Do transcendentalists go beyond the body’s need for sleep?
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Question When we say that a person in transcendence does not need much sleep, just 3-4 hours is enough, then where does the law of the body of needing rest, how do we reconcile the two? Answer, now it is not necessary that a person in transcendence will sleep only 3-4 hours or it is put in another way we cannot just simplistically equate the two that a person who sleeps very less is transpiritually advanced or a person who is spiritually advanced will necessarily sleep less no, there are people who have the disease of insomnia and because of which they sleep very less so those who are insomniac those who are sleepless, they are not automatically spiritually advanced, that is the first thing and yes, there may be great souls who are spiritually advanced who may sleep less but sleeping less is not the primary criteria of spiritual advancement the primary criteria is not one of the criteria is avyarthakaalatvam not wasting any time more than what is necessary on any activity on any activity and especially activities which are not which are connected with the body so an advanced devotee doesn't spander to the body by excessive sleep as much as is necessary and beyond that they engage in the service of Krishna as much as is possible so now depending on the body of certain devotees they may need 6 hours less, some devotees may be able to get along with 3-4 hours rest so we shouldn't simplistically equate spiritual advancement with with extremely less sleep yes, at a physical level, if we don't sleep enough usually there are consequences at the same time even among people in general, there can be wide variability in how much sleep people need, some people can manage with 5-6 hours sleep, some people may need 8 hours sleep and this varies from person to person, so we shouldn't simply think that less sleep means spiritual advancement different bodies have different natures and based on the bodily nature one may need a certain amount of sleep so whatever is needed we need to take that much rest and we need to take that much rest and we should let others take that much rest, whatever is required so now some devotees because of a very strong sense of purposefulness and a very strong sense of urgency in doing some things may sleep less for some time and then that may itself become an extension of their body's capacity and they may be able to sleep less on a regular basis so we can see that as a capacity we can see that we could see that as just their physical stamina, physical capacity they don't need so much sleep as I said, it's not that the body all, just as different people can eat different quantities of food, some people eat less, some people eat more and Bhima would eat a lot and still he was a great devotee and Arunabhadra Swami would eat very little and he is also a great devotee so we don't have to necessarily equate just as we don't necessarily equate how much somebody eats with how advanced they are, no, different people have different bodily needs so some people may get along with very simple and very little food, others may eat a lot and that's all perfectly fine so when it is required, you know Bhakti Saansthakar would usually eat very simple food Srila Prabhupada would you know, he would encourage disciples to cook opulently and he would partake of what they would cook, in this way he would train his disciples in cooking well for Krishna's service and he would take nice food but both were exalted devotees and both were serving Krishna in their own ways just as we can have variability in what one eats but when Srila Prabhupada needed, when he had very little, practically no money and when he was in Delhi living at different people's houses at different times and he was living at Chippivada temple say, when he was in practically in poverty at that time many days Prabhupada would forsake breakfast so that he could use that money for purchasing paper by which he could print back to Godhead and distribute back to Godhead so his spiritual purpose was most important for him and for the sake of that spiritual purpose if it is required that he forego his breakfast he was ready to do that but that was not what he did throughout his life later when he could attend to the body and do his service and he did that so he would take his properly and it is not that Prabhupada neglected his body, no, Prabhupada would go on morning walks, Prabhupada would take massage for his body and he knew that his body was being used in Krishna's service and he took care of his body so yes, we could say that it is his transcendental intense aspiration to satisfy his spiritual master's instruction to share Krishna consciousness in the western world that enabled Srila Prabhupada to push his body's needs to as less as possible and sleep less and still serve Krishna but the point was we shouldn't think of Srila Prabhupada sleeping less as torturing the body or as neglecting the body now he was able to, he did that for 11-12 years and he was able to do that and he did that but he also knew that his body needed some things and that's why he would take massage he would go on morning walk so he would take proper food so the point is we cannot simplistically equate certain things with spiritual advancement and we cannot say as you rightly said we cannot say that the law of the material laws in terms of the body's basic needs and body's survival necessities they cannot be wished away so we all need, we all as we become more and more serious and advanced we want to serve Krishna more and more and we serve Krishna when we are awake by doing, by using, by filling every moment with as much service as possible and when we take rest we see that as an opportunity to replenish the bodily vehicle which is enabling us to serve Krishna so when with that mood we take rest we don't simply just give in to the body rather we give the body what it needs so that we can serve Krishna and the body is a facility for serving Krishna so taking care of the body is also service to Krishna and Prabhupada says that if you don't take care of your health then later on even if you are enthusiastic you will not be able to serve Krishna because the body will not be healthy so yes, we need to respect the body's needs and we need to take care of the body at the same time we shouldn't pander to the body and according to, by our own experience as we learn how much is the our body's needs, how much is our body's capacity, accordingly we can try to maximize our service to Krishna Thank you!