A Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Mind: Part Two
Chapter Seven: The Manas's Function of Alerting and Dreams
1. The Manas's Warning Function
Question: In the past, when I felt fear, dread, or anxiety in my mind, I always had the feeling that something was about to happen, but I didn't know what it would be, and my mind was unsettled—and then something really did happen. Is this the manas knowing in advance?
Answer: Fear, dread, anxiety, and other such psychological phenomena are the emotional expressions of the manas, making the mind consciousness feel that something bad is about to happen, yet without knowing exactly what it is. The manas can foreknow many things in advance—almost everything—but it cannot personally deal with them; it can only alert the mind consciousness, and only after the mind consciousness understands can it begin to do something, to plan and arrange. The manas is anxious about what is going to happen, but it does not know how to express it so that the mind consciousness will know; only after the event occurs does the mind consciousness learn what it was, but often it is one step too late, and it is of no help to the matter.
Sometimes the things dreamed in dreams are also the manas dwelling on something, then wanting to alert the mind consciousness to know and let the mind consciousness handle it; as a result, the things in the dream do indeed all happen later. This is the manas's function of alerting, also called precognitive dreams. Because the mind consciousness is intelligent and wise, has analytical and thinking ability, can come up with ways to solve problems, and can take concrete measures and actions, while the manas cannot take any action, therefore when it foreknows that something is going to happen, it will alert the mind consciousness in various ways, reminding the mind consciousness to know. Once the mind consciousness receives the alert and the hint, it may realize that something is going to happen and prepare in advance. If the manas has the wisdom to alert the mind consciousness, it can make it easy for the mind consciousness to comprehend; if the mind consciousness has wisdom, it can also easily comprehend the manas's warnings and hints.
Precognitive dreams are the manas letting the mind consciousness know in advance the things that will happen later. The manas can know things that have not yet happened in the future and can go toward the future. Why is this so? Because the tathāgatagarbha, according to karmic seeds, can know the affairs of the three realms of the world in the past, present, and future; the manas, relying on the dharmas seen by the tathāgatagarbha, can give rise to its own views. If the tathāgatagarbha can see all dharmas, the manas can see all dharmas, but the essence of what the two see is somewhat different.
2. The Manas's Function of Alerting the Mind Consciousness
Question: Once I was digging out wormwood beside a graveyard, and I kept feeling that there was someone behind me, but actually there was no one around. Is this a feeling of the manas or of the mind consciousness? Was there really someone, or was it an illusion?
Answer: The feeling that someone was there is a feeling of the mind consciousness; this feeling was transmitted to the mind consciousness by the manas. The mind consciousness did not see anyone behind, but the manas could see it, and because it could not handle the matter itself, it let the mind consciousness feel it first and then handle it. If at that time the mind consciousness did not understand, it could not handle it. If the mind consciousness understood that there might be a ghost behind, it would make the decision whether to leave or not to leave. Those with courage would not leave; those with little courage would leave. Of course, this courage refers to the manas's, and the final decision to leave is still the manas's decision.
The manas can know people and things that the mind consciousness cannot see, including beings of the formless and form realms, but the mind consciousness does not know; when the manas wants the mind consciousness to know, the mind consciousness will give rise to doubt and have feelings. If the mind consciousness has wisdom, it will reasonably analyze, think, and infer, and then it will know what the matter is.
3. Why Does a Nightmare Disappear as Soon as One Recites the Buddha's Name in a Dream?
When the mind consciousness usually recites the Buddha's name, it permeates and conditions the manas; the manas has the Buddha in its mind and also understands the benefits of reciting the Buddha's name. When encountering danger in a dream, it directly raises the thought of the Buddha and recites the Buddha's name; the Buddha's name comes out spontaneously, without the mind consciousness needing to deliberate and then decide to recite. Being able to recite the Buddha's name in a dream is true recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), and one can then resonate with the Buddha; once the Buddha's power blesses, the nightmare disappears. Environments turn with the mind; dreamscapes are more illusory than reality, so as soon as the mind of reciting the Buddha's name appears, the nightmare realm vanishes, and the mind-state transforms from suffering to calm and peacefulness.
4. The Relationship Between Feelings and the Manas
Question: Why is it that when a dream is forcibly interrupted and one wakes up, one feels a headache, but when the dream finishes naturally and one wakes up, there is no headache?
