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Not yet! Just the shadow of the whip. But the shadow of the whip is still something. If you are a man of understanding, the whip will not be needed; its shadow will do. If you are not a man of understanding, then sooner or later the whip itself will be needed.

Buddha has said that there is one type of man for whom just the shadow of the whip is enough. Just like very, very intelligent horses: just the shadow of the whip is enough. Then there is a second type: the sight of the whip is needed, the shadow won’t do – the mediocre mind. Then there is a third type, the lower, for which even the sight of the whip won’t do – you must use the whip. And there is also a fourth type, the lowest; lower than that is nobody. Even hitting him with the whip, whipping him, is not going to help. These four types are four stages of sleep.

It is natural to fall asleep while listening to me. That is one way the mind avoids me. Something is happening here which is going to destroy your mind. The whole effort is how to demolish your mind so that you can become new again, so that you can be reborn, how to help you die so that resurrection becomes possible. Only out of your death will life flame up, will life come to you.

Your mind feels it! It is dangerous to listen to me. The mind creates many sorts of excuses to be absent. Sometimes it goes on thinking, listening only on the periphery. Sometimes it goes on arguing – whether what I am saying is right or wrong, agrees with you or doesn’t agree with you. Then too one is missing. Or, if you stay long enough with me, then arguing will stop; then by and by the mind will start falling into sleep. That is the last trick; then there is no need to listen.

But one thing is good: that you have become aware that you fall asleep. There are many who fall asleep and don’t know it. And the shock that comes to you is good. Use it! If you use it, by and by sleep will disappear. Sleep is a trick to create a barrier between me and you. If logic does not work, then sleep works.

And whatsoever I am saying to you is in a way the same truth again and again. So the mind can say to you: What is the need to listen? You can have a little rest. The mind can say: These things have been said many times before. But I am saying these things again and again to you because you have not yet heard.

Somebody asked Buddha, “Why do you go on repeating the same things again and again?”
He said, “Because of you!”

If you hear me, then there is no point in repetition, but you don’t hear me even when I repeat them a thousand and one times. The mind can create the idea that you can sleep, you can rest. The mind can even say to you that this is very meditative, that you fall to sleep and everything becomes silent. Sleep is not wrong, but there is a time to sleep. If you are sleeping here, then one thing is certain: when you are sleeping you are not sleeping.

There is a time to sleep and there is a time to be awake. There is a time to be working, and a time to be lazy and not work. Your life should move in an order, in an inner order. Sleep in the night as deeply as possible so that in the morning you can become as awake as possible. If you have slept well during the night, you will be awake in the morning. If you have not slept well, then you will feel sleepy. To feel sleepy in the morning is bad because that simply shows your energy is not functioning rightly, that your energy is not functioning in a healthy way.

Think again about your night and your sleep during the night – it must be disturbed by dreams. Some disturbance must be there so that in the morning you are not fresh; in the morning you are feeling tired. Either your sleep is not complete during the night, or you may be sleeping too much. That too is dangerous. Six, seven hours’ sleep is enough. If you sleep more than that, sleep is not paying; on the contrary, it starts making you lazy.

The function of sleep is to make you alert, energetic, alive. But if you sleep more than needed, then it is just as if you eat too much; then the food becomes poison. There is a quantity which is needed for the body; more than that becomes a load on the body. Then it is destructive, it is not life-giving. There is a quantity of sleep that is needed. More than that, then you feel lazy, then the wheel moves in the wrong direction.

Everybody has to find the right quantity of sleep and food for oneself. That should be a basic for any seeker because much will depend on it. So either you are not sleeping enough or you are sleeping too much. Hence, in the morning you feel lazy or sleepy. While you are listening to me, keep alert, keep yourself as aware as possible because even in that awareness, if you miss what I am saying, nothing is missed because at least awareness will be practiced. And basically awareness is the goal.

This is just a decision: if you want to be aware, alert, you can be. One just has to say to the body and the mind, definitively, I want to be aware and alert. Start being the master of your own self. Give rest to the body, but don’t become a slave. Listen to the body’s needs, but remain capable, remain in control, remain a master. Otherwise the body has a lethargy in it, and the mind has a repetitive, mechanical quality in it. Then it can become just an everyday habit. You come to listen to me, you sit, and the body and mind start going to sleep. Break it! Come out of it.