Lang asked: “Are dreams mano viññāna?”
They are mano viññāna, but they arise from kamma vipaka. Just like all cakkhu, sota, ghana, jivha, kaya mano viññāna arise due to kamma vipaka.
Dreams cannot make kamma. Only mano viññāna done via sankhara are responsible for kamma generation; see, “Viññāna – What It Really Means“.
– I emphasized this under another topic today.
In the language of Abhidhamma, we do not generate javana citta while we dream. Kammā are done with javana citta.
– Another way to see this is: when we see dreams we cannot make decisions.
– Yet another way to see it is, “avijja paccaya sankhara” followed by “sankhara paccaya viññāna” does not take place in dreams.