The Relationship Between State of Mind and Concentration (Part 2)

Question: In the past three or four years, I have dreamed of reading sutras and hearing the Dharma. The sutras appeared in various forms—some as ancient thread-bound editions, others as crystal-clear texts engraved on agate and glass, filling the void. In the dream, there was a vast, distant voice expounding the Dharma, and I could clearly perceive and deeply understand doctrines such as "all phenomena arise from the mind" and "form is not other than emptiness." I could comprehend and internalize them fully. However, upon waking, I cannot clearly recall the specific doctrines I had realized. Is this due to the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or is it merely a case of "what you think by day, you dream by night"?

Answer: Hearing the Dharma in dreams involves the independent consciousness and the mental faculty (manas) listening together. If only the mental faculty listened alone, there would be no dream state, and the consciousness would not know it was dreaming. The waking independent consciousness cannot clearly recall the dream state for several reasons: first, the dream may not be of extreme importance; second, the connection between the waking independent consciousness and the dreaming independent consciousness is not strong, leading to incomplete information transfer and partial forgetting; third, the mental faculty's cultivation through the Dharma is not yet particularly familiar. Such dreams occur partly because of "what you think by day, you dream by night," and partly possibly due to the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If it were a special blessing from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, generally speaking, one would remember it very clearly upon waking and feel somewhat emotionally stirred.

Question: On another occasion, I had a real experience in a dream of the transition between emptiness and existence. As soon as a conscious distinction arose in my mind, the body, mind, and world manifested. When the mind became empty and pure, the body, mind, and world all vanished, leaving only a state of clear awareness without a single thought arising, which is ineffable. This repeated two or three times in the dream, and it was very clear. I wonder if this can be considered a good sign? In the dream, I felt that with the slightest movement of thought, the body, mind, and world—mountains, rivers, and the earth—would appear. If I turned the switch to a state without a single thought, only the clear awareness remained. This repeated two or three times.

Answer: Being able to control one's own mind and mental images indicates a degree of meditative stability (samadhi). All phenomena arise in the mind when the mind thinks of them; if the mind does not think, they do not arise. Whether phenomena exist outside the mind is a separate matter. Therefore, the physical phenomenon of emptiness and existence is a matter of the transformation of mental thoughts. True emptiness is an empty mind. When the mind is truly empty, even if hundreds of thousands of forms and colors—vivid and varied—are present, one does not regard them as real, does not take them seriously, and has no attachment. The clear awareness within the state of no single thought arising is the conscious mind. One can control it; if controlled well, no thoughts arise; if not controlled well, it becomes a chaotic mess. Whether one can control it depends on one's meditative stability.