What Happens During Drug Anesthesia

Question: After anesthesia is administered, the gross physical sense organs malfunction, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot discern the outer representation, so tactile sense-objects cannot be manifested at the supreme faculty, and the person does not feel pain. For the tathāgatagarbha to discern the six outer sense-objects, it must rely on normally functioning gross physical sense organs. What is discerned apart from the sense organs and the material world—the faculties and the environment—through the gross physical sense organs is not the object-aspect but seeds. Is this correct?

Answer: The tathāgatagarbha can always contact and discern the six outer sense-objects, regardless of whether the gross physical sense organs are functioning normally, or whether there are any gross physical sense organs at all. If the gross physical sense organs are not functioning normally, the tathāgatagarbha transmits the particles of the five sense-objects through them, or the transmission of the five sense-object particles is abnormal, and the five sense-objects become distorted and deformed. If there are no gross physical sense organs, the tathāgatagarbha can still discern the six outer sense-objects. What the tathāgatagarbha contacts and discerns through the gross physical sense organs is all object-aspect, not seeds. Seeds remain in the seed state, within the tathāgatagarbha, without form or appearance; whatever has form and appearance is not a seed.

Anesthesia is used to numb the central nervous system of the supreme faculty or part of the transmitting nerves, so that the mind consciousness does not arise to perceive pain. Except during the period of actual death, when the tathāgatagarbha cannot take in the five sense-objects through the gross physical sense organs, at all other times it can take in the five outer sense-objects; nothing can affect He.

If it is general anesthesia and none of the five faculties can function, the tathāgatagarbha cannot discern and transmit the six sense-objects; then the manas will certainly lose hope and prepare to leave the physical body, considering rebirth. In fact, when the body is anesthetized, the blood is still flowing and has not stopped and congealed, breathing still exists and has not ceased, the heartbeat is still moving and has not stopped—the person is still alive. Then the tathāgatagarbha can discern and manifest the five sense-objects through the five faculties to sustain the life activities of the physical body. Blood, heartbeat, and breathing all belong to the sense-objects of the six sense-objects; the tathāgatagarbha is still grasping and maintaining and manifesting them, so He can certainly discern the six sense-objects. The manas, relying on this discernment, can know that it is still alive and that the body is still usable.
Anesthesia can only numb the nerves, preventing them from transmitting signals normally, or transmitting weak and deformed nerve signals, or transmitting only a small portion; it cannot completely stop transmission. Otherwise the manas would discern nothing at all; He would panic, and when He loses hope He would decide to leave the physical body, resulting in death.

Under deep general anesthesia, the first six consciousnesses have ceased, as in dreamless sleep. For the six consciousnesses to arise, the manas and the mental sense-objects must be present as conditions. At this time the manas is fine and certainly wants the consciousness to arise. The problem must lie with the six sense-objects. The effect of anesthetic drugs acts directly on the brain, the supreme faculty. The tathāgatagarbha can still discern the outer representation, but the five inner sense-objects and the mental sense-objects certainly cannot fully arise; only a portion can arise, which cannot guarantee the birth of the mind consciousness. Waking from a coma is when the anesthetic loses its effect and can no longer numb the central nervous system. Then the tathāgatagarbha can transmit the particles of the six sense-objects to the supreme faculty through the transmitting nerves, the six inner sense-objects arise and manifest normally, and only then does the consciousness appear, the five sense consciousnesses appear, and the person wakes from the coma.

In discerning the body faculty, the tathāgatagarbha discerns not only seeds but also the essential object—that is, the six outer sense-objects. The manas can also rely on the perceiving-aspect of the tathāgatagarbha and, with its own perceiving nature, discern the body faculty. Whether the body faculty is usable, the manas can of course also know. Anesthesia generally does not last long; within this period there are still some diminished inner representations of the six sense-objects, so the manas will not decide to abandon the body. He knows the body faculty is still usable and has hope for the five-aggregate body. But if the drug's effect lasts too long, the manas becomes uncertain and may make a wrong decision to abandon the body faculty.

Although under anesthesia the central nervous system cannot normally transmit the object-aspects of the six sense-objects, and the six sense-objects in the supreme faculty are weak and incomplete, darkness is also form, and silence is also sound; it is impossible for there to be absolutely no six inner sense-objects in the supreme faculty. A blind person seeing black before his eyes is still seeing; a deaf person hearing silence—hearing no sound is still hearing. During anesthetic coma, the six sense-objects certainly exist. In a coma, the manas will try every means to wake up. On what basis does He try? Only if He can discern the six sense-objects can He strive to wake up and not remain in the coma. To want to wake up, there must be mental sense-objects based on the five sense-objects; Image-Only Objects alone are not enough—there must also be real-object states. It is just that these states are not very strong, being rather weak, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot give birth to the six consciousnesses based on them to discern them.

During anesthetic coma, the tathāgatagarbha relies on the abnormal supreme faculty, so the mental sense-objects manifested are certainly also abnormal. Some individuals who wake from a coma say they seem to have dreamed, that some state appeared in the dream. This shows that the six inner sense-objects are not completely absent and that Image-Only Objects can still arise. Then the manas will not abandon the physical body, and the sentient being cannot die.

Ordinary anesthesia numbs the tactile nerves; it is enough that a certain part of the body does not feel pain. When the tactile sensation of pain in that part cannot be transmitted to the supreme faculty, there is no body consciousness or mind consciousness feeling pain in that part. Deep anesthesia may also lead to death: if the anesthetized area is too large, so that even the gross physical sense organs are affected, the blood cannot circulate normally and oxygen cannot be delivered normally; the heartbeat and pulse will gradually stop. Then the five aggregates truly cannot function. Once the manas discerns this, He will certainly leave the physical body, and that is death.