By the word 'sleep' we understand 'covering of ourselves from the world of which we are conscious.' But we do not realize that when we are awake we are covering ourselves from another world, which is in fact more real. The difference between the sleeping and waking state is that when we cover ourselves from what is real we say, "I am awake," and when we cover ourselves from what is unreal, and illusion, we say we are asleep. It is the self that is covered.

The reason of this is that in the state during which we are conscious of all things we are able to point to this or that, to things we have no doubt about. That is why we say at that time that we are awake: We recognize the objects around us. But during the time of sleep we think we are dreaming; we do not know where we are, or what we are doing. In reality that is the very time when we are experiencing our real life.

What does our real life consist of? Our real life consists of natural happiness, peace, and purity. By purity I mean that our heart, mind, intelligence is pure from all worries, and anxieties, pains and tortures of mind, bitterness or sweetness, such as we experience in the world. Our heart is otherwise reflecting on these things all the time, and brings us suffering accordingly. How valuable is the peace we obtain in sleep! One cannot realize it until one longs for sleep which will not come. At such a time, a person will realize that everything one can possess in the world is worth sacrificing for the peace which sleep brings, and the happiness we experience there.

All the pleasures in the world afford only a glimpse of that happiness which is within us, in our inmost being. In our everyday external life that happiness is buried as it were. If there comes a time when happiness is experienced by the soul, it is the time during which we are asleep. The little happiness which we experience in this world is not real, but only a shadow, which we call 'pleasure,' whereas the true happiness which we experience by our natural light, we don't call happiness, for we do not know what it is. Only its after-effects remain with us, and a person feels happy when he comes to the wakeful state after having had a good sleep.

The peace we experience during sleep cannot be compared with the peace we experience under the form of 'rest' in a comfortable chair or couch, or material 'comfort' in the house or elsewhere. The life we experience during sleep is outside a wall, a prison wall, the pains and diseases of this world are during the time in prison. In the waking state we are in prison, our life is unhappy; when fast asleep we are free. The moment sleep comes to a person who is in pain and suffering, all his disease is left behind; at that moment he is above all suffering and pain. This shows that during sleep man experiences a life which is above this mortal existence.

Though man experiences sleep every day, yet he never realizes it as the greatest blessing of his existence until he suffers from lack of it. Man disregards all natural blessings. Not regarding them as blessings, he remains discontented. A person who can see the blessing there is in life itself, would be so thankful that whatever may be lacking in the outward life would seem insignificant. The inner blessing is so much greater compared with what is lacking in the outer world. There is indeed no comparison between them.

All this shows that the development which helps a person to advance along the spiritual path is to seek no further than along the natural lines of the mystery of sleep. Once this mystery solved, and the deeper question of the inner cult is solved also. The explanation of things is so near to us all the time, and yet at the same time it is so far from our reach.