--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Death is not like going to sleep, it's…" description: "\"“Death is not like going to sleep, it's more like waking up from a dream and realizing the person you were in the dream wasn't you, the problems you ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg" --- # Death is not like going to sleep, it's more like waking up… ![“Death is not like going to sleep, it's more like waking up from a dream and realizing the person you were in the dream wasn't you, the problems you had in the dream weren't your problems and waking up from the dream to this world is like going back to sleep again and waking up in a dream world…” quote by Emmanuel Diogu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg) > ““Death is not like going to sleep, it's more like waking up from a dream and realizing the person you were in the dream wasn't you, the problems you had in the dream weren't your problems and waking up from the dream to this world is like going back to sleep again and waking up in a dream world, forgetting who we are again and getting lost in the dream character, the character who we think we are and who has problems. Waking up in a dream and realizing we are not the dream character but the dreamer is enlightenment.”” [Emmanuel Diogu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-diogu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote likens death to awakening from a dream, suggesting that realizing one's true self beyond the dream persona leads to enlightenment. **In simple terms:** Death is like waking from a dream to true self. Key Takeaway Seek self‑realization beyond illusion. Themes spirituality death identity Mood mystical contemplative Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - meditation - philosophical inquiry - end‑of‑life reflection Key Concepts enlightenment ego consciousness Questions to Reflect On - What does waking from the dream symbolize? - How can we prepare for self‑realization? A Different Perspective Interpretations of death vary across cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Dream Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-realizing-3861472/) [Dream world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-world/) [Dreamer Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreamer-enlightenment-4451011/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Ego-death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego-death/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Getting lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-lost/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Like Waking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-waking/) [Waking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waking/) ## Related quotes > [The best feeling in the world is waking up from a terrible dream and realizing that it didn't actually happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-feeling-in-the-world-is-waking-up-from-a-terrible-dream-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im not sure whats worse; Having a bad dream and realizing it wasn't real, or having a good dream and realizing it wasn't real?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-not-sure-whats-worse-having-a-bad-dream-and-realizing-it-wasn-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Tree-ear has taken his first step toward his dream. Realizing a dream can be very hard, though. Sometimes, a dream can seem so far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/tree-ear-has-taken-his-first-step-toward-his-dream-realizing-a-dream/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [“To be is not to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/to-be-is-not-to-be/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Every time you say 'yes' when you mean 'no,' you put a bullet in the head of the real you. You’re stacking bodies in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lokesh-tuli/every-time-you-say-yes-when-you-mean-no-you-put-a-bullet-in-the-head/) [Lokesh Tuli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lokesh-tuli/) > [“Naskar is when Naskar is not (Sonnet 2550) Ask the dust of my footsteps on sands, where no history sleeps, the truth of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/naskar-is-when-naskar-is-not-sonnet-2550-ask-the-dust-of-my-footsteps/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [ “Most humans who have been reared with the creature comforts of the spiritually vacuous industrialized Western world will cease their search \[for Truth\] at… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-schreck/most-humans-who-have-been-reared-with-the-creature-comforts-of-the/) [Zeena Schreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeena-schreck/) > [“I lost all contact with the surrounding world, which completely disappeared…The awareness of my everyday existence, my name, my whereabouts and my life disappeared……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-metzner/i-lost-all-contact-with-the-surrounding-world-which-completely/) [Ralph Metzner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-metzner/) > [“I am, for I am not (Sonnet 2539) I don't care what I am, I don't know what I am, I am, for I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/i-am-for-i-am-not-sonnet-2539-i-don-t-care-what-i-am-i-don-t-know/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“My love language is a a barrage of highly inappropriate dangerous questions. I don't want the polite fiction of your day. Because I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lokesh-tuli/my-love-language-is-a-a-barrage-of-highly-inappropriate-dangerous/) [Lokesh Tuli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lokesh-tuli/) > [“A person whom is dissatisfied with the existing constitution of the self might wish to eradicate the self. A spiritual death can take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-person-whom-is-dissatisfied-with-the-existing-constitution-of-the/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“While the Dark Night of the Soul is a process of death, the Spiritual Awakening Process is the rebirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mateo-sol/while-the-dark-night-of-the-soul-is-a-process-of-death-the-spiritual/) [Mateo Sol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mateo-sol/) > [“My only reality was a mass of radiant swirling energy of immense proportions that seemed to contain all existence in a condensed and entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-metzner/my-only-reality-was-a-mass-of-radiant-swirling-energy-of-immense/) [Ralph Metzner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-metzner/) > [“…Some timeless time later, dreamlike images began to emerge, the solar system, the Earth…the last to emerge was the sense of my everyday identity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-metzner/some-timeless-time-later-dreamlike-images-began-to-emerge-the-solar/) [Ralph Metzner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-metzner/) > [“The ego is the culmination of our preferences and dislikes. Our ego represents the firm edges of how we perceive ourselves. An ego death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-ego-is-the-culmination-of-our-preferences-and-dislikes-our-ego/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) ## More by Emmanuel Diogu > [“Mind makes a man of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-diogu/mind-makes-a-man-of-god/) [Emmanuel Diogu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-diogu/) [Explore all 2 Emmanuel Diogu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-diogu/) ## More Awakening quotes > [It is natural that our minds replay old stories, because that is our own mechanism for trying to work out unresolved problems. Yet rerunning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/it-is-natural-that-our-minds-replay-old-stories-because-that-is-our/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/imitation-is-the-first-instinct-of-the-awakening-mind/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Low states are a like a poison to the psyche. Millions of people throughout the world take tranquillizers each day to combat depression, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belsebuub/low-states-are-a-like-a-poison-to-the-psyche-millions-of-people/) [Belsebuub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belsebuub/) > [The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-awakening-of-the-soul-to-its-bondage-and-its-effort-to-stand-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/my-political-awakening-if-i-can-be-as-grand-as-to-call-it-that-was/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-often-have-you-sailed-in-my-dreams-and-now-you-come-in-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“CWC (Church Women Concerned) enabled us as women in that part of South Africa, to see ourselves as ordinary citizens who found themselves in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sindiwe-magona/cwc-church-women-concerned-enabled-us-as-women-in-that-part-of-south/) [Sindiwe Magona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sindiwe-magona/) > [I feel there is a great spiritual awakening on the planet right now. More than any previous time, people are drawn to meditation, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agapi-stassinopoulos/i-feel-there-is-a-great-spiritual-awakening-on-the-planet-right-now/) [Agapi Stassinopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agapi-stassinopoulos/) > [When I was 20 years old, I got cast in 'Spring Awakening' and got swept up in this experience where it was kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/when-i-was-20-years-old-i-got-cast-in-spring-awakening-and-got-swept/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [Motivation is awakening own mind and Inspiration is arising spirit in others to find their own with their heart and soul in all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/motivation-is-awakening-own-mind-and-inspiration-is-arising-spirit-in/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“The Illusion - The source of suffering can be linked back to a condition of the mind that creates the illusion of separation--the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-blanchard/the-illusion-the-source-of-suffering-can-be-linked-back-to-a/) [L.M.Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-blanchard/) [Browse all 1,440 Awakening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Death is not like going to sleep, it's more like waking up from a dream and realizing the person you were in the dream wasn't you, the problems you had in the dream weren't your problems and waking up from the dream to this world is like going back to sleep again and waking up in a dream world, forgetting who we are again and getting lost in the dream character, the character who we think we are and who has problems. Waking up in a dream and realizing we are not the dream character but the dreamer is enlightenment.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emmanuel Diogu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-diogu/death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-more-like-waking-up-from-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Awakening" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-diogu/death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-more-like-waking-up-from-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/emmanuel-diogu-96608_awakening_death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-mo_2139928.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Death is not like going to sleep, it's more like waking up from a dream and realizing the person you were in…” — Emmanuel Diogu", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Emmanuel Diogu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-diogu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Death is not like going to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-diogu/death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-more-like-waking-up-from-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-diogu/death-is-not-like-going-to-sleep-it-s-more-like-waking-up-from-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```