Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (160)

Is the breaking of the tongue faculty in a dream real and existent?

Original text:大王。如人梦中。舌根断坏。于意云何。是人觉已。忆念梦中。是为实不。王曰不也。佛言大王。是人所梦。执以为实。是智者不。王曰。不也世尊。何以故。梦中毕竟。无有舌根。况复断坏。当知是人。徒自疲劳。都无有实。

Explanation: Great King, it is just like a person who, in a dream, sees his tongue faculty broken and destroyed. What do you think? After this person wakes up, he keeps recollecting what happened in his dream—are the events of the dream real and existent? King Śuddhodana said: They are not real and existent, World-Honored One. The Buddha said: Great King, if this person clings to his dream as being real and existent, is he a wise person? King Śuddhodana replied: He has no wisdom, World-Honored One. Why is it said this way? Because in a dream there is, after all, no tongue faculty, let alone any event of the tongue faculty being broken and destroyed. One should know that this person merely labors his mind in vain, without a single bit of reality.