Whether Organ Transplantation Succeeds Mostly Depends on the Manas

Question: During organ transplantation, once the internal organ has been taken out, the six consciousnesses no longer function upon it. So what function is it that makes the organ pulse and beat? If the organ is transplanted into another person's body, what phenomena will occur?

Answer: Organ transplantation is like parents giving away a treasured item that belongs to their child to another little friend. If the two children get along well, the parents can accept giving their treasure to the other child; perhaps they must endure it in their heart, but they can bear it and will not object or demand it back. If the two children do not get along, then the child will not allow the parents to give their treasure away to the other, and will throw a tantrum and make a big fuss, or even snatch it back.

The main issue here is the manas. Whether an organ transplant succeeds depends mostly on the manas. If the manas does not cling to its own organ, the transplant will succeed; if the manas clings to its own organ, a rejection phenomenon will occur, and the transplant will fail. For a healthy, normal person, if the manas no longer grasps at its own physical body and completely lets go of the body, death may occur immediately. Therefore, life and death lie in the manas.

After an organ transplant, the tathāgatagarbhas of the two people cooperate for a short period of time. When the manas has almost completely given up its own organ, that organ becomes the recipient's, and the organ is then solely upheld and maintained by the recipient's tathāgatagarbha. If the brain is transplanted, it is as if the entire manas has been moved away. Then the recipient's brain has been replaced, and it is no longer the original person's mode of thinking; emotions and so forth will also have changed.