The six consciousnesses do not have the dharma of sleep

For example, suppose I have family and relatives in the Sahā world. When I leave the Sahā world, are the family and relatives in the Sahā world still mine? Are they still under my charge? Whatever happens to them has nothing to do with me, and I bear no responsibility. Within the dharma of sleep, there is no mind consciousness and no five sense consciousnesses—what relation does sleep have with the six consciousnesses that have ceased? Matters are left to the manas to handle. If the manas cannot handle them and lets the six consciousnesses handle them, then there is no sleep; and the six consciousnesses still have no sleep-associated mental factor.

Who is it that enjoys the flavor of sleep and experiences sleep? Without the six consciousnesses, the six consciousnesses cannot experience it; of course it is the manas that experiences sleep. If the manas does not wish to experience sleep, He will decide not to sleep, and no matter how the mind consciousness protests, it is useless. If the mind consciousness enjoys sleep, the next day one will lack energy, perhaps be listless, unable to do things well, and lacking in vigor—this is a special case, not the normal state. Therefore one cannot say that the mind consciousness has sleep. The mind consciousness is not present at the scene of sleep, so within the matter of sleep, the mind consciousness cannot be found.

Just speaking of sleep itself: what, broadly, is the state of sleep? What is the common feature among all people, and what is the usual state? Special cases aside. The overall condition of sleep is the cessation of the six consciousnesses; what ceases is the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna-sahagata-manovijñāna)—it is not said to include the solitary mental consciousness. There is no such complicated body-and-mind resting state, whether dreaming or dreamless. The solitary mental consciousness corresponds to sleep with dreams; this is a special case, not the usual situation. Therefore within sleep there are no six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses do not sleep.

True sleep is the resting state in which the six consciousnesses have ceased, with no clear-functioning mind consciousness and no mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses; in this state there are no six consciousnesses. Therefore the six consciousnesses have no dharma of sleep. It is the manas that controls the presence or absence of sleep, and the arising and ceasing of the six consciousnesses.