Q&A: Fruits on the path of meditation

When I am meditating well and I start to go deep within, after a few minutes I feel sleepy and my whole body goes almost numb.

You are having the experience of silence. During your meditation your mind has totally surrendered to your heart, and the heart and the mind have both surrendered to the soul. At that time you get a feeling of static silence. Mentally you feel that you are not in this world, and that you have to come back and be very dynamic. But no! At that time the soul is operating most powerfully, and you do not have to create any movement.

This world of silence is not like ordinary sleep, where one becomes totally unconscious. On the contrary, it is a very good state. In the silence itself there is spontaneous creativity, spontaneous movement and spontaneous life-the life of spiritual awakening and spiritual revelation. Try to remain there and grow into that state with utmost sincerity, humility and devotion. You can stay there for a few days or even a month without any fear. Then you will see that the static silence will grow into dynamic silence.

If you feel sleepy when you are merely preparing to meditate, it means that inertia and lethargy are present. But if this feeling comes during a good meditation, it is not sleep at all. You are entering into the world of silence and mistaking it for sleep.