The Relationship Between Vedanā and Manas

Question: Why is it that when a dream is forcibly interrupted, one wakes up with a headache, but when one wakes up naturally after completing the dream, there is no headache?

Answer: Dreaming is performed by the manas (the mental faculty). When the manas is unsettled due to unresolved thoughts, it manifests them in dreams. If a dream is forcibly interrupted, the manas’s intentions remain unfulfilled, causing it distress. This distress then induces a headache. This demonstrates how the mind influences the body: whether the manas is joyful or displeased, it acts out, manifesting physically through the body. Examples include dancing for joy, beaming with happiness, trembling all over, or having one’s hair stand on end in anger. From these phenomena, it is evident that the manas experiences feelings (vedanā) and is not limited to neutral feeling (upekkhā) alone.

When a dream is forcibly interrupted and one wakes up immediately, the headache is felt at once. This headache is unrelated to consciousness (viññāṇa); consciousness merely perceives the headache. What induces the headache is the manas itself, which, displeased and unable to endure the incompletion of its intended activity, seeks to vent its discontent.

By regularly reciting mantras or the Buddha’s name, the mind becomes pure and free of concerns, leading to dreamless sleep and improved sleep quality.