Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (98)

Are the ghosts that torment one in a dream truly existent?

Original text: 大王。譬若有人。于睡梦中。为毕舍遮。之所娆害。心生怖畏。痴迷闷绝。大王。于意云何。是人觉已。忆念梦中。为鬼所娆。为实尔不。王曰不也。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, suppose there is a person who, in a dream while sleeping, is tormented and harmed by a piśāca ghost, and his mind becomes filled with fear, deluded, faint, and unconscious. Great King, what do you think? After this person wakes up, he still recollects being tormented by the ghost in the dream — did this truly happen? King Śuddhodana replied: It did not truly happen, World-Honored One.

Original text: 佛言大王。是人所梦。执以为实。是智者不。王曰。不也世尊。何以故。梦中毕竟。无鬼所恼。何更说有。痴迷闷绝。当知是人。徒自疲劳。都无有实。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, if this person takes his dream to be truly existent, is he a wise person? King Śuddhodana replied: He is not a wise person, World-Honored One. Why is this so? In the dream there was, in the final analysis, no such thing as being tormented by a ghost, let alone the matter of being frightened into fainting and losing consciousness. We should know that this person merely labors his mind in vain; there is nothing real in it at all.