The Importance of Sleep from a Different Perspective We all know that sleep is important. Scientists can tell you all sorts of benefits we get from sleep, and they can tell you all the problems you'll run into if you fail to get enough. But I had a dream the other night discussing WHY it is so essential ... something that scientists are still working to prove. Now, I want to point out two things before getting to the dream. First of all, this dream is a good example of why meditation and sleep are important ... because they can lead to communications and valuable information in dreams. I am often given information I have no other way of knowing through my dreams. Second, this article isn't meant to disparage the scientific approach, and in fact none of my articles should be read in that way. The scientific approach is necessary to CONFIRMING or CORRECTING what we learn through subjective means, and to making information objective for the use of more people. Information I get through my dreams, no matter how useful to me, should still be considered an interesting thing to look into, but nothing that's been confirmed. Having said that, this was one of those unusual nights when I spent a lot of time dreaming on one topic -- that is, getting guidance on one topic. I woke up at least one time during the night, and when I went back to sleep I went right back into that information. So I know that it didn't just last 5 seconds. I was shown over and over the way our days' experiences are tagged by the mind DURING THE DAY in 1-3 second fragments, and that these fragments are then sorted and filed while we sleep. Some is filed into the subconscious and some is filed in the conscious mind. This is, according to the dream, literally how our thoughts are organized for the purpose of recall. When we fail to sleep enough, we have files that haven't been properly ordered or, in some cases, haven't been filed at all. What does this lead to? The dream specifically showed me that when tagged portions of a day are not filed, they are literally left to fester in our bodies, turning into physical complications and diseases. Obviously, the more often you fail to get enough sleep, the more complications and diseases this can cause. I also DEDUCED from the dream (it was not said specifically) that when things are filed improperly, we have a harder time recalling information and that, having this happen too often can help lead to dementia in older age. Are there other factors in disease and dementia? Of course. But watching the filing system symbolically shown to me in my dream had quite an impact on the importance of sleep, and I have been trying to do a better job of getting in enough hours in bed. By the way ... according to certain spiritual sources, the best time for sleeping is between 10 P.M. and 5 A.M. This is when we are supposed to be getting instructed on the inner planes, and we're more apt to remember these lessons when sleeping at this time. P.S. Let's not forget, though, that too much of a good thing is, well ... a bad thing. Recent studies have shown that people who get ENOUGH sleep live longer than those who sleep too much each night. I have the personal opinion that this has to do with the importance of USE in our lives, but this is another topic altogether.