Good Buddhist practice: sleep
Posted: March 9, 2008 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, General, Religion | 7 Comments »I’ve been in a bad funk all week, especially the last two days, and I think it largely derives from little sleep. I have noticed in the past that I am much more surly, and less mindful when I don’t sleep well. Last night I actually did go to bed early, but Baby, who sleeps in bed with us, was pretty restless and so we didn’t sleep well at all. It’s not her fault, of course. She’s just a baby. The other nights though were all my fault though when I just stayed up too late.
However, this afternoon, I took a small nap, and since then I’ve been feeling much more clear-headed and positive. So, if you’re struggling with Buddhism, or with life in general, go get a good night’s sleep. If you’re not sleeping enough in general, that’s a sign that you may need to adjust your habits (like blogging 
). Remember, there’s only so much time in the day, so use it well. 
I remember listening to a Dharma Talk online by Ajahn Brahm, where he mentioned that at one meditation retreat he hosted, two of the guests just slept in their rooms the first day, but he didn’t mind. He figured they were genuinely exhausted and needed the break. The following day they came in and did just fine. Ajahn Brahm also pointed out how in his own monastery, if the monks are up late night chanting, that’s the only time he’s ever observed monks getting into fights. Sleep deprivation is a real problem, even if we think we can take it, so don’t underestimate your body’s need for sleep.
Namo tassa Bhagavato,
Arahato, Sammasambuddhasa
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
If I have any rules about Buddhism
It is these two:
Eat when you’re hungry, Sleep when you’re tired.
Wash your bowl.
Ditto on that!
Sadly, my sleep hour(s) involve them being crammed somewhere between work hours.
On the plus side, there are parts of my work that I’ve managed to turn into a form of meditation.
Doug: ha ha ha, excellent point.
Eksith: how many jobs do you work?
I work as an IT consultant, plus I’m a sys-admin for a mom and pop operation in my town. I also just finished installing some equipment for a Cybercafe so I managed to secure a free lifetime source of coffee! Score!!
The IT job involes a ton of tech-support stuff, so I get emails like :
“How do I send an email to my email?”
… And …
“Why do you need two computers to run a web site?”
And the sys-admin job allows me to answer questions like :
“This wasn’t water-proof, was it?”
… And …
“I hate wires! I don’t want to see these wires!! Can you set this up so you don’t have to use any wires at all?”
The thing is that I really like the people I work with and they’re nice people (usually… but only after 11am).
Though sometimes, it gets to be a wee bit tiring.
Hi Ek,
I used to do this kind of lifestyle as well: full-time IT job, plus side-business consulting. Now that I am new father, I had to finally close my side business which actually was kind of a relief. For the amount of time I put into it, I wasn’t getting much out of the side-business and it was eating into “family time” and “me time”. Also, with more rest, I’ve found I could focus on my full-time job better, which will likely pan out in the future.
Wishing you plenty of sleep.
“This wasn’t water-proof, was it?”
That is so funny. The grin is eating my ears.
Thanks GF!
Aaaaah parenthood… The great leveler of professionals
dougrogers, Yes that was a real question!
Mind you, they’ve worked very hard to get where they are today, so every penny counts… and hurts!