The very vivid and precise suggestive function of the mind-base in dreams

Question: Some time ago, during a night dream, I suddenly saw a dagger flying out of the void and stabbing into the right kidney area of my lower back. I felt a sharp pain and woke up with a start. Afterward, I rubbed my lower back and felt a bit of soreness, but no pain, so I didn’t take it seriously. A month later, the pain in my right kidney became unbearable, and I couldn’t sleep all night. I went to the hospital for an X-ray, and it turned out that a kidney stone in my right kidney had grown to 1.1 centimeters, moved downward, got stuck in the ureter, and caused hydronephrosis. Was that dream related to the right kidney stone? Was it a reminder for me to pay attention to my health?

Answer: This is a hint and a premonition from your mind-consciousness (manas). It is telling you that the kidney stone in your right kidney has become very serious, as serious as a dagger stabbing into the kidney, meaning it wants you to find a way to treat it to avoid life-threatening danger. Using a dagger stabbing into the kidney as a metaphor for the harm the stone causes to your body is very vivid and apt, and it fits the facts perfectly. This shows how wise the mind-consciousness is. Although it cannot speak and lacks the functions of language, words, and sound, it can display images and use pictures to express and convey information. This signal was shown very directly, clear at a glance, requiring no further deliberation or thought, and it is even quicker and more accurate to understand than the language and words of the conscious mind. This behavior indicates that the mind-consciousness is very loyal and responsible to the body. On the surface, it seems to help the conscious mind understand the condition of the right kidney, but in reality, it wants the conscious mind to cure the stone disease on its behalf, ultimately for its own benefit.

Because sentient beings cannot directly observe the mind-consciousness, they often misunderstand it, thinking it is dull and incapable of doing anything, like an idiot relying on the conscious mind to serve it. However, from this dream, it is clear that the mind-consciousness is not an idiot at all; it is more astute than the conscious mind. How apt, vivid, and fitting it is to use a dagger as a metaphor for the seriousness of the matter—it is wonderfully ineffable, no less than the wisdom of the conscious mind. Its imagination, thinking ability, and observational power are quite impressive, yet sentient beings are unaware of this. However, not everyone’s mind-consciousness is so wise, just as not everyone’s conscious mind is intelligent. The more one cultivates, the wiser the mind-consciousness becomes, the more refined its thoughts, the more powerful its functions, and the more it can lead the conscious mind to enhance its wisdom.