States 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; whatever he asks it to do, it does—it becomes entirely a puppet. The mind consciousness is numbed, losing its role as advisor, and becomes the manas's puppet. After waking up, the mind consciousness knows nothing of what it did while under hypnosis. It is like being under the anesthetic influence of alcohol: whatever one did or said, after sobering up the mind consciousness knows nothing about it. Alcohol anesthetizes the mind consciousness, while the manas remains normal. At such times the mind consciousness functions only weakly, exerting no restraint over the manas and submitting to it entirely. Promises made while drunk are forgotten upon waking and will not be acknowledged.

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 will of its own. The manas follows its own habits, wandering north, south, east, and west, and the mind consciousness obediently complies. After the sleepwalking ends, the mind consciousness is entirely unaware, not knowing what it actually did while asleep.

In the past I once thought of using hypnosis to help students eliminate the view of self, realize the fruits of the path, and awaken to see the true mind. Thinking about it 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 are without self and that the eighteen realms are without self and unreal, the mind consciousness is not clear-headed. After waking, the mind consciousness does not know that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are without self; the view of self has not been eliminated and the fruit not realized—this is the same as not having eliminated the view of self at all. What is called "the mystery of crossing over the intermediate state" (隔阴之谜) refers precisely to the state where the manas knows but the mind consciousness does not. Eliminating the view of self under hypnosis is, upon waking, just like the mystery of crossing over the intermediate state: the mind consciousness has not eliminated the view of self, which is the same as not having eliminated it. Therefore, eliminating the view of self and awakening to see the true mind requires 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.