Sleep Terrors/Paralysis

[Orias]

I have had many vivid dreams my entire life. There was a few years where I had often experienced sleep paralysis and terror. I can recall each event in great vivid detail.

I remember reading somewhere that some of the dharmic faith had described this phenomena. I am wondering if anyone can provide me with sources of information regarding this?

Thank you.

Best regards and blessings

 

[Aupmanyav]

Sleep time is off-time for most parts of brain and it wanders. Let it have a good time. Dreams are necessary for the health of brain. Sometime the dreams will be pleasant and sometimes frightening. Forget that when you awaken. Of course, Hinduism can give you a whole lot of explanations, but that is para-psychology.

 

[Orias]

Sleep time is off-time for most parts of brain and it wanders. Let it have a good time. Dreams are necessary for the health of brain. Sometime the dreams will be pleasant and sometimes frightening. Forget that when you awaken. Of course, Hinduism can give you a whole lot of explanations, but that is para-psychology.

I want to know what the various branches have to say specifically about sleep terrors as it's a phenomena not everyone has. I know it can be linked to PTSD but I have also heard that there are certain beliefs regarding what this means when an individual experiences. I would like to know if there is any truth to this claim and if anyone can provide sources or tell me more about it .

 

[Orias]

I have heard that sleep terror is the way of the conscious self to prepare for death. Is this true?

 

[Aupmanyav]

False, IMV. Terror dreams are generally in the young ages. Dreams tend to change with age. At my age (I am 75), I generally search for my grandsons in dreams and they go missing (Where is the elder one, where is the younger one? etc.).

 

[Nicholas]

Orias,
Could be a demonic kumbhanda. As Master Hua explains:

"Kumbhanda are shaped like barrels and give people nightmares. For instance, when people are asleep they may see a weird apparition; though in their dream they are mentally alert, they can’t move physically. They become paralyzed through the efforts of the nightmare ghosts. Sometimes, if a person’s yang energies are weak and his yin energies prevail, the person can be paralyzed for a long time, and the ghost can eventually cause the person’s death. This kind of ghost abounds in this world. This paralysis [inflicted by the kumbhāṇḍa ghost] is only effective on people who have an excess of yin energy, such as people who are always worried and depressed, afflicted, upset, and distressed. People who follow the Buddha’s Path can have pure yang energy — a kind of light."

 

[ajay0]

I have read that meditation before sleeping is said to be effective in protecting oneself from assaults by negative entities in the astral realm.

I meditate before sleeping to ensure deep sleep without dreams. I don't have terrifying dreams, but I have noticed that bad or even good dreams nevertheless saps my energies upon waking and leaves me tired.

Meditation before sleeping ensures deep sleep without dreams, which is very refreshing upon waking up and leaves one energetic for the day's work.

I would advise you to keep off from all kinds of violent movies, tv , literature, music (which are mentally agitating) -before going to sleep, as well as abstaining from tea, coffee, colas and practice proper sleep hygiene. This is important because sleep consumes around 7-8 hours , nearly a third of our lives, and it is important to ensure quality sleep for health purposes.

Reading spiritual literature which is calming and relaxing can also help a lot, if you are not into meditation.

It is also important to take a light supper instead of a heavy one. I find that light suppers enable me to wake up earlier and sleep better.
You can compensate for the light supper by eating well at breakfast and lunch

As a popular adage goes, ' Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and supper like a pauper.'

 

[Aupmanyav]

Also guard against cold. If a body part is exposed and cold, you are likely to get a terror dream. It is a body mechanism which wakes you up.
(like, 'he does not care for the body. Let us give him a terror dream!')

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Most nightmares are either just dreams that "go too far" or indigestion.

But occasionally one can get an external assault, as mentioned by Nicholas: it's recorded all over the world and about 20% of people in the USA have experienced it. It's studied in the book "The terror that comes in the night" by David Hufford. The characteristic features of what in English is called being hag-ridden are
1. Waking unable to move.
2. Feeling a malign presence.
3. Generally hearing a sound like shuffling footsteps and sometimes seeing a murky shape.
4. Finally, a sensation of something pressing on ones chest.

The solution is generally any sort of spiritual practice before bed, whether meditation or worship. Meditation strengthens the soul and regular worship should bring you some protectors that out-class any evil entity.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I have heard that sleep terror is the way of the conscious self to prepare for death. Is this true?

I wouldn't go that far. I used to have sleep paralysis when I was younger.

I thought entities are pushing me back down in my bed forcefully when I tried to fight back and sit up just to be slammed back down on my bed again.

From a dharmic perspective it's treated the same as Mayko.

 

[Orias]

I wouldn't go that far. I used to have sleep paralysis when I was younger.

I thought entities are pushing me back down in my bed forcefully when I tried to fight back and sit up just to be slammed back down on my bed again.

From a dharmic perspective it's treated the same as Mayko.

Mayko?

 

[Orias]

In some of my dreams I would be attacked and I could feel it physically. One dream I was kicked in the leg and I could barely walk the next day. One dream I had I jumped out of a building and I felt hitting the ground. I didn't wake up immediately .

 

[Twilight Hue]

Mayko?

It's a term used in Zen and Buddhism in general for unsubstantial phenomena that can be disregarded and allowed to pass by.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Buddha and Zen was/is wise.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

In some of my dreams I would be attacked and I could feel it physically. One dream I was kicked in the leg and I could barely walk the next day. One dream I had I jumped out of a building and I felt hitting the ground. I didn't wake up immediately .

So in your case it is just dreams: nothing is out to get you.

If something physical happens while you are dreaming, then the dream will incorporate it. You didn't have a bad leg because of the dream: you had the dream whan something happened to your leg. Being prone to leg and foot cramps, I've often had that happen.

The falling dream is very common, although I'm not sure why. Most normal dreams involve sorting ones experiences, both conscious and unconscious. If you have a lot of nightmares, then there probably are underlying issues. Make sure you are tranquil before sleeping. Examine the day's events and think through anything that troubled you. And, as we have said, meditation should help, as may asking a suitable deity for aid with your problem.

 

[Jainarayan]

Terror dreams are generally in the young ages. Dreams tend to change with age.

Funny you mention that. I was talking to someone yesterday about dreams. I told her when I was young, in my teens, I had "night terrors" very frequently. I'd jump out of bed, yell in panic, run around my room. It scared the crap out of my parents every time (I actually kind of enjoyed that part... revenge is a dish best served cold ). But as I got older (I'm 61) I can't remember the last time I had a dream I'd call a nightmare. If a dream starts to turn ugly, I somehow know it's a dream, tell myself in the dream that it's only a dream and I wake myself up.

 

[MonkeyFire]

I was paralyzed in a nightmare once, very scary. It didn't stop until I was passive to it.