How do novice Tibetan monks meditate 23 hours a day? According to Lama Surya Das, novice monks traditionally meditate 23 hours a day, with one hour for sleep.  I met another American lama who said the same thing.  How is this even possible?  Even if the monk goes into deep meditation, is one hour of sleep enough?  And these were novices.
I have wondered about this for years, and can't seem to find anything about it on the web.  I often meditate when tired, because of chronic insomnia, and I often wonder what the relationship between sleep and meditation is.  Does anyone know anything about this practice?
Sorry if this is not specific enough, but I don't know anything else about this practice, but I find it extremely intriguing.
One can get by on little to no sleep when one mediates a lot but it requires a lot of learning and jhana.
If one had a good novice and a good teacher, under perfect conditions, then i think it is maybe possible to train some person in this way.
However in practise when one gets to little to no sleep stages then one will often skip a night altogether or find oneself too restless to sleep at a particular time.
Even Buddha's novices didn't do this and monks were advised to sleep in the 2nd watch of the night.
Therefore i don't think one can find a place where novices sleep only an hour a day lest they are forced to do it.
Forcing one is abuse and isn't even useful for meditation. I imagine many places are abusive.