Mind consciousness is always functioning
except in states of non-perception,
the two attainments,
deep sleep, and fainting or coma.
The difference between the conventional state of wakefulness, sleep and dream is that while sleeping (and not dreaming), only the store consciousness and manas are functioning, while dreaming, the store consciousness, manas and mind consciousness are functioning and in the state of conventional wakefulness all the eight consciousnesses are active.
We have studied that the mind consciousness is like a gardener. It is the root of all actions of body and speech. It is also the conceptualizing mind. So meditators go to great lengths to study the mind consciousness through various meditations.
We can reach a state of non-perception where the mind consciousness is at rest, unaware of its objects. Similarly the mind consciousness is at rest when the two attainments - the meditative concentrations of no-thinking and no-perception are attained. The mind consciousness is also at rest during deep sleep and when we are in a faint or coma.
Once we understand these verses we can understand the purpose of the various meditations taught by Buddhist masters. It may also be easier for us to practice those meditations.
Meditation can very frequently become an act of studying the mind in many traditions. In the traditions of Zen, Dzogchen and Mahāmudrā, which are derived from the Yogācāra schools, students are urged to study their mind and thoughts.
The Bengali monk, Naropa, taught Marpa Lotsawa of Tibet, six yogas. One of those is called the dream yoga. While instructing Marpa, he urges him to study the nature of mind and thoughts while dreaming. Having studied the store consciousness, manas and mind consciousness, we can now understand that the dream yoga is the study of how these three consciousnesses function together, how the manas misrepresents objects arising from the store consciousness to the mind consciousness and perhaps we can find a way out of the resulting suffering. Where do the objects in the dream come from? From the store consciousness. Why do we experience joy or fear or sadness in a dream? This is because the manas is active so the sense of separate self is intact. Why are there sudden changes in dreams? This is the scattered nature of the mind consciousness, jumping from one thought to another. Are the objects of dream separate from us? No, but while dreaming we think they are and we are perceiving them in the field of mere images. Naropa says that what we experience in dreams is a result of habitual thoughts. He refers to the dream people (objects) as 'ghosts' in his song. In a dream, we perceive that they are separate from us. He sings this verse -
"If you do not realize that ghosts arise from the root of mind,
You will not exhaust the ghosts of discursive thought.
Self-liberating good and evil is the meaning of this teaching.
This we call the oral instructions of dreams.
Lotsawa, have you realized their nature?"
The 'root of the mind' is the base of the mind consciousness - manas. While objects arise from the store consciousness, they are presented as 'separate' by manas. The same applies to objects of thoughts. The mind consciousness constantly clings to thoughts, experiencing emotions, feeling good, feeling bad. In reality they do not exist by themselves, they do not have a separate self. They are not inherently good or evil or happy or sad. So there is little to cling to. This is the 'self-liberating' teaching.
(Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.)
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