Transactional Reality (ETU)
Conventionally “reality” of the world is assumed because of ETU (Experientiality, Transactability and Utility). During the waking state, the world appears to be “real” thru our body-mind interactions. However, we know thru neuroscience and quantum physics that what we perceive and transact with is just a learnt behavior of abstraction of names and forms of constantly changing matter.
Dream World
Further the dream world’s ETU factors are quite different from that of the waking world’s ETU factors. The realities are not the same. e.g., a person’s debt in a dream cannot be paid by the bank balance in his waking life.
Actual Reality
Vedanta teaches that actual Reality cannot be dependent on such changing ETU criteria. True Reality is unchanging substratum, relative to which changes appear to happen. This reality is the Consciousness, the Self/Atma, the Brahman and has to be understood.