> This is one of the best states as there is only self and nothing else. You can experience this during general anesthesia etc. I suspect, but don't know for s

> This is one of the best states as there is only self and nothing else. You can experience this during general anesthesia etc. I suspect, but don't know for sure, that most people remain (barely) conscious during dreamless sleep, or at least parts of it. However, we don't remember it as sleep. When we are awaken in the middle of dreamless sleep we simply believe we were lost in our internal monologue. This is most apparent when somebody is taking a nap, possibly even snoring, and when awakened they believe they were not sleeping at all. Now, in most people, this dreamless sleep isn't a quiet, sharp, blissful experience, but rather a blurry incoherent mess of internal monologue. If you practice falling asleep consciously, you will find your internal monologue progressively become more and more incoherent and disjointed, until a point when (REM) dreams manifest "out of thin air". This is easiest done as you approach your usual waking time, what in lucid dreaming circles is called WILD. That is my personal experience, anyway. I also believe that experienced meditators go through dreamless sleep with far less chatter and are able to maintain a sharp vivid blissful experience through the night.