Answer: Dreaming is done by the manas; when the manas has concerns on its mind and is not tranquil, it must express them in dreams. When the dream is suddenly forcibly interrupted, the manas's intent is unfinished, and it feels uncomfortable; when He feels uncomfortable, He makes the head ache. This is a manifestation of the mind influencing the body. Whether the manas is happy or unhappy, there will be some activity, which will manifest in the body—for example, dancing with joy, beaming with smiles, trembling all over, hair standing up in anger, and so on. From these phenomena, it can be seen that the manas has feeling, and not only neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā). When a dream is forcibly interrupted and one immediately wakes up, one also immediately feels a headache; this headache has nothing to do with the mind consciousness—the mind consciousness merely feels the headache; what prompts the headache is the manas: the thing He wanted to do was not finished, He is unhappy and cannot bear it, and He must vent it. If one usually recites mantras and the Buddha's name more, the mind is pure and without concerns, and one will no longer dream, and sleep quality will also improve.
5. Dreamscapes Are Conjured Up by the Manas's Longing
Question: In summer, after falling asleep with the air conditioner on, I sometimes dream that I am walking in a world of ice and snow, feeling cold all over. From the perspective of Yogācāra, what is going on here?
Answer: Falling asleep at midnight with the air conditioner on, the body is very cold, but there are no six consciousnesses to perceive the cold, so the problem of the body being cold cannot be solved. The manas does not sleep; although it knows the body is cold, it has no way to handle the matter—it cannot cover itself with a blanket or turn off the air conditioner. In order to solve this matter, it therefore dreams a dream about the body feeling cold, making the mind consciousness in the dream feel that the body is very cold, shivering in the world of ice and snow.
A mind consciousness that is somewhat clever will wake up; after waking, it knows that the body really is very cold, then observes why it is cold, knows that it is because the air conditioner is on, and so turns off the air conditioner, covers up well with the blanket, and after the matter is handled, continues sleeping. A mind consciousness with poorer alertness will continue to endure the cold until waking at daybreak, and may even catch a cold from the chill. This matter proves that the manas can know many dharmas, but without the six consciousnesses as assistants to help Him do things, He is powerless and has no way to run the activities of the five aggregates. The six consciousnesses serve the manas, do things for the manas, and satisfy the manas's needs.
Dreamscapes are all conjured up by the manas's longing. The manas's mental activities are manifested in many aspects: manifested in dreamscapes, manifested in bodily, verbal, and mental actions, manifested in various mental activities, manifested in emotions, manifested in the body's subconscious reactions, manifested in the body's involuntary reactions. The manas, together with the tathāgatagarbha, controls and regulates the physical body and the five aggregates; as soon as the manas's mind stirs, the body moves, and the five aggregates begin to operate.
What ordinary people observe are all the surface phenomena of the six consciousnesses, or they classify the manas's mental activities all under the mind consciousness, unable to distinguish the mental activities of the manas from those of the mind consciousness. When the mind consciousness disappears or becomes weak and feeble, the manas very much wants there to be five-aggregate activity, wanting the five aggregates to operate normally, but the six consciousnesses do not appear; the six consciousnesses are feeble and cannot make the five aggregates operate. That anxious, powerless feeling of the manas—ordinary people cannot experience it; even if they know of it, they mistake it for the mind consciousness's anxiety and powerlessness. Their thinking and cognition can only stay at the level of the mind consciousness, following the mind consciousness's lead, unable to probe further into the deep psychological layers of the manas behind the mind consciousness.
6. Is Knowing One Is Dreaming Within a Dream the Mind Consciousness's Self-Validating Cognition (svasaṃvedana) or Self-Cognition (svasaṃvitti)?
Self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) is the introspection of the consciousness-mind itself and its own mental factors; "itself" means the mind consciousness discerning the mind consciousness, the manas discerning the manas, the five consciousnesses discerning the five consciousnesses—not the meaning of mutually discerning one another. Self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) is the consciousness-mind's discernment of the object-aspect (nimitta) realm; this object-aspect includes all dharmas, and of course also includes the eighth consciousness and its mental factors—it depends on how discerning the wisdom is. A dream refers to the dreamscape, which is the object-aspect; knowing is the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) of the consciousness-mind; the consciousness-mind discerning sense-objects is the perceiving-aspect discerning the object-aspect, which is self-cognition (svasaṃvitti), not self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana); the perceiving-aspect seeing itself is self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). Only when the perceiving-aspect and the object-aspect are combined are there self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) and self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana); self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) is actually one kind of self-cognition (svasaṃvitti), except that the object-aspect has become the consciousness-mind itself, with itself and its mental factors becoming the object-aspect.
