Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (145)

Is a dream of one's nose root being severed real and existent?

Original text: 大王。譬如有人。于睡梦中。为彼非人。断其鼻根。于意云何。是人觉已。忆念梦中。鼻根断坏。是实有不。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。无有鼻根。何更说有。被断坏耶。当知是人。徒自疲劳。都无有实。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, suppose there is a person who, in a dream, dreams that a non-human severs his nose root. What do you think? After this person wakes up, he keeps recalling how his nose root was destroyed in the dream—is this matter real and existent? King Śuddhodana said: It is not real and existent, World-Honored One.

The Buddha said: Great King, if this person clings to what he dreamed as real and 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 is, after all, no such thing as a nose root—how much less could there be such a matter as the nose root being severed? One should know that this person merely labors his mind in vain; there is no real matter at all.

Non-humans do not belong to the human race; they include asuras, beings of Yama-loka, the golden-winged garuḍa, ghosts and spirits of that kind. They are not humans, and many of them serve as Dharma-protecting deities for us humans; they commit unwholesome karma as well as perform wholesome karma.