The secret of sleep

Sleep

Definition: Suspension of consciousness.

Sweet, dark and seductive. Every night we get into a repose as soulful as forbidden fantasy. What lurks behind that transparent film of oblivion? Quiet renunciation.

What do we do here? Nothing. We simply surrender to a complete void of being. Not a sound. Only the occasional glimpse of a place we go without premonition.

Sleep, we took for granted. How magical a place. When we get tired, we close our eyes, with a flutter of eyelash and we’re gone. Nothing matters. Nothing can matter. Because our consciousness has transcended. To a place where we disintegrate in cognition to seek repose. And then, mysteriously concede to reconstruct our psyche to resume daily affectation.

What happens? We will never know. In our nightly episode of twilight doze, lies an unexplained adventure of intrigue, death, rebirth and transformation. Everyday we die a little to rise above our daily grind. How apt the saying “rise and shine” to mean our primordial self to wake up each day, feeling renewed and recharged.

In the morning, everything is beautiful. We are filled with energy. We are positive. We are invincible. Nothing can stop us from the woes of emotional hang-ups, catastrophe, stress and failure. Come afternoon, the spell ends. Everything is like yesterday - the disappointment, the despair, the heartbreak. And by evening, the deadening sound of unfulfilled resignation looms.

Sleep becomes a sanctuary. A place where we take repose. A place where we unconditionally surrender to unleash our innate predicament. A plight not unlike that of love or in prayers. Where we surrender in desolation to faithfully hope.

What do we learn from sleep? Surrender. In life, we must learn to surrender too. Surrender to love. Because it is through surrender that we can be possessed by love to know what love is. Love is probably one primary motivation why we live. Without love, even the biggest mansion will lack the spirit to dispel dust. Modern man with our scientific education and unscrupulous calculation, made us pathologically sleepless and loveless.

Unless we are capable of love, we will never find repose in sleep or in the arms of our beloved. The secret to good sleep? Love like a warrior, fight like a soldier. And hence, the journey to the mystery of life has just begun.