The perceiving-aspect that discerns the object-aspect of the dreamscape is the perceiving-aspect of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, and the sixth consciousness is the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta). Seeing all realms is mainly the seeing of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses; what sentient beings can feel and observe is only the mind consciousness's seeing—they cannot perceive the seventh consciousness's seeing. For now, let us speak of the mind consciousness's seeing. When asleep and dreaming, why does the solitary consciousness not know that it is dreaming? Because in the dream the mind consciousness is drowsy and unclear; sleep itself is a hindrance, an obscuration, obscuring the mind consciousness's wisdom and cognition.
When the sleep hindrance is removed and there is no obscuration, and the mind consciousness is clear, the first dhyāna concentration will be attained; or, conversely, as meditative concentration becomes deeper and deeper, sleep will become less and less and shallower and shallower, so that in dreams the mind consciousness will become clearer and clearer, to the point of clearly knowing that it is dreaming, and it will not create unwholesome karma in the dream, and can even perform wholesome karma. But whether the mind consciousness in the dream is drowsy or clear, whether it creates wholesome or unwholesome karma, is entirely decided by the manas as master. Therefore, knowing one is dreaming within a dream also involves the manas's knowing, showing that the sixth and seventh consciousnesses possess concentration and wisdom, and that the sleep hindrance and obscuration are slight. Not knowing one is dreaming in a dream is because the consciousness-nature of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses is covered by sleep, and the mind is not clear.
The knowledge and views in the dream are the perceiving-aspect of the solitary consciousness. The manas has a great influence on the mind consciousness's seeing; the specific influence will not be discussed here for now. The solitary consciousness in the dream has limited discernment of realms, not as comprehensive and clear as the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna), which has the assistance of the five consciousnesses in discernment. Not knowing one is dreaming in a dream is because the solitary consciousness's self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) function is not complete and its power of wisdom is weak; this is related to the physical body and the manas. The strength of all the mind consciousness's discerning functions is related not only to the mind consciousness's own concentration and wisdom, but also to the manas's concentration and wisdom, and to the physical body; it cannot be separated from the functions of the physical body and the manas.
Why is it related to the physical body? When awake, the mind consciousness's knowing is influenced by the physical body—this is a principle everyone knows. During sleep, the manas does not want to discern realms, so none of the six consciousnesses arise; in dreaming, the solitary consciousness is forced to arise to discern the dreamscape, but because the nervous system's activities are all rather slow, the mind consciousness's thinking is inhibited, its cognitive wisdom is relatively low, and it cannot distinguish whether the realm it faces is a dreamscape, so it takes the dream as reality. This is the same as the situation when drunk—both are caused by the nervous system not being active.
If in the dream the mind consciousness has self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana), that means the mind consciousness can know itself and its own mental factors; this is the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala), which requires even stronger concentration and wisdom than the mind consciousness's knowing of sense-object realms, and is more difficult. If in the dream the mind consciousness's self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) function is insufficient, the function of self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) is almost nonexistent; it will not validate itself, and therefore cannot introspect. Only those with very good meditative concentration, those with strong awakening nature, those with the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, have very good introspective power in dreams—but those with deep meditative concentration almost never dream.
The strength of the mind consciousness's several functions is not only a matter of the mind consciousness's own concentration and wisdom, but is even more related to the manas. Although from ancient times to the present almost no one has been able to recognize and observe this problem, the mind consciousness's functions truly cannot be separated from the manas; the two complement each other. To discuss the mind consciousness apart from the manas is to abandon the root and chase the branches.
7. Why Does One Not Know One Is Dreaming Within a Dream?
Who is the one that knows one is dreaming within a dream? Who is the one that knows sense-objects when awake? Both within and outside the dream, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses both have knowing; the knowing of all dharmas is primarily the knowing of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. The five consciousnesses can only know the five sense-object realms in reality, not the realms in dreams, because there are no five sense-object realms in dreams. The mind consciousness's capacity for knowing is greatly related to the physical body; when the physical body obstructs, the mind consciousness's knowing becomes weak or ceases. For a person with the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, the physical body has no obstruction, and the mind consciousness's knowing is clear and vast; whether asleep or not, it can know very clearly; even if he drinks however many bottles of wine, he will not get drunk—alcohol can no longer numb the brain's central nervous system, and therefore the mind consciousness is unaffected.
