Rev. Danny Fisher

The BBC answers the question, “Why do Tibetan Buddhist monks sleep upright?” today. Here’s just a snippet of their response:

The monks at the Samye Dechen Shing Buddhist retreat in Dumfriesshire are supposed to sleep upright in a “meditation box”. For less than five hours.

[...]

“The aim is definitely to sit upright and reduce the need for sleep. If the person is strongly motivated and healthy and strong there is no reason why not,” [says Ani Lhamo, secretary to the abbot at the Samye Ling monastery].

For those spending the four years on retreat the aim is to spend as much time meditating as possible.

“If possible, if somebody is well-attuned to that kind of thing, they can develop the amount of time eventually to be able to use the sleeping time [for meditation]. Also if you are more upright when you sleep, when you wake up you haven’t slept so deeply, and it is easy to wake up quickly and get going.”

Bedtime at the retreat is 11pm and the gong goes at 3.45am when the monks are supposed to start praying and meditating.

Read the full response here.