Generating Karma In Your Dreams

ThailandTom

To generate karma be it deemed positive or negative a conscious decision is needed, a conscious agent. I know it is ironic that to be asleep is coined to be subconscious, but I remember watching a video that explained how do not actually now what this consciousness is, yet we throw the phrase around in a variety of ways. So even if you are asleep I would suggest that of course you are still conscious but operating on a different level of consciousness.

Karma does not only come from physical acts, but also mental acts of the mind. That being said, do we generate karma in our sleep? Is there anything in the scriptures about this because I myself have never come across this before.

Invincible_summer

I don't know... dreams to me are just my brain regurgitating all this random crap and creating seemingly random situations in which I can only watch things play out. I have no control over anything, thus I don't think karma is generated.

ThailandTom

What about lucid dreaming?

caz

Ah I was listening to Shantideva's guide yesterday, Dont worry you don't generate Karma in your dreams. We generate Karma based upon our actions against others who have mind rather then generating Karma based upon Dream scenario's where the beings we meet are simply illusions.

federica

What about it?
If you're lucid dreaming, you're 'aware' so you might as well be awake, ergo, what you think, say and do in the dream is generated by an aware consciousness....

vinlyn

To generate karma be it deemed positive or negative a conscious decision is needed, a conscious agent. I know it is ironic that to be asleep is coined to be subconscious, but I remember watching a video that explained how do not actually now what this consciousness is, yet we throw the phrase around in a variety of ways. So even if you are asleep I would suggest that of course you are still conscious but operating on a different level of consciousness.

Karma does not only come from physical acts, but also mental acts of the mind. That being said, do we generate karma in our sleep? Is there anything in the scriptures about this because I myself have never come across this before.

I would say the answer is yes and no, but usually no.

Sounds goofy, but here is why I say that. 95% of the time, I do not control my dreams. Therefore, there is no intent leading to what I dream. But if I really want to dream about something, I can focus my concentrations on that topic before bed, and often will dream about it. Then I would say intent is present, which could involve karma.

Floating_Abu

Hi dude/dudettes

Karma in Buddhist terms does relate to intention it seems, so I am not sure how this dream theory fits in.

BW,
Abu

ThailandTom

Well karma from what I can see/observe can manifest itself as thoughts because of course that is where each of our worlds is created. So when you are dreaming you are still often deep within thought, however it is in a different state of consciousness. So I am pretty sure acts/thoughts whilst awake can cause karma to ripen in dream states at least. You have all had those dreams where you worry about an event or are haunted by something, is that not cause and effect? If you experience lucid dreaming (which I have pretty much zero experience with), maybe that changes the game slighty towards actual conscious decision making. Every act has a result be it negative or positive.

taiyaki

To be honest with you karma is only negative and positive in hindsight.

While going through an experience be it in the dream state or waking state, it is just another experience. The negative or positive claim on what experience takes place is always a conceptual grasping.

Thus when we sleep we can have nightmares or peaceful dreams. And I want to even go further and say that waking life is the same.

But we don't need to view nightmares as negative or positive. We don't need to view peaceful dreams as negative or positive.

It's the same game of aversion or attachment.

But to answer your question. Karma is generated when there is an "I". There is an "I" when there is a movement of ignorance, aversion, or greed.

So in the dream state it could go both ways really easily. For instance if clarity of awareness is strong then one could have strong lucidity in dreams and even end the dream state. But the dream state can also be a breeding ground for ignorance, aversion and greed. Dreaming is like an acid trip where things can go really bad really quick or really good really quick.

All dreaming is karma. Anything experienceable is karma. But if you don't give a rats ass about what happens then dreaming is like a movie. You watch it, eat popcorn, get involved, then it ends and you go home.

Dharmakara

The Buddha said that dreaming of doing something, i.e. killing someone or stealing something, is not ethically significant and, therefore, has no kammic effect (Vin.III,111). Thus he understood that dreams are beyond the power of the will.

Floating_Abu

Thankyou @Dharmakara

And -

"Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect."

Buddha