Sleep talking - Causes and how to transform according to the Buddha’s teachings

Have you ever been told by someone that you were talking in your sleep, but you actually did not remember anything about it?

In this article, you will find the answers of Thay Thich Truc Thai Minh to your questions about talking in your sleep, from its meaning and causes to ways to overcome it.

What is sleep talking?

Sleep talking, or somniloquy is a very common occurrence. Many people talk unconsciously in their sleep. Some people even cry or act out with the feelings that their dreams are so real. 

Sleep talking might be a sign of a bad health condition. If the talking occurs often, it will affect not only the sleep quality of sleep talkers but also that of other people who share the same bedroom with them. 

What causes sleep talking?

Sleep talking can be viewed from various perspectives. Scientists, who study dreams, have tried to find the cause of unconscious utterances during sleep.

Scientific explanation

Scientists explain that the brain regions responsible for speech control in sleep talkers are not as inhibited as that of normal people during their sleep. Normally, people don't speak in their sleep because their brain areas involved in speech processing are not active. However, it is not the case for sleep talkers because their regions still work and they think what they see in their dreams is real. Therefore, they talk as if it were in real life. 

Is sleep talking a spiritual phenomenon?

Several people wonder whether there is any spiritual connection here. Are sleep talkers talking to spirits during their slumber? 

The answer is no, according to Thay. It's their karma. In our life, nothing goes beyond the law of cause and effect and neither does the act of speaking during sleep. 

Dreams are very personal matters. No one other than you knows what you've dreamt about because you think in your head, you dream in your mind. If you dream about your spouse, it's also your very private thing. But if you unknowingly speak out even your most private things, what can you conclude from this? 

Thay Thich Truc Thai Minh said: “From the consequence (of being unaware of speaking about our private things), we can trace back to the cause. The cause of sleep talking is that in previous lives or even this life, you once broke your promises, or did not keep secrets for people, divulged all to others, which dishonored them.”

For example, a friend spills their secrets to you and asks you to keep them. However, instead of keeping your friend's secrets, you reveal them to other people, making your friends lose their faces. That is the cause of unconsciously talking about your private things in your sleep.

How to stop sleep-talking?

If you often speak in your sleep, you might have to see the doctor for a physical exam because, during a healthy sleep, the language areas of the brain should be inhibited so that we are unable to speak.

However, if you don't have any health problems, your utterances while sleeping are matters of karma. To transform this phenomenon, you must honestly repent and determinedly correct your faults according to the Buddha's teachings.

You must repent of your old mistakes that, in the past, you didn't protect the secrets of others. Also, from now on, you must keep all the secrets that others confide in you and never reveal them. That is exactly what a good friend should do.

So, repenting and practicing the Buddha's teachings will help you transform your karma and overcome this unconscious action. 

We wish you to have a healthy sleep and be able to keep your thoughts private!

I'm grateful for having a chance to offer food to Buddhist monks. Watching them walk barefoot on their alms round is a kind of emotional scene I've experienced.