The State in Hypnosis, Drunkenness, and Sleepwalking

In the hypnotic state, the manas completely obeys the hypnotist's commands. Whatever the hypnotist says, the manas believes and accepts it; whatever he asks it to do, it does—becoming entirely a puppet. The mind consciousness is numbed, losing its function as an advisor, and becomes the manas's puppet. After waking up, the mind consciousness knows nothing of what it did while in the hypnotic state. It is like being under the anesthesia of alcohol: whatever one did or said, after waking up the mind consciousness knows nothing about it. Alcohol anesthetizes the mind consciousness, while the manas remains normal. At such times, the mind consciousness's function is weak and has no restraining effect on the manas, completely submitting to it. Promises made while drunk are forgotten upon waking, and one will not acknowledge them.

The phenomenon of sleepwalking is similar to the hypnotic state: the manas is awake while the mind consciousness is muddled, becoming the manas's puppet, completely following the manas's commands with no opinion of its own. The manas follows its own habitual tendencies, wandering north, south, east, and west, and the mind consciousness obediently complies. When the sleepwalking ends, the mind consciousness is completely unaware, not knowing what it actually did during sleep.

In the past, I once thought of using hypnosis to help students eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), attain the fruits of realization, and achieve enlightenment by seeing the mind. Looking back now, that was truly a laughable and absurd idea. In the hypnotic state, even if the manas complies with the guidance and acknowledges that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are without self, and that the eighteen realms are without self and unreal, the mind consciousness is not clear-headed. After waking up, the mind consciousness does not know that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are without self, and has not eradicated the view of self to attain the fruit of realization—it is the same as not having eradicated the view of self at all. What is called "the mystery of the intermediate state" refers precisely to the state where the manas knows but the mind consciousness does not. Eradicating the view of self in a hypnotic state is the same as the mystery of the intermediate state upon waking: the mind consciousness has not eradicated the view of self, which is equivalent to not having eradicated it. Therefore, eradicating the view of self and attaining enlightenment by seeing the mind require both the mind consciousness and the manas to understand the principle together and realize it together. If either one is missing, that mind's conduct is incomplete.