WAKING, DREAMING, DEEP SLEEP AND THE ABSOLUTE - PART 21
Disciple: The ego cannot be the experiencer in deep sleep
also. It is not there and how can it be said to be the experiencer?
In the waking and dream states, the ego is rightly said to be the
experiencer; in deep sleep the Self must be the experiencer.
Master: You are not right. The Jiva i.e., the ego, who in the waking and dream states appears as the intellectual sheath to enjoy gross and subtle things, sinks in deep sleep to remain dormant as the blissful sheath, experiencing ignorance and bliss as “I did not know anything — I slept happily.”
Had the ego not been present in deep sleep, on waking there could not be the recollection “I did not know anything — I slept happily.” Only the experiencer can recollect his experiences and not another. Even the recollection can only be of what was actually experienced and not of what was not. On waking, it is the ego which says “I did not know anything — I slept happily”.
From this it is clear that the experiencer in the deep sleep was the ego and not the Self.
Master: You are not right. The Jiva i.e., the ego, who in the waking and dream states appears as the intellectual sheath to enjoy gross and subtle things, sinks in deep sleep to remain dormant as the blissful sheath, experiencing ignorance and bliss as “I did not know anything — I slept happily.”
Had the ego not been present in deep sleep, on waking there could not be the recollection “I did not know anything — I slept happily.” Only the experiencer can recollect his experiences and not another. Even the recollection can only be of what was actually experienced and not of what was not. On waking, it is the ego which says “I did not know anything — I slept happily”.
From this it is clear that the experiencer in the deep sleep was the ego and not the Self.
– ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA
Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words.