59-05-032 Proceeding

132 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress Finally, the Buddha said that if those methods cannot help, conscious sleeping should be done. He said inMoggallana Sutta, “ You should do Sīhasaiyā 11 , that is lying on the right, the foot rests overlapping on each other, being conscious, aware to wake up, get up as soon as you are awake for you intended that not to have pleasure in sleeping …” Lord Buddha thought that if we have over pleasure in sleeping, it would bring you to be lazy, would not like to get up. In the Saundarananda, Aśvaghoṣa wrote about sleeping and lying in the verses 32 and 33 but the difference is he wrote is only about lying on the right side. To lie on the right side is the best way, it would be the original knowledge of Lord Buddha who knew that this posture is the most suitable for human body. After the medical research, it is found that lying down on the right is the best posture among others, for it helps the hearts beat easily, and the food from the stomach would be squeezed well into the small intestine, and it can relieve back pain too. But lying down on the leftwould cause dyspepsia, since the food left undigested before sleeping, and stays in the stomach. 12 In the Tipiṭaka, there is a teaching of resting the foot on the other, for by human nature, if we rest the feet on each other directly, it will be strain at the legs and ankles. To lie down by resting the foot overlapping on the other is more natural, for we have a curve foot arch, to lie the left foot overlapping on the right would help the left foot arch on the right foot side, which is round, and the right heel can support the left foot well. 11 Sīhasaiyāmeans Sleeping lion’s posture , i.e., lying on his right side, the left armrests on the body, the left foot rests on the right, the right hand supports the head. Cited in: Royal Institute. Photchananukrom ChabapRatchabandittayasathan. (Bangkok: Royal Institute, 2011), 1239. 12 Dr. Chanin Leewanun. Department of HANIN LEEWANUN Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital. Labsabaidaisukhaphap. Accessed April 12, 2015. Available from http://www.si.mahidol . ac.th/sidoctor/e-pl/articledetail.asp