Salgye Du Dalma

2   Preliminary Practice

Stress and tension taken to bed will follow the sleeper into sleep. Therefore, bring the mind into rigpa if possible. If not, then bring the mind into the body, into the central channel, into the heart. The preliminary practices recommended for dream yoga also apply to sleep yoga. Take refuge in the lama, yidam, and dakini, or do the nine breaths of purification and guru yoga. At a minimum, think of good things that promote devotion and practice, such as generating compassion. This anyone can do. Also make prayers for clear light sleep. If you have other practices that you normally do before bed, you may continue doing those.

A candle or small light left on during the night keeps a bit of wakefulness in the mind. It feels different to sleep with a light on, and the difference can be used to help maintain awareness. If a candle is used, be sure to take precautions against fire.

The light not only helps with maintaining alertness, it also represents the dakini, Salgye Du Dalma. The clarity and luminosity of light are closer to her essence than are any other phenomena in the world of form. When a light is on, imagine the luminosity in the room to be the dakini surrounding you with this essence. Let the external light connect you to the internal light, to the luminosity that you are. Relating the experience of light in the physical world to the practice helps; it gives the conventional mind a direction, a support, as it moves toward dissolution in pure awareness. External light can be a bridge between the conceptual world of form and the non-conceptual direct experience of the formless.

Another preliminary practice sometimes used is to go without sleep for one, three, or even five nights. This exhausts the conventional mind. Traditionally, this is done by a practitioner when the teacher is nearby. After the period of sleeplessness, when the practitioner finally sleeps, the master wakes the practitioner periodically during the night and asks questions: Were you aware? Did you dream? Did you fall into the sleep of ignorance?

If you wish to try this, make an arrangement with an experienced practitioner whom you trust. After your sleepless night—it is best to first remain sleepless only for one night—arrange to receive a massage, if possible, to relax the body and open the channels. Then have the practitioner wake you three times during the night and ask the above questions. After each waking, do the practice explained below, and again go to sleep. Sometimes the conventional mind can become so exhausted that it is very quiet. Then it is easier to find oneself in the clear light.