There are 3 states of consciousness.
Waking
Dreaming
Deep sleep
Each has a different heart rate; brain wave; different lactation of the skin.
Deep sleep is the most interesting. What happens to consciousness? Where does it go?
Dreaming is consciousness traveling in the astral plane. Mostly we visit it’s boring suburbs - but now and then the real deal. Flying is the berries. Big ego trip for me.
In one flying dream there was a small indoor arena filled with big shots, all dressed up to the tees - in tuxedos and evening gowns. I was in the wings, about to give a performance. I had no idea what I was going to do to amuse them.
Suddenly I shot out into the arena. I flew standing stiffly vertical, in military attention. I was about fifty feet above the floor, on level with the top tiers, doing a hundred miles an hour. I did one circuit and exited. The audience was stunned. It was absolutely neat, simple and precise. Over before they had time to catch their breath. Pure theater. My best show to date.
Now about that deep sleep. I have a theory.
I lived in cave once, for nine months. For the first five months I wrestled with my reasons for being there. After five months I gave up and simply lived. Nowhere to go, nothing to do. All the tension and struggle left me. I was simply happy to be where I was.
Then one night I did not fall asleep. I worried that I might be all wound up the next day. But felt fine. Next night the same sleeplessness. Again I though I would pay for it the next day. Again felt fine. Third night I stopped worrying about and just lay there in the dark, listening to the bats fly in and out,
Upshot of it is that I never fell asleep for the next three moths - not until I left the cave and went back into society. I then started to sleep about an hour a night , then three and after about five years, the full eight.
My conclusion: The tensions and demands of life exhaust our consciousness. As a resident monk in the Thai monastery where my cave was located, the local islanders gave me food every morning. In return I cleaned and looked after the monastery grounds. I had zero life tensions. No need to recharge myself. No need for sleep.
Deep sleep takes us past the astral, into the etheric plane where our souls are recharged. The etheric is an advanced plane of consciousness, guarded by an awesome sound barrier. No memories are brought back from it - possibly because once there, consciousness simply is absorbed in itself.
I use the extra hours to gain more intellectual input…