The Success or Failure of Organ Transplantation Largely Lies in the Manas

Question: During organ transplantation, after the internal organs are removed, the six consciousnesses no longer function on them. Then what function causes the internal organs to pulsate and beat? What phenomena occur when transplanting internal organs into another person's body?

Answer: Organ transplantation is akin to parents giving away a treasure that originally belonged to their child to another child. If the two children have a good relationship, the parent might reluctantly accept giving their own treasure to the other child—perhaps needing to endure it mentally but ultimately able to bear it without opposing or reclaiming it. If the two children have a poor relationship, the child will not allow the parent to give their treasure to the other, may throw a tantrum, or attempt to seize it back.

This primarily concerns the issue of the manas (the seventh consciousness). Whether organ transplantation succeeds or not largely depends on the manas. If the manas does not cling to one's own organ, the transplantation will succeed. If the manas clings to the organ, rejection phenomena will occur, and the transplantation will fail. For a healthy and normal person, if the manas ceases to grasp the physical body (rūpa-kāya) and completely relinquishes it, death may occur immediately. Thus, life and death depend on the manas.

After organ transplantation, the tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) of both individuals cooperate for a brief period. When the manas has almost entirely relinquished its original organ, that organ then becomes the recipient's. The organ is then solely upheld and maintained by the recipient's tathāgatagarbha. If the brain is transplanted, it is equivalent to transplanting the entire manas. In that case, the transplanted person’s brain is replaced; their thought patterns are no longer the same as the original person's, and emotions, etc., also change.