Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Manas: Part One
Chapter 11: The Manas and Dreams
1. Are the Five Consciousnesses Present in Dreams?
The realms in dreams are all subjectively imagined realms, all mental sense-object (dharma-viṣaya) realms, without the relatively more real objectively-existing realms of the five sense-objects. Because the five sense-objects are lacking, the subjectively imagined realm is incomplete and deficient, and the mental sense-objects discerned by the solitary consciousness alone are not very clear, but rather approximate, appearing very illusory and unreal. Therefore, the mind consciousness and the manas cannot discern very clearly, and errors are inevitable; sometimes there are especially many and especially great errors, often mistaking one thing for another. In dreams, the discernment by the manas is dominant; when the manas encounters unfamiliar realms, its discerning wisdom is not strong and it lacks accurate judgment, so what it discerns is unclear and vague. Only if the manas possesses meditative concentration and wisdom, or if the realm is very familiar, can it discern with near accuracy.
If there were the five sense-object realms in a dream, the five consciousnesses would participate in the discernment, and then there would be no difference from the waking state, and there would be no dream and no sleep. In a dream one sees blood flowing like a river and feels that the blood is red; originally it should be the eye consciousness that discerns the red color, but in a dream there is no eye consciousness—so who knows it is red? The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says that when one cultivates to a certain degree, the manas can substitute for the functions of the six consciousnesses; generally in dreams the manas can also substitute for the functions of the five consciousnesses, so the five sense-objects that the five consciousnesses should discern are also cognized by the manas, which has some rough discernment, knowing that what flows is red blood. But for some people, the manas in the dream does not know that blood or fire is red. Sometimes the manas knows what the five sense-object realms are, and sometimes it does not; sometimes in dreams there seem to be colors, such as red firelight, and sometimes there are no colors—clearly it should be a dream with very vivid colors, yet in the dream there are no colors.
2. Why Don't We Know We Are Dreaming While Dreaming?
The reason sentient beings dream is that the manas constantly grasps at and clings to certain dharmas, and the eighth consciousness, in accordance with this, gives rise to the dream realm. The dream realm belongs to the subjectively imagined realm, discerned by the mind consciousness alone, without the cooperation of the five consciousnesses. Because the conditions needed for the arising of the subjectively imagined realm are relatively few, as long as the manas clings to and dwells upon certain dharmas, the subjectively imagined realm can appear; then the manas contacts the subjectively imagined realm, and the eighth consciousness gives birth to the mind consciousness to discern the subjectively imagined realm. But in dreams, the mind consciousness's capacity fors to everything will be harmonious and unobstructed, we will be increasingly harmonious with our surroundings, people, affairs, and things, and can deliver more and more sentient beings.
If one cultivates to the manas, ignorance diminishes bit by bit, and greed, hatred, and delusion will fade away bit by bit, thus transforming the manas. When the manas's afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion diminish and fade, this will be revealed through dreams. For example, when the manas ordinarily no longer wishes to cling to certain dharmas, corresponding mental activities, thoughts, and wishes will arise, and the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate by displaying them through dreams. How is it displayed? Greed, hatred, and delusion represent the defilement of the mind; the defilement of the mind must be represented by defiled realms of material form. When the mind's purity increases and defilement decreases, it is shown that the environment this person is in is all filthy and squalid; the filthier the outside, the more afflictions have been expelled from the mind; the mind is purer than before; although the realm is impure, it sets off the purity of the mind.
So dreams also indicate the degree of a person's cultivation—whether the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion have lessened, and whether the mind is gradually becoming pure. Of course, this expulsion of defilement before enlightenment and before realizing the fruits still differs somewhat from the subduing and elimination of greed, hatred, and delusion after realizing the fruits. Before realizing the fruits, in the course of cultivating the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, due to the study and practice of precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, afflictions should indeed be subdued to some extent, and the mind should be somewhat purer than before; this is the result of the pre-enlightenment and pre-fruit-realization study and practice of precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Otherwise, if the study and practice of precepts, concentration, wisdom, and the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment do not reach the standard, and the obstruction of greed, hatred, and delusion is still severe, one cannot realize the fruits or see the mind.
8. The Manas in Dreams
When asleep without dreams, only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses exist, without the first six consciousnesses; if one realizes the eighth consciousness at this time, one can pass the final barrier and have the ability to escape birth and death. Both while dreaming and while sleepwalking, the sixth consciousness exists. To understand what the realm of sleepwalking is about, one must see the mind and have profound Yogācāra wisdom; only when the dharmas of the manas can also be realized and the manas's operations can also be observed can one gradually sort out what sleepwalking is about.
Sleepwalking and dreaming are both directly related to the manas. When walking in a dream, the manas, by controlling the back of the brain and controlling the mind consciousness, can control the entire body, so during sleepwalking, the hands, feet, and body can all move. As a child, I often searched for the toilet in dreams and ended up wetting the bed—it was all the manas's doing; the manas discerned the condition within the body, knew there was urine, and with the urge to urinate wanted to go to the toilet to relieve it, so it created a dream, letting the mind consciousness solve it; if no dream was created, it would be relieved directly in bed.
Before waking from sleep, the manas discerns the mental sense-objects, though not clearly; then the mind consciousness discerns again, and it gradually becomes clear, and we wake up. The mind consciousness in the dream is the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta), while the mind consciousness upon waking is the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna); the realms they discern are different, so the mind consciousness upon waking does not necessarily know the realm in the dream. Sleepwalking belongs to this situation.
9. What Is the Difference Between Being Asleep and Being Unconscious?
Falling asleep is a state actively chosen by the manas; during sleep one is generally rather peaceful, able to rest at ease in the sleep state; if the manas feels it has slept enough or has matters to attend to, it will decide to wake up. Being knocked unconscious, however, is a passive, unwilling state. Because the body is severely injured, the six sense-objects cannot be normally transmitted to the supreme faculty (indriya), causing the six consciousnesses to be unable to continue their activity, and the activity of the five aggregates has to stop. The manas, knowing this condition of the five-aggregate body, is extremely anxious and unwilling in its heart, and therefore always seeks an opportunity to wake up. When the body recovers slightly, it will struggle to get up and move about; then when the body truly cannot manage, it faints again. Some people even make their soul leave the body to inform their family and seek others' help. It can be seen that the manas is not willing to be unconscious and unable to use the five-aggregate body; He relies on the five-aggregate body to survive in worldly dharmas, and therefore clings to the five aggregates and the six consciousnesses, unwilling to die and unwilling to remain unconscious.
10. Can Listening to Dharma Teachings While Asleep Permeate the Manas?
Question: When asleep, does the seventh consciousness sleep? Can the seventh consciousness hear the sūtra being quietly recited by a small Dharma-playing device by the bedside? Will it store the information into the eighth consciousness?
Answer: The seventh consciousness never falls asleep and never sleeps. If the seventh consciousness were to sleep, only the eighth consciousness would remain, and that would be entering nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa) and becoming an arhat. The seventh consciousness will not sleep or cease, unless an arhat or pratyekabuddha enters nirvāṇa without remainder. After one falls asleep and the Dharma-playing device plays, the seventh consciousness can still discern; the only question is whether He can understand it. But if the playing lasts a long time, one can still be permeated by it. As long as the seventh consciousness discerns the sound, it will be stored into the eighth consciousness; whether understood or not, the seeds stored are different.
