The Essence of the Categories of the Subjectively Imagined Realm

The subjectively imagined realm corresponding to solitary consciousness is divided into subjectively imagined realms without substance and subjectively imagined realms with substance. A subjectively imagined realm without substance is a realm fabricated by the mind consciousness through deluded imagination; it has no real substance whatsoever, does not exist in reality or before one's eyes, and is like flowers in the sky or a rabbit's horns, carrying not even a trace of the seeds of the four great elements. It is subject to very few constraints, so some people are very fond of fantasizing out of thin air, indulging in wild flights of fancy, so as to give their spirit something to rest on, relieve mental fatigue, and avoid boredom and mental dullness. For example, recalling the past and imagining the future—wild, unbounded fantasies that know no limits. Such fantasized subjectively imagined realms, because they do not consume the seeds of the four great elements, may also not require meditative concentration, and have relatively little impact on the brain, so they arise quite frequently and carry no binding force.

A subjectively imagined realm with substance is a realm discriminated solely by the mind consciousness that has some connection with the five sense objects, carrying slightly some of the substance of the four great elements of the five sense objects; the mind consciousness engages in imagination, or misinterpretation, on the basis of the five sense objects. For example, mistaking a rope for a snake: the rope is a real realm of the nature of material form (rūpa-viṣaya); the mind consciousness should, on the basis of this real realm, discern the shape of the rope and produce the designation "rope." But the mind consciousness misinterprets it, judging the rope to be a snake, producing the image and name of a snake, and even being frightened into crying out. The snake is a subjectively imagined realm: the five sense consciousnesses do not participate in discerning and distinguishing it, yet the snake's form does not appear separately from the realm of material form; therefore it is a subjectively imagined realm with substance.

Another example: upon seeing a flower, the mind consciousness processes and imagines it—imagining what it looked like before it bloomed, imagining what it looks like after it has opened, or imagining it becoming larger or smaller, changing its colors and variety, or imagining extra branches and leaves, or imagining many more of the same flowers gathered into a bouquet. Another example: upon seeing a book, one simultaneously associates it with another book, or associates it with another kind of book cover, or associates it with another title of the book, and so on.

Therefore, the realms we encounter, the realms that appear in our minds, whatever we think and contemplate in our hearts—what real dharmas are there? What true and unchanging nature is there? It is purely the mind's ignorance and boredom conjuring up all sorts of affairs, superfluous affairs, adding confusion and disorder, unable to attain stillness and tranquility. Because of ignorance, sentient beings do not know the bliss of tranquility; they seek trouble when there is none, stir up disputes out of nothing, without end—foolish to the extreme.