Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (141)

Is the corpse in a dream truly existent?

Original text:大王。如人梦中。见以死蛇。死狗人尸。系己颈上。心生怖畏。于意云何。是人觉已。忆念所见。为实有不。王曰不也。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。无死蛇等。何更复有。系之颈耶。当知是人。徒自疲劳。都无有实。

Explanation: Great King, it is just like a person who, in a dream, sees a dead snake, a dead dog, or a human corpse tied around his own neck, and his mind gives rise to fear. What do you think? After this person wakes up, he keeps dwelling on the terrifying things he saw in the dream — were the things seen in the dream truly existent? King Śuddhodana said: They were not truly existent.

The Buddha said: Great King, if this person clings to what he dreamed as truly existent, is he a wise person? King Śuddhodana said: He is not a wise person, World-Honored One. Why is this said? Because in the dream there were no such things as a dead snake or a dead dog at all, so how could there be the event of tying a dead snake or dead dog around his neck? This person merely labors his mind in vain; there is nothing real to it at all.