The Circle of Sleep - Notes on the Labyrinth of Existence

In my study, there is an old clock. It is said that my father purchased it from an antique dealer in Geneva. However, its origin is not certain. Interestingly, every night when this clock points to midnight, it does not strike 12 times, but 13. The tone of that unusual 13th chime is faintly different, as if it were resonating from another dimension.

This clock prompted me to contemplate sleep. We know far too little about sleep. And at the same time, we possess far too much incorrect "knowledge." Aristotle called sleep a "little death." But I must ask—is sleep truly an interruption of consciousness? Or does our consciousness continue in a different form?

***

An interesting fable is recorded in an ancient Tibetan manuscript. A practitioner wakes up with the conviction that they are dreaming, only to realize that the self they see there is actually a self dreaming another dream, and that the self within that dream is also dreaming. A dream of infinitely nested structures. The conclusion of that fable reads: "All existence is a dream, and all dreams are existence."

This fable is not merely a Zen riddle. It contains important implications regarding the nature of our consciousness. We have a habit of identifying the existence of the "self" with our waking consciousness. But what is that "self"? Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." However, while we sleep, thought appears to be suspended. Yet, we continue to exist. In other words, the relationship between "thought" and "existence" is far more complex than we think.

***

In a library in Córdoba, Argentina, I found the diary of an 18th-century mathematician. One night, he was convinced that he had found a perfect mathematical proof in a dream. But upon waking, the proof was complete nonsense. Yet, interestingly, that "nonsensical proof" had a strange similarity to a certain theorem of non-Euclidean geometry discovered 50 years later.

This is a thought-provoking anecdote. Perhaps our consciousness is not suspended during sleep, but rather functions according to a different logic. What Jung called the "collective unconscious" is likely not subject to the constraints of time. It is possible that both the past and the future exist simultaneously in the depths of consciousness.

***

A neuroscientist friend of mine told me about an interesting experimental result. When observing the brains of subjects in a state of deep sleep, it was found that certain neural circuits were more active than when they were awake. It is as if consciousness does not "stop" due to sleep, but rather switches to a different "mode."

This discovery brings to mind a strange passage recorded in the ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead." "The soul that travels the underworld with the sun god on the night boat sees things invisible in the world of day." Perhaps the ancient Egyptians understood sleep as a different mode of consciousness.

***

I would like to present a hypothesis here. Is our consciousness not like an iceberg? Waking consciousness is merely the part visible above the water. In sleep, perhaps we make contact with that massive part beneath the surface. And sometimes, fragmentary information from those depths surfaces in the form of dreams.

If we take this hypothesis further, the "self" can be understood not as a single entity, but as the totality of various layers of consciousness. The "self" during waking hours is merely one manifestation of that totality. In sleep, we may exist as a "self" of a different layer.

***

The clock in my study strikes the 13th chime again. The sound is like a call from another dimension. Every night, we enter the labyrinth of consciousness. There, time does not flow linearly but circularly, and the self is not singular but multi-layered.

The "I" when awake and the "I" when asleep. The two may be like the heads and tails of the same coin. Or perhaps they are different chapters of the same book. Every night, we reread that chapter. Although, when we wake up, we forget most of its contents.

However, if we could understand the essence of sleep, we would likely understand the true nature of the "self." This is because sleep is not merely a blank space in consciousness, but rather a different mode of consciousness, a different form of existence. Every night, without knowing it, we experience this truth.

The sound of the 13th chime fades away. In its lingering resonance, I think. Perhaps the waking state is the "dream." And in sleep, we may be touching a more fundamental reality. This possibility, while uncertain, continues to remain within me with a strange sense of conviction.

The text above was created almost entirely by an AI.
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