Much of the perennial wisdom urges us to shift our perspective on events we ordinarily take for granted. Take the wee-hours wake up call that, for so many of us, feels like a curse that must be gotten through or avoided. Rare is the individual who accepts the 3am wakeup and inquires into it.

Which is a shame because it turns out the perennial wisdom touches on this quite a bit.

In a nutshell, that wakeup is recognized as the soul’s chance to be heard – prime time for spiritual insights to burble to the surface without competing with the ego-mind’s incessant chattering.

We are roused and, for the briefest moment, open to ‘the still small voice within’ to maybe, just possibly be heard. But if we groan with annoyance, if we toss and turn and bemoan all that awaits us the next day, the mind shifts back into high gear and the opportunity is lost.

“The soul is often wakened when the world sleeps, for then it may hear.” – Julian of Norwich

The Sufi mystic-poet Rumi likened these hours to the time of secrets, when what matters most rises to the surface. These false egos of ours have been busy living what they imagine to be ‘their lives’ and utterly missing glimpses of Truth that might actually serve our needs.

It’s also no secret that mystics and their followers routinely engaged in late-night (or even all-night) vigils, meditations, and prayers. Joel Goldsmith, as just one example, routinely rose long before the sun to meditate, often for hours.

Far from seeing these early-morning wake up calls as a nuisance, Goldsmith and other teachers of the perennial wisdom welcomed them as an opportunity to commune directly with God.

“God leads the soul by night so that it may not mistake the way for itself.” – John of the Cross

It’s also worth noting that most of these folks were renowned for requiring little if any sleep, the absence of an ‘I’ no longer demanding rest. Or as Meister Ekhart put it, “When the ‘I’ disappears, where is the one who grows weary?”

Studies of individuals in advanced states of meditation reveal profound states of parasympathetic activation (deep peace, calm, etc.), brainwave patterns that overlap with deep sleep (they’re essentially awake even when they’re asleep), and cellular restoration.

Because we imagine these lives as ours, we see these early-hours wakings as nuisances that deprive us of much needed rest.

“The soul may be more refreshed in prayer than the body in sleep.” – Teresa of Avila

What if, the next time we’re awakened by an unseen force, we shifted our perspective, sat quietly, and asked for that deeper self to reveal itself? What if we welcomed this as an opportunity to learn something new about ourselves, our lives, the universe itself?