The Six Consciousnesses Have No Dharma of Sleep

Does the mind consciousness have sleep? What is called the sleep of the mind consciousness? If the mind consciousness has sleep, the mind consciousness must exist and cannot cease. If the mind consciousness does not cease during sleep, then what kind of sleep is it sleeping?

For example, if I have family members and relatives in the Sahā world, when I leave the Sahā world, are the family members 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 does the matter of sleeping have to do with the six consciousnesses that have ceased? If there are matters to be handled, the manas handles them. If the manas cannot handle them and lets the six consciousnesses handle them, then there is no sleep, and the six consciousnesses still do not have the mental factor of sleep.

Who is it that enjoys the flavor of sleep and experiences the benefit of 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 want 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 there will be no energy, one may be listless, unable to do things well, and lacking in vigor—this is a special situation, not the normal state. Therefore one cannot say that the mind consciousness has sleep; the mind consciousness is not present at the scene of sleeping, so in the matter of sleeping, the mind consciousness cannot be found.

Just speaking of sleep itself—what is the general state of sleep, what is the common feature shared by all people, what is the usual state? Special cases excluded. The overall condition of sleep is the cessation of the six consciousnesses; what ceases is the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna). It is not said to include the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta); there is no such complex state where body and mind are in a resting state, regardless of whether there are dreams or not. The solitary 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 mind consciousness and no consciousness accompanied by the five senses; in this state there are no six consciousnesses. Therefore the six consciousnesses do not have the dharma of sleep. It is the manas that controls the presence or absence of sleep, and the arising and ceasing of the six consciousnesses.