Dreams Are the Projections of Manas

Question: In the summer, after falling asleep with the air conditioner on, I sometimes dream that I am walking in a snowy, icy landscape, feeling cold all over. From the perspective of Consciousness-Only, what is happening here?

Answer: When you fall asleep with the air conditioner on in the middle of the night, your body becomes very cold. However, without the six consciousnesses to perceive the cold, the problem of physical coldness cannot be resolved. The manas (mental faculty) does not sleep. Although it knows the body is cold, it cannot handle the matter—it cannot cover itself with a quilt or turn off the air conditioner. To address this, it generates a dream about the body suffering from cold. In the dream, the consciousness senses the body is freezing, trembling with cold in the icy, snowy environment.

If the consciousness is more alert and intelligent, it will wake up. Upon waking, it realizes the body is genuinely cold, investigates why, discovers the air conditioner is on, turns it off, covers itself with the quilt, resolves the issue, and goes back to sleep. If the consciousness is less vigilant, it will continue to endure the cold until waking at dawn, potentially even catching a cold. This incident demonstrates that the manas can know many dharmas (phenomena), but without the assistance of the six consciousnesses as helpers to act for it, it is powerless and cannot operate the activities of the five aggregates (skandhas). The six consciousnesses serve the manas, act on its behalf, and fulfill its needs.

Dreams are all conceived by the manas. The psychological activities of the manas manifest in many aspects: in dreams, in the actions and creations of body, speech, and mind, in various mental activities, in emotions, in the body's subconscious reactions, and in the body's involuntary responses. The manas, together with the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature), controls and regulates the physical body and the five aggregates. As soon as the manas has a thought, the body moves, and the five aggregates begin to operate.

Ordinary people observe only the superficial phenomena of the six consciousnesses, or they attribute the mental activities of the manas entirely to the consciousness. They fail to distinguish between the mental activities of the manas and those of the consciousness. When the consciousness disappears or becomes weak and powerless, the manas strongly desires the five aggregates to function, wanting them to operate normally. However, if the six consciousnesses do not arise, or if they are feeble and unable to activate the five aggregates, the anxious helplessness felt by the manas is beyond ordinary people's comprehension. Even if they are aware of it, they mistakenly attribute this anxiety and powerlessness to the consciousness. Their thoughts and understanding remain confined to the level of consciousness, taking the lead from the consciousness. They cannot delve deeper to explore the profound psychological layers of the manas underlying consciousness.