Page 27 - Extinguishment of self, in search of dhamma
P. 27

down. Once we can experience in a timely manner, then we can speed up: How fast will depend on the strength of our mindfulness. If we are able to experience in a timely manner, then we can do it slowly or quickly—this is part of the contemplation of the natural conditions.
Now, we will talk about sleeping, as it is one of the four major bodily movements. Why do most practitioners tend to sleep on their sides? This is because it will enable us to rise quickly. When we feel uncomfortable (Translator’s note: From sleeping), we can then sit up to practice vipassana. We should have the mindfulness to focus (Translator’s note: On our sleeping position). It is dif cult to sleep in one position. Usually, we will take turn sleeping on our left side, then right side. As we turn, we will feel more comfortable and will sleep in only one position, as we move, we will wake up. This forces us to arise to practice vipassana. We can  x for ourselves roughly how many hours we want to sleep. But, usually, in this type of vipassana practice, we tend to sleep only a little. “Pundits sleep four; rich men sleep six; poor men sleep eight”. So, if you sleep more than that, then it is no good.
We are practitioners with good intelligence, we should decide how much or how little we will sleep. We should contemplate natural conditions more; setting a clock for ourselves. This can be an internal clock or an actual clock. Set it in our mind: We will get up at a speci c time,
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