Best sleeping direction - Hindu Janajagruti Samiti

There have been cases where people have spent sleepless nights without any known reason, and accidentally a change in the direction to east-west in fact rewarded them with a sound sleep. Even though a shift in direction is a small change, it provides a major benefit in achieving a good sleep. How does this happen? Our Hindu Dharma elaborates the spiritual science behind sleeping in the correct direction and the correct sleeping position. So, which is the correct sleeping direction ? This article will explain the spiritual significance of sleeping in the east-west direction, with head towards the east.

1. Best sleeping direction : Why should we sleep in the east-west direction ?

Movement of the chakrās (Centres in the body through which the spiritual energy flows) in the body of an individual takes place in the appropriate sleeping direction and sleep is peaceful: Due to the pleasant positive vibrations emanating from the east, the chakrās in the body start rotating in the appropriate directions instead of in the conflicting directions. Placing the head towards the east facilitates 10% greater imbibing of the pleasant positive vibrations emanating from the east by the saptachakrās (Seven chakrās) in the body. Since the movement of the chakrās in the body takes place in an appropriate sleeping direction, the Raja particles generated in the body because of sleep do not cause any distress to the individual; it gets peaceful sleep and there is not any obstruction to the drifting of the mind of the individual connected by the subtle-silver cord with the body.

The ‘subtle-silver cord’ keeps the gross body and subtle-body of an individual connected. Till the individual endures his destiny, it remains connected through this subtle-silver cord with the physical body. When an individual falls asleep, his/her subtle-body leaves the physical body and no matter where it goes, it remains connected to the physical body with the subtle-silver cord and hence, it can return to the same physical body. This phenomenon takes place during meditation too. Yogis (Those who practice Yoga) withdraw their subtle-body and perform the expected mission during meditation. At such times too, the individual returns to the physical body only because of the subtle-silver cord. This cord breaks at the time of death. Therefore, no matter how hard the subtle-body tries after death, it can never re-enter that body.
Journey of the Raja–Tama particles
- An average individual: Activities performed by man throughout the day keep the Raja particles of the individual in motion. Due to the predominance of Raja particles, the sūryanāḍī (The sun channel) of the individual remains active throughout the day. This increases the proportion of Raja-Tama particles in the individual. For disintegration of these Raja–Tama particles from the body in an appropriate manner, the dēhashuddhak-chakrās (Body-purifying chakrās) in the toes open up at night because of the predominance of Raja particles and these particles are discharged through the toes. (The Raja-Tama particles generated in the gross body while performing any activity are discharged through the medium of such chakrās. Since the prime objective of these chakrās is to constantly cleanse the sheath of the body, they are known as ‘dēhashuddhak-chakrās’.) Since west is a direction of setting of activity in the form of Shakti (Divine Energy), the Raja–Tama particles leaving the toes move in that direction and disappear. East is a direction that emits Creation–oriented Shakti. Therefore, when we sleep with our feet towards the east, the Raja-Tama particles which were meant for setting in the west clash with Creation–oriented Shakti, resulting in friction between the two energies, and the stronger one triumphs. In Kaliyug (Era of strife), the proportion of Raja-Tama particles in individuals is higher; hence, the proportion of triumph of the energy leaving the feet is greater. Therefore, the individualis unable to imbibe Chaitanya (Divine consciousness) emitting from the east. Similarly, the increased Raja–Tama particles in the body are not emitted through the feet.
- Seekers not suffering from spiritual distress: There are 108 dēhashuddhak-chakrās in the human body. By chanting God’s Name, all these chakrās get awakened and unwanted Tama particles and black energy is discharged from the body. A seeker, who has been chanting all day, will not suffer from distress, whether he sleeps with the head towards the east or west direction.
- Seekers suffering from spiritual distress: The negative energies in seekers suffering from spiritual distress close down the 106 dēhashuddhak-chakrās activated by chanting, with the help of their mantrasiddhīs (Supernatural powers acquired through spiritual practice). Therefore, it is better if such seekers sleep with their head towards the east.
  1. Reason why māntriks (subtle-sorcerers) close down the 106 dēhashuddhak-chakrās: When seekers chant God’s Name, black energy generated by the māntriks gets destroyed and Raja particles are discharged through the dēhashuddhak-chakrās, and on the strength of chanting, they move towards the west direction and get destroyed. To prevent the destruction of accumulated black energy, māntriks close down the 106 dēhashuddhak-chakrās. However, it is impossible for them to close the dēhashuddhak-chakrās in the toes.
  2. Effects of chanting on seekers suffering from distress due to negative energies: The black energy reserve generated by the negative energies in the bodies of seekers, whose dēhashuddhak-chakrās are closed by these negative energies, are destroyed when the seekers chant. This black energy is discharged through the dēhashuddhak-chakrās in the toes. However, since only two chakras are active, all the energy is not discharged collectively. At the same time, the māntriks too direct the flow of unwanted Raja particles towards the dēhashuddhak-chakrās. The speed of the Raja-Tama or Tama–Raja particles is greater than that of the black energy and hence, these are discharged first. Remnants of black energy in the body can cause dullness or unnecessary sleep. If an individual (that chants regularly) improves chanting or chants with greater bhāv (Spiritual emotion), the black energy can be better discharged by using panchadwārs (Five openings) in the body, instead of being discharged through dēhashuddhak-chakrās.
- Evolved souls : Since the chanting of evolved souls takes place in Madhyamā (A mode of speech where chanting occurs automatically) or Pashyantī (Chanting the Name of God in Pashyantī mode of speech is akin to that of Seers who have knowledge of the past, present and future. This mode of chanting occurs after attaining a spiritual level of 70%) modes of speech, black energy generated in them is in little quantity. Therefore, the evolved souls are not distressed, no matter which direction their feet are, towards the east or west.

2. East-west sleeping direction with the head towards the east, the Sattva waves emitting from the east at dawn are imbibed by the individual and this makes it sāttvik

While going to sleep, lie down in the east-west direction so that there is equilibrium in Sattva, Raja and Tama waves. At dawn, Sattva waves emit from the east in greater proportion. Sattva waves from the environment enter the body through the Brahmarandhra (Opening in the spiritual energy system, located on the crown, in the subtle-body). The individual becomes sāttvik after imbibing these waves. Hence, to be able to start the day auspiciously, sleep in the east-west direction.

3. Underlying science behind east-west sleeping direction and not in a bent position in any other direction

East-west sleeping direction: By sleeping in the east-west direction, an individual benefits from the waves of action of God associated with the east-west directions and those moving about in the void between these two directions. This kriyā-shakti (Energy of action) of God bestows the individual with the strength for direct action. With help from these functional east-west directions, sāttvik waves of action are transferred into the body, facilitating the movement of the panchaprāṇas (Five vital energies) situated at the navel region. Through the medium of the upa-prāṇas (Subordinate vital energies), these panchaprānas discharge the subtle-waste gases from the body. Consequently, the prāṇa-dēha (Vital body) and prāṇamayakosha (Vital energy sheath) of the individual gets purified.
Sleeping in a bent position in any other direction: In contrast, by sleeping in this manner the individual attracts Tama-predominant tiryak waves (Raja-Tama predominant waves that cause distress) from the atmosphere which then get transferred into its body. This causes distress such as nightmares, unnecessary physical movement, restlessness, and with the help of tiryak waves, possession of the gross body by some negative energy present in the atmosphere. Since the movement of tiryak waves in the atmosphere takes place in such a position, avoid sleeping in this position if possible.