Yogi: The mind was overwhelmed by fear while trying to sleep and I couldn’t sleep.
Sayadaw: The mind is not peaceful; how to sleep then? And trying to sleep is craving – when there is craving, the mind cannot relax. So, it will be difficult to sleep.
It is more beneficial to practice watching the fear instead of trying to sleep.
Yogi: But it gets more fearful when I watch the fear because the story is so clear and real.
Sayadaw: That means that the watching mind has wrong attitude. Also, you shouldn’t watch the story; you should watch the feeling, the mental state. The story is a concept; if you watch the concept, more defilement will arise.
You cannot watch the defilement until it subsides – the mind becomes complicated because it wants to sleep and it cannot, and there are disliking and fear. It is better that you listen to music because you cannot practice at that time; and it gets worse when you try to practice.
It is easier to calm down and sleep by listening to music.
Meditation wouldn’t work then because everything is wrong already. If you’re wrong, it is better not to try anything; it will get worse because defilement is meditating.
When you cannot change the wrong attitude, don’t practice. So, just find ways to relax the mind first.