Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (145)

Is a dream of one's nose root being cut off real?

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: Great King, suppose there is a person who, in a dream, dreams that a non-human cuts off his nose root. What do you think? After this person wakes up, he keeps recalling the event of his nose root being destroyed in the dream — is this event real? King Śuddhodana said: It is not real, World-Honored One.

The Buddha said: Great King, if this person clings to what he dreamed as being real, 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, let alone an event such as the nose root being cut off. One should know that this person merely labors his mind in vain; there is no real event whatsoever.

Non-humans do not belong to the human race; they include asuras, Yamarājas, golden-winged garuḍa birds, ghosts and spirits of that kind. They are not humans, and many of them serve as dharma-protector deities for us humans; they create both unwholesome karma and wholesome karma.