the sleep time. Random thoughts and scattered musings likewise consume qi and blood. Meditative concentration can regulate qi and blood because in meditative concentration the body and mind do not move: first, it reduces the consumption of qi and blood; second, it can replenish the four great elements and regulate qi and blood. Therefore, the deeper the meditative concentration, the more abundant the qi and blood, and the less sleep is needed. Thus, those without meditative concentration sleep more, while those with meditative concentration can nourish the spirit and sleep less.
Ven. Shi Ruyuan, because she possesses the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna, naturally has abundant spirit and does not feel like sleeping; she sleeps little. After she entered the first dhyāna, her sleep became even less than before when she was in preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi); each night she only needs two or three hours of sleep, which is enough. But why could she not even sleep for one hour these past two days? First, it is because her mind is pure and has light; the bright sun shone upon her, letting her investigate Chan and awaken to the Path, so she had no sleep but applied effort in contemplative investigation. Second, it is because she has a Dharma-protecting deity urging her to diligently cultivate the Path, deliberately not letting her sleep, and waking her up whenever she lay down. This is the protective function of a compassionate and responsible Dharma-protecting deity. Even people living very close to her were affected, being woken up several times during the night as well.
Why is Ven. Shi Ruyuan's Dharma-protecting deity so responsible, while others cannot even sense the existence of a Dharma-protecting deity? As long as one upholds the precepts, has aspirational resolve, and wishes to cultivate diligently, one will have the protection and guardianship of Dharma-protecting deities, though ordinary people cannot sense it. If one has exceptionally excellent spiritual faculties (indriya) and cultivates with heroic vigor, then the protective function of the Dharma-protecting deities becomes very great. Whether the protective function is great or small, obvious or not, depends on the cultivator's roots of goodness, power of the Path, power of aspiration, and level of cultivation.