Is Knowing the Dream Within a Dream the Authenticating Self-Awareness or the Self-Awareness of Consciousness?

The self-witnessing division (svasaṃvitti) is the introspective awareness that observes the mind itself and its associated mental factors. "Itself" here means consciousness cognizing consciousness, the mental faculty (manas) cognizing the mental faculty, and the five sense consciousnesses cognizing the five sense consciousnesses—it does not refer to mutual cognition between them. The self-cognizing division (svasaṃvedana) is the mind's cognition of the object-support (ālambana), which encompasses all dharmas, including the eighth consciousness (ālayavijñāna) and its mental factors, depending on the discerning wisdom of the cognition. A dream refers to the dream state, which is the object-support (ālambana). "Knowing" is the perceiving division (dṛṣṭi) of the mind-consciousness (manovijñāna); the mind-consciousness cognizes sense objects, which is the perceiving division cognizing the object-support—this is the self-cognizing division, not the self-witnessing division. The perceiving division perceiving itself is the self-witnessing division. The self-cognizing division and the self-witnessing division arise only when the perceiving division and the object-support are combined. The self-witnessing division is actually a subset of the self-cognizing division, except that the object-support becomes the mind itself, where the self and its mental factors become the object-support.

The perceiving division that cognizes the dream state as the object-support belongs to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, with the sixth consciousness specifically being the independent mind-consciousness (manovijñāna). The perception of all objects is primarily through the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. What sentient beings can feel and observe is only the perception of the sixth consciousness; they cannot directly perceive the seeing of the seventh consciousness. For now, let us discuss the perception of the sixth consciousness. Why does the independent mind-consciousness not know it is dreaming during sleep? Because during dreams, consciousness is dull and lacks clarity. Sleep itself is a type of hindrance (āvaraṇa), an obscuration that veils the wisdom and cognition of consciousness.

When the hindrance of sleep is eliminated, with no more obscuration, consciousness becomes clear, and one attains the first dhyāna. Alternatively, as meditative concentration deepens progressively, sleep diminishes in frequency and depth. Consequently, consciousness in dreams becomes increasingly lucid, to the extent that one clearly knows one is dreaming. In such states, one does not create unwholesome karma in dreams and may even perform wholesome actions. Therefore, knowing within a dream that one is dreaming indicates that the sixth and seventh consciousnesses possess meditative stability (samādhi) and wisdom (prajñā), with the hindrance of sleep being slight. Not knowing one is dreaming signifies that the cognitive nature of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses is obscured by sleep, rendering the mind unclear.

The knowing and perceiving in dreams belong to the perceiving division of the independent mind-consciousness. The mental faculty (manas) significantly influences the perception of consciousness, though the specific effects will not be elaborated upon here. The independent mind-consciousness in dreams has limited capacity to cognize objects; it is not as comprehensive or clear as the sense-accompanied mind-consciousness (pañcavijñānakāya-samprayukta-manovijñāna), which is aided by the five sense consciousnesses. Not knowing one is dreaming indicates that the self-cognizing function of the independent mind-consciousness is deficient, with weak wisdom-power. This is related to the physical body (rūpakāya) and the mental faculty. The strength of all cognitive functions of consciousness depends not only on its own meditative stability and wisdom but also on the meditative stability and wisdom of the mental faculty, as well as the physical body. The functional role of consciousness cannot be discussed in isolation from the physical body and the mental faculty.

Why is it related to the physical body? It is a commonly understood principle that the knowing of consciousness while awake is influenced by the physical body. During sleep, the mental faculty has no intention to cognize objects, so the six consciousnesses do not arise. In dreaming, the independent mind-consciousness is compelled to arise and cognize the dream state. However, due to the generally slowed activity of the nervous system, the thinking function of consciousness is inhibited, resulting in lower cognitive wisdom and an inability to discern that the perceived object is a dream; thus, the dream is mistaken for reality. This is identical to the state of intoxication—both are caused by an inactive nervous system.

If consciousness possesses the self-witnessing division in a dream, it means consciousness can cognize itself and its mental factors. This is introspective power, which requires stronger meditative stability and wisdom than consciousness cognizing sense objects and is more difficult to achieve. If the self-cognizing function of consciousness in dreams is insufficient, the function of self-witnessing is virtually absent—one does not witness oneself and thus cannot introspect. Exceptions exist only for individuals with exceptionally deep meditative concentration, high levels of awakening, or those who have attained the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis; their introspective power in dreams is superior. However, those with profound meditative concentration rarely experience dreams.

The strength of the various functional aspects of consciousness is not merely a matter of its own meditative stability and wisdom; it is even more fundamentally related to the mental faculty. Although throughout history, almost no one has been able to recognize or observe this issue, the functional roles of consciousness are indeed inseparable from the mental faculty; the two are complementary. Discussing consciousness apart from the mental faculty is to put the cart before the horse.