The mind consciousness's knowing is also greatly related to the manas's knowing. Generally speaking, the manas knows all dharmas; the question is only whether it can know them as they truly are. As for how the part that the manas can know as it truly is can influence the mind consciousness, making the mind consciousness also know and promptly handle what is known, that involves the communication ability between the two consciousnesses. What is called communication ability is wisdom; how what the mind consciousness knows can effectively influence and guide the manas also involves communication ability—that is, the degree of wisdom. Wisdom is in turn closely related to meditative concentration; concentration can make the mind quiet, peaceful, and steady, strengthen thinking ability, and make the power of wisdom great, so that the mutual influence between the two consciousnesses is great. Concentration can also make the physical body unobstructed; with the physical body unobstructed, the mind consciousness has no hindrance, its knowing is keen and unimpeded, and it can effectively influence the manas. Conversely, the manas can also effectively influence the mind consciousness; the two exchange what they have, and knowing all dharmas becomes smooth with little obstruction.
That waking and dreaming are alike is a wisdom realm cultivated through practice; knowing that it is a dream and not being trapped by the dreamscape is wisdom. This practice mainly refers to the cultivation of meditative concentration; concentration is an indispensable link of practice—only with concentration can wisdom be developed, making the knowing of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses more truthful and more in accord with principle, knowing more truly, more subtly, and more vastly. And only by removing the sleep hindrance can deep meditative concentration arise. For those with somewhat deeper concentration, their thinking is clear when awake, and they are not deluded in dreams either; just as when awake, they know realms without obstruction.
Ordinary people's knowing all has obstructions—that is, as the common saying goes, they lack supernatural powers—whereas the knowing of those with supernatural powers is unobstructed, having the power of knowing others' minds, the divine eye, and so on; this is the meritorious retribution of concentration and wisdom. Knowing one is dreaming within a dream is the retribution obtained by those with very good meditative concentration whose minds have become pure. Ji Gong the monk had the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and had supernatural powers; no matter how much wine he drank, his nervous system was not affected or numbed; his mind consciousness was always clear and could observe and know all realms as they truly are. When ordinary people fall asleep, the mind consciousness ceases, and the part of the manas's function of knowing realms that relies on the mind consciousness no longer operates; therefore, when dreaming, the manas's power of discrimination is weak and it does not know it is a dream, and the solitary consciousness in the dream also has very weak power of discrimination and also does not know it is a dream. But those who have cultivated, with strong power of concentration and unobstructed physical bodies, have clear sixth and seventh consciousnesses and strong power of discrimination; when dreaming, they know it is a dream and are not deluded.
Master Kuiji had the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and had supernatural powers; when sleeping at night he was extremely clear—clearer than ordinary people are when awake—his sixth and seventh consciousnesses were keen; after falling asleep, when a louse's leg fell off and it cried out in pain, Master Kuiji could hear it—this is the merit of the power of concentration and the power of supernatural powers. Being able to hear a louse's cry while asleep—does this not show that he was not truly asleep? For ordinary people, sleep is a covering that can obscure their minds from seeing and hearing, like dead people. But for those who have eliminated the sleep covering, very little sleep is enough to nourish the physical body; their concentration will reach the first dhyāna or above, their minds are clear, their obscurations are slight or completely absent; when sleeping, the mind consciousness is not necessarily completely cut off, yet their sleep is also sufficient—this differs from ordinary people.
Especially for those with supernatural powers, their sleep is like being awake, even clearer than ordinary people when awake. In ancient times, people with martial arts skills also slept lightly and had high alertness; this alertness can be said to belong to the mind consciousness, but the manas truly also has alertness, and His alertness is even more powerful in function than the mind consciousness's; therefore, apart from the manas, the mind consciousness's functions cannot be explained clearly.
Sleep and drowsiness are of the same kind, both belonging to hindrances and obscurations, able to obscure the light of the consciousness-mind; only after the sleep hindrance and obscuration are eliminated will the first dhyāna concentration appear. The more drowsy one is when sleeping, the poorer one's meditative concentration is, or one has no concentration, with heavy hindrances; the more deluded one is in dreams, the less concentration one has; the more easily one gets drunk, the greater the physical body's obstruction, and the less concentration one has. Those with deep meditative concentration can regulate the physical body well, unaffected by environmental factors, not obstructing the functioning of the six consciousnesses. Therefore, the power of concentration is extremely important; even if one does not study Buddhism and cultivate, if one cultivates meditative concentration well, the benefits are very great.
