Explanation of Precepts (Draft)
XIX. The Difference Between Creating Karma in Dreams and While Awake
The distinction between being in a dream and being awake lies in the fact that within a dream, there is no external manifestation; nothing truly changes. In contrast, the waking state involves alterations in external manifestations, where actions that benefit or harm others genuinely occur. Therefore, creating karma in a dream lacks substantial and concrete karmic retribution, whereas creating karma while awake results in tangible and specific consequences. Beyond this difference, both states are equally illusory and unreal.
Though one may give away a thousand yuan in a dream, no actual money is relinquished, nor does any real person receive it. Thus, no genuine act of giving takes place; only the mental volition of generosity exists—a mental volition of selflessness and non-stinginess rooted in the *manas* (the seventh consciousness). When the mental volition of the *manas* is virtuous in a dream, it reveals the individual’s inherently benevolent nature. A benevolent mind generates blessings, leading to favorable karmic rewards. The greater the benevolence, the greater the blessings and retribution. Dreaming of giving reflects the virtuous nature of the *manas*. A virtuous nature yields virtuous rewards, leading to rebirth in a favorable realm aligned with that nature after death. Virtue begets blessings—this is the karmic reward of one’s inherent nature. Conversely, a malevolent *manas* diminishes blessings, leading to rebirth in a realm aligned with its nature, where suffering repays past misdeeds. This is the law of karmic cause and effect.
If one gives away a thousand yuan while awake, actual money is relinquished, and a real person receives it. With the act of giving, all three elements—object, recipient, and action—are complete, resulting in full karmic retribution. In the future, at least a hundred million times the amount given will be returned, accompanied by corresponding merits, blessings, and virtuous rewards. If the *manas*, driven by its inherent nature (virtuous or malevolent), directs the six consciousnesses to perform good or evil deeds, in addition to the retribution of its nature, there will also be the karmic retribution of the deeds themselves. This karmic retribution is exceedingly precise—every fraction must be accounted for meticulously.
The difference between killing in a dream and killing while awake follows the same principle. In a dream, no actual person is killed, and no genuine act of killing occurs. However, the mental volition to kill remains. The retribution primarily stems from this mental volition. Because the nature is evil and unwholesome, it diminishes blessings and leads to rebirth in a realm aligned with that nature, where unwholesome retribution is suffered. Killing while awake involves a tangible act, incurring karmic retribution for taking life. In the future, this will result in the retribution of an evil and unwholesome nature. For example, if one violates precepts after taking them, the act of transgression incurs both the sin of an unwholesome nature and the karmic offense of breaking the precepts. These two are repaid together. For those who have not taken precepts, committing evil or unwholesome deeds incurs no precept violation but still bears the sin of an evil nature, resulting in unwholesome retribution. Committing evil deeds brings retribution regardless of whether precepts are taken. However, upholding precepts imposes self-restraint, which is more conducive to spiritual practice.
The *manas* represents the fundamental nature of a sentient being. While the sixth consciousness (*manovijñāna*) may embellish or disguise, the *manas* cannot—it is incapable of pretense or falsehood, always revealing one’s true nature with absolute honesty. In dreams, the *manas* acts with absolute sovereignty, while the function of the sixth consciousness is exceedingly weak, nearly incapable of regulating the *manas*. Thus, in dreams, one cannot falsify or feign; what manifests is the purest expression of the *manas*’ nature—utterly genuine.
