The Six Consciousnesses and the Absence of Sleep

Does consciousness sleep? What is meant by the sleep of consciousness? If consciousness sleeps, it must exist and cannot cease. If consciousness does not cease during sleep, then what is being slept?

For example, I have family and relatives in the Saha World. When I leave the Saha World, are those family and relatives still mine? Do they still fall under my care? Whatever happens to them is unrelated to me; I bear no responsibility. In the state of sleep, there is no consciousness and no five sensory consciousnesses. What does sleep have to do with the six consciousnesses that have ceased? Matters are handled by the mental faculty (manas). If the mental faculty cannot handle them and delegates them to the six consciousnesses, then there is no sleep, and the six consciousnesses still lack the mental factor of sleep.

Who enjoys the taste of sleep and experiences its benefits? Without the six consciousnesses, the six consciousnesses cannot experience it. It is certainly the mental faculty that experiences sleep. If the mental faculty does not wish to experience sleep, it will decide not to sleep, and no protest from consciousness will be of any use. If consciousness enjoys sleep, one will lack energy the next day, likely feeling listless, unable to perform tasks well, and suffering from insufficient energy. This is a special circumstance, not the norm. Therefore, it cannot be said that consciousness sleeps. Consciousness is not present at the scene of sleep; sleep cannot be attributed to consciousness.

Simply speaking of sleep, what is its general state? What is common to all people? What is the usual state? Excluding special cases. The overall condition of sleep is the cessation of the six consciousnesses. What is eliminated is the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (five-sense consciousness). It is not said to include the independent consciousness (mano-vijñāna alone). Without such complexities, the body and mind are in a state of rest, regardless of dreaming or not. The independent consciousness corresponds to dream-filled sleep, but this is an exception, not the usual situation. Therefore, in sleep, there are no six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses do not sleep.

True sleep is the cessation of the six consciousnesses, a state of rest without clear consciousness and without the consciousness accompanied by the five senses. In this state, the six consciousnesses are absent. Thus, the six consciousnesses do not possess the phenomenon of sleep. It is the mental faculty that controls the presence or absence of sleep, and the arising and cessation of the six consciousnesses.