Reducing Sleeping as a Sign of Spiritual Life
In the pursuit of spiritual advancement, the regulation of bodily habits is essential. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the human form of life is a rare opportunity to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and excessive sleeping is an impediment to this goal. By consciously reducing the material necessities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, a devotee creates more time and energy for service. This process is known as tapasya, or voluntary austerity for higher realization.
Minimizing Material Demands
The four principles of animal life—eating, sleeping, mating, and defending—must be minimized by those seeking spiritual perfection. Śrīla Prabhupāda asserts that spiritual life is directly opposed to the expansion of bodily comforts. To fully utilize one's lifetime for self-realization, one must curb these instincts, as excessive indulgence, such as becoming fat or sleeping too much, hinders progress.
- Eating, sleeping, sex life and fear are the four bodily necessities but to utilize the full duration of life a person desiring to advance in spiritual consciousness must reduce these activities. That will give him an opportunity to fully use his lifetime.
- Ask any scientist, philosopher, of this world, that "Can you show me any way, no more eating, no more sleeping, no more mating and no more defending?" That is spiritual life. Therefore we have to reduce it. It is not possible, but there is possibility.
- Becoming fat is not a very good qualification in spiritual life because a person who is engaged in spiritual life must reduce the comforts of the body - namely eating, sleeping and mating - to a minimum.
The Correlation of Eating and Sleeping
There is a physiological and spiritual link between food intake and sleep. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that overeating naturally leads to oversleeping. Therefore, the strategy to conquer sleep involves controlling the tongue. By accepting only the necessary amount of kṛṣṇa-prasāda, a devotee can maintain health while naturally reducing the hours spent sleeping.
- In order to reduce the sleeping process, the eating process should be reduced. You can take, you fast one day, don't take anything, you will see that there will be less sleep.
- He (one who is engaged in devotional service) has to eat krsna-prasada. He has to sleep according to regulated principles. The principle is to reduce the duration of sleep and to reduce eating, taking only what is needed to keep the body fit.
Following the Path of the Gosvāmīs
The standard for conquering bodily demands was set by the Six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, specifically Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. They are described as nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau—conquerors of sleep, food, and sense enjoyment. Śrīla Prabhupāda encourages devotees to follow in their footsteps, aiming to reduce sleep to the absolute minimum required to function, rather than sleeping for pleasure like animals.
- Nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau. Following in the footsteps of the Gosvamis, we should try to reduce sleeping, eating, mating and defending.
- Raghunatha dasa Gosvami gradually reduced his sleeping until he was almost not sleeping at all. It is said that his eyes were always full of tears.
- Reducing eating, sleeping, mating, that is spiritual advancement. This is the test. The more you reduce... The idea is to bring it to nil. Just like Gosvamis, they did it.
Practical Austerity for Advancement
While the ideal is total renunciation, Śrīla Prabhupāda advises a balanced approach for his followers: do not stop sleeping artificially, but reduce it as much as possible while maintaining health. The goal is efficiency in service. By wasting less time in sleep, one gains more time for chanting and hearing. Śrīla Prabhupāda suggests that six or seven hours is sufficient, and anything less is a sign of advancement.
- We don't say, "Don't sleep," but we say, "Reduce sleep as much as possible. Reduce your eating as much as possible." So this is called tapasya.
- You cannot sleep more than six hours, seven hours, that's all. So two hours chanting and seven hours sleeping. Sleeping is a very important thing in your country, but reduce it. As much as you reduce sleeping and eating, you will become advanced.
- Don't sleep more. If you can keep your health perfect, but try to reduce it. Suppose you are sleeping ten hours. But if I keep myself fit by sleeping five hours, why should I sleep ten hours? So this is the process. Don't do anything artificially.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the reduction of sleeping is not merely a physical discipline but a symptom of spiritual health. As attraction for the Lord increases, attraction for personal comfort decreases. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that sleeping is a material disease, and by conquering it through the regulation of eating and the practice of devotion, one moves closer to perfection, utilizing every moment for the service of the Supreme Lord.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Reduce Sleeping. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.