Is it possible to remain both awakened and asleep, at the sametime?

India
July 23, 2008 8:42am CST
In the state of awakening, we are fully aware of the surrounding events and activities.During the period of sleeping, we are not at all conscious of the events occuing around us and our senses remain non-functional. Is it possible to experince both the state of awakening and sleeping, at the same time?
2 responses
@ShealM (388)
• Canada
23 Jul 08
Yes it is. It's called the Maya Effect. Also known as The Old Hag effect, Moira effect or Mary effect. It is attributed to a lot of paranormal (ghost like) experiences of waking up paralyzed and having difficulty breathing and feelings of being watched, sat on and pressure on the chest or limbs. It is not an actual entity or ghost, it is the state of mind activity where one is half in the deep stage REM cycle (rapid eye movement) and half in the wakeful state. The brain actually paralyzes the body in full deep sleep (it is a mechanism of the body to prevent falls out of bed, listless movements and in a normal sleep cycle the body from roaming outside of the bed or sleep walking). The problem with the Maya Effect is that the mind ends up half asleep (subconscious) and half awake. It can cause paralysis, rapid heart rate and breathing and hallucinations (due to the subconscious state in a wakeful environment, it's where our dreams come from). In essence, yes our minds and bodies indeed can be, by science definition of the Maya Effect, in both a wakeful state and a sleeping state at the same time.
• India
24 Jul 08
Many thanks for nicely responding and sharing your ideas and thoughts.I am really imressed with your thought provoking analysis on Maya Effect. Havea good day!!
• India
23 Jul 08
I dont think it is possible. I cant get the actual meaning of it.
• India
24 Jul 08
Many thanks for nicely responding.I just wanted to explain a peculiar type of experience,I commonly go throuh while meditating.While meditating,I just fall in to a zone of very deep relaxation like having a sound sleep and at the same time ,I remain fully aware of the events occuring outside.It is only possible to have such a unusal and dual experience in course of meditation.I just wanted to gather similar views and experience of others,if any. Have a nice day!!