Awake by Jenny Allen

 Awake by Jenny Allen

"Buddha said "I am awake"...and the author is sure that:

"Buddha got that idea from a middle aged woman."

I wonder how the Enlightened One fared on sleep.
Nirvana is reached with the end of all desires.

A blowing away of mind that probably does not need any sleep anymore.
Even if, I was reading recently that the Buddha was about to die, because of that extreme diet of one grain of rice per day.

So he took the offer of some food to the astonishment of his disciples.

"Fifty may be the new forty, but, for the sleepless woman, fifty is the new eighty."

This is what Jenny Allen says and she is right.
Harvard Professor Tal Ben-Shahar has the most popular lectures in the history of that prestigious establishment.

In his Positive Psychology course, one lecture is dedicated to sleep and touching.
Sleep is indeed essential and without the hours that each individual needs, the brain and body do not function properly.

Some need seven others more than eight hours.
Some men and women could work better at early hours, five, six, while others would prefer the dark, night hours.

We need to get enough sleep and identity the intervals during which we are most productive and use them.
The 80/20 rule may apply here too.

We use 20% of our clothes for 80% of the time.
Probably we finish in 20% of the time 80% of our tasks.

Without sleep, the phenomenon described by Jenny Allen could take place:

"I will confuse the TV remote with the phone...I will say I saw store at the Shelley".

Then she talks about reading during these sleepless nights.
Only sleep deprivation has important negative effects.

The author mentions the habit of writing down unfamiliar terms, that would be looked up in the morning.
Heliotrope has been written and forgotten a few times.

I would still blame this on being Awake for so long.

Buddha is mentioned one more time.
He would recommend to

"Sit with it"

This has reminded me of a story I have read recently.

Buddha had a sort of competitor.
That man was very upset that people would follow the Buddha and abandon him.

So he confronted the Enlightened One with anger.
And the Buddha replied...

Do you have guests once in awhile?
Yes
And do you have left over food from these events?
Of course!
And what do you do with it?
Give it away
You see, the same thing happens with you hatred, hostility and anger...I do not need them...You can do whatever you want with them