The Sutra of the Father and Son Compendium: Lecture Notes (141)

King, are the corpses in a dream real?

Original Text: King, suppose a person dreams of dead snakes, dead dogs, or human corpses fastened around their neck, and their mind becomes terrified. What do you think? After waking, if this person recalls what they saw in the dream, is it real?

The King replied: No, it is not.

The Buddha said: King, if this person clings to what they dreamed as real, are they wise?

The King replied: No, World-Honored One. Why? Because ultimately, there are no dead snakes or such things in the dream. How could there be anything fastened around the neck? It should be understood that this person merely exhausted themselves for nothing, with no reality to it at all.

Explanation: King, it is like a person who dreams of dead snakes, dead dogs, or human corpses fastened around their neck, and their mind becomes terrified. What do you think? After this person wakes up, if they continue to dwell on the frightening things seen in the dream, are those things real? King Śuddhodana replied: They are not real.

The Buddha said: King, if this person clings to what they dreamed as real, are they wise? King Śuddhodana replied: They are not wise, World-Honored One. Why is that? Because there are no dead snakes, dead dogs, or such things in the dream at all. How could there be any act of fastening them around the neck? This person merely exhausted their mind for nothing, with no real substance to it.