Dreams Can Test a Person's Level of Spiritual Practice

Question: Can the manas distinguish true from false, good from evil? What should genuine, effective cultivation look like?

Answer: If the manas already knew right from wrong, there would be no need for the mind consciousness to guide and educate it, and in many cases there would be no need to bring forth the mind consciousness at all—He could handle these matters Himself. The manas is neutral/indeterminate (avyākṛta) in nature; it does not know wholesome and unwholesome dharmas and does not create wholesome or unwholesome karma itself, but it can direct the six consciousnesses to create wholesome and unwholesome karma. Because the manas has both a defiled aspect and a tranquil (praśama) aspect, when the defiled aspect of the manas manifests, it directs the six consciousnesses to create defiled karma; when the tranquil aspect of the manas manifests, it directs the six consciousnesses to create wholesome karma.

A person with genuine cultivation, even when encountering evil conditions in a dream, knows to keep the precepts and does not create unwholesome karma. One's bodily, verbal, and mental actions in dreams reflect a person's level of cultivation even more clearly. If one can be in control in dreams and refrain from creating karma, then one has a certain degree of assurance regarding the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava). In dreams, the controlling power of the mind consciousness is weaker, and the habitual tendencies of the manas can manifest fully. If the manas does not manifest its habitual tendencies in dreams, it shows that this person's cultivation has already permeated and influenced the manas, and the manas has been subdued.

If the mind consciousness has cultivation, it knows it is in a dream and can therefore resist the manas and refrain from creating unwholesome karma. Thus, genuine cultivation should be able to transform the manas; if one has not cultivated to the point of reaching the manas, one's cultivation is not yet effective. Many people have not even succeeded in permeating and influencing the mind consciousness—the mind consciousness still blatantly creates unwholesome karma and cannot keep the five precepts. Such a person is not on the Buddha path; they are a beginner in Buddhism.