Question: Sometimes when I am meditating I fall asleep, not because I am tired, but because I feel that I am somehow trapped in my mind. I try to get into my heart, but I do not succeed; thoughts keep racing through my mind, and then I fall asleep.

Sri Chinmoy: You are having a terrible battle inside your mind and you are an unwitting victim. Your thought-world is attacking you and your life of aspiration is fighting with the thought-world, and finally aspiration gives way to the thought-world. Take thought as a soldier and aspiration as another soldier. Aspiration is trying to go up and thought is trying to put an end to aspiration. Now they fight and you are the battlefield. When soldiers fight in the battlefield and one side wins, they win the field itself. In your case, they fight inside you. When the thought-world wins the fight, it takes you. At this time you are tired from the battle and you fall asleep. When you fall asleep, there can be no aspiration and there cannot be any thought either.

How can you prevent yourself from sleeping? There are various ways. The simplest way is to repeat the name of the Supreme or any other word you like, as fast as possible. Imagine that you are an express train with only one destination. The driver of that train is constantly repeating God’s name to derive energy, strength, stamina, encouragement, concern and all divine qualities. Now, an express train stops only at the end of its journey, the goal; on the way it does not stop at all. Your goal will be to reach or achieve a profound meditation. Always try to feel inside you a dynamic and progressive movement, but not an aggressive one. This movement undoubtedly will take you to your destination. If there is a dynamic and progressive movement, then you cannot fall asleep. Inside you, feel that the train is running, running towards the destination; feel that you yourself are this very train. Then you cannot fall asleep.

When you meditate you try to create inside yourself a dynamic peace, not a lethargic peace. Peace need not be lethargic. Sometimes people feel that they are enjoying peace when they are fast asleep, but this is a lethargic peace.