Experience in Dream

Someone had a dream in which their car was crushed and completely disappeared, causing them to feel extreme heartache in the dream. After waking up, the heartache persisted. Which heartache is this? Which mind's sensation is so clinging and firm? Waking up from heartache in a dream, waking up from fear, waking up from joy—why is it like this? Which consciousness's sensation is this? Is the consciousness in the dream the same as the consciousness outside the dream?

Manas (the mental faculty) is a continuous consciousness, existing the same in past lives and present life, both in dreams and while awake. What governs falling asleep and waking up is manas. Heartache in the dream is the same as heartache outside the dream; it must be the sensation of manas that causes the heartache. Moreover, manas can trigger changes in body and mind; what can cause heartache is manas. When consciousness experiences heartache, it is very slight, like a breeze gently brushing the sea surface—no ripples, causing no bodily or mental reaction.

In the dream, manas, through the discernment of manovijñāna (the mental consciousness exclusive to dreams), treats the dream as reality, as a truly existing realm. Thus, it becomes deeply attached to the dream, to the point of stirring the body and mind, causing the phenomenon of heartache. After waking up, manas seems to remain immersed in the dream, deeply affected, causing the heart to still feel pain. Although the manovijñāna in the dream has shifted, manas still clings to the dream, so manovijñāna recalls the realm of the dream and is also affected. Among these, the sensation of manas is deep-rooted and difficult to change, while the sensation of consciousness is easily altered, influenced by the environment it encounters.

From this, it can be seen that the sensation of manas is not entirely neutral feeling (upekṣā); otherwise, it would not cause such significant bodily and mental fluctuations—it would not cause one to wake up from pain, joy, or crying, nor would it allow one to continue crying, rejoicing, or feeling pain after waking up. Severing the view of self, severing sensations, severing perceptions—specifically, eradicating manas's view of self, sensations, and perceptions—is the most difficult. All the knowledge, views, sensations, and perceptions of consciousness are easy to eliminate.