A good sleep is a sine qua non of a healthy perfect life. In the Buddhist discipline, research on the topic is limited, though in other disciplines research outputs are, rather, abundant. Therefore, this paper intends to do a preliminary research on the topic and tries to compare and contrast the views on sleep between Buddhism and India’s Ayurveda by resorting to literature such as the early and later Buddhist scriptures, especially those from the schools of Mere-consciousness and Tientai, as well as two of the medical classics in ancient India, i.e. Susrute Samhita and Caraka Samhita. Modern works that cover the topic will also be cited and discussed. Our research shows that both systems of thought target at the pursuit of a perfect life. Influenced by their views on sleep, they concur with each other that (abnormal) sleep itself is a hindrance to the divine attainment of liberation mental and physical. However, there are also significant differences between Buddhism and Ayurveda regarding sleep, as the target collectives of the two are, basically, speaking, not the same crowd—the former has Buddhist cultivators as its target audience, and the latter household laity as readership. This inevitably brings considerable variations in their analyses on sleep. Buddhists tend to look at the problem from the mental perspectives, while Ayurveda from the physical perspectives. It should be noted that Ayurveda practitioners also give fitting sleeping guidelines according to one’s constitution (or to be more precise, dosas), which the Buddhists, more often than not, fail to do the same.
