Sleep

Once a king was out hunting all night. He came home the next morning and his guru was waiting up for him. The king said to the guru, "First I will take a short rest"

In a little while he woke up and said, "Guruji, I have a question. I just had a wink of sleep. During this sleep I was a beggar. One day I was going to the village to beg and many other beggars were there. But they were all going in the other direction. I was going to town, but they were all leaving.

"One of these beggars said, 'Where are you going? Today is the birthday of the king. Come with us and the king will give us clothes and great food and money.' I went with them and was fed and given new clothes. I decided that today I would bathe and put on the clothes the king gave me, and today I would eat like a king.

"While I was bathing a dog ran off with my food. I chased this dog with a stick. I got the food back from the dog and then I woke up. In this instant I was a beggar who had come to beg from the king on my own birthday! Guruji, tell me which is true. In that moment, was I a king or a beggar?"

The Guru replied, "Both are dreams. In this instant we are in a sleep state as well. The entire world is sleeping. Sleeping means begging. Everybody is begging something else. Kings are begging. Everyone is begging."

Now you have to wake up, while everyone else is sleeping. Whoever stays in the Self, thinking of the Self, speaking of the Self, is in a true waking state. And when you forget it, "I am not the Self-I need something else," this is a sleep state, and then you chase the dog for food.