States in Hypnosis, Intoxication, and Sleepwalking

Under hypnosis, the manas completely obeys the hypnotist's commands, believing whatever the hypnotist says and doing whatever it is told, becoming entirely like a puppet. Consciousness becomes numb, losing its advisory function and turning into a puppet of the manas. After awakening, consciousness remains completely unaware of what it did during the hypnotized state. Just like under the influence of alcohol, where one remains unaware after sobering up of what they did or said while intoxicated. Alcohol anesthetizes consciousness, while the manas remains normal; consciousness at this time functions weakly, exerting no restraining influence on the manas and fully submitting to it. Promises made while drunk are forgotten upon sobering up and will not be acknowledged.

The phenomenon of sleepwalking is similar to the hypnotic state: the manas remains lucid while consciousness becomes muddled, turning into a puppet of the manas, completely obeying its commands without independent judgment. The manas follows its own habits, wandering north, south, east, or west, and consciousness obediently complies. After the sleepwalking episode ends, consciousness remains utterly unaware, not knowing what it actually did during sleep.

I once considered using hypnosis to help practitioners attain the realization of cutting off the view of self or achieve enlightenment by understanding the mind. Now it seems like a laughable and absurd idea. Even if the manas complies with guidance under hypnosis, acknowledging the non-self nature of the five aggregates and the unreality of the eighteen elements, consciousness remains unclear. After awakening, consciousness remains unaware that the five aggregates and eighteen elements are without self; without attaining the realization of cutting off the view of self, it is equivalent to not having cut off the view of self at all. The so-called "obscuration of rebirth" refers precisely to the state where the manas knows but consciousness does not. Cutting off the view of self under hypnosis results in the same state as the obscuration of rebirth upon awakening: consciousness has not cut off the view of self, so it is equivalent to not having cut it off. Therefore, to truly cut off the view of self and achieve enlightenment by understanding the mind requires both consciousness and manas to comprehend the principle together and realize it together. If one is missing, the mental cultivation remains incomplete.