Revealing the Operating Mechanism of the Five Aggregates (pañca-skandha) Body of Conjoined Twins

There is a pair of dicephalic conjoined twin sisters whose bodies share a large portion: the parts above the heart are each independent, each person has one arm and one leg, the middle and lower jiao share a portion, and altogether one-half to two-thirds of the body is independent for each. The sisters' spines are fused at the pelvis, they share part of the nervous system, and they share one set of reproductive organs. They can ride a bicycle, play ball, swim, and drive a car together.

The two entered the womb and dwelt in the womb together; in the mother's womb, the two tathāgatagarbhas jointly, according to the karmic seeds, transformed and constructed the shared parts of the body and the parts unique to each. Of course they had common karmic seeds—they had previously created shared karmic actions, and their relationship in past lives was so intimate that they shared many things, to the point that in this life they must share one body and must live closely together in tight coordination; without cooperation, neither could survive. This is karmic obstruction—karmic obstruction that is extremely unfree and dependent. Therefore, relationships between people should maintain an appropriate distance: do not be too intimate, and do not vow about what you will do in future lives; when the future life actually comes and things turn out that way, it is not necessarily joyful—it may even be extremely painful.

The two tathāgatagarbhas, according to the same karmic seeds, output the seeds of the four great elements to become the shared four great elements, which operate in harmony to create the shared parts of the body; while the parts that are each independent must be transformed and constructed by each tathāgatagarbha separately outputting the seeds of the four great elements. When the physical body was somewhat complete, the two tathāgatagarbhas each gave birth to a mind consciousness, and thus there were two awarenesses; when the gestation was full, they were born together, becoming conjoined twin sisters. Fortunately, the two are of the same sex; if they were of different sexes, living together would have been very awkward.

The two people's hands and legs need to work in coordination; the activities of the five aggregates, such as eating, dressing, and walking, require the two to cooperate and be in accord. Each has her own mental deliberation, their habits and preferences differ, and their temperaments and dispositions are also different; being joined together, they must accommodate and coordinate with each other, otherwise there will be great unpleasantness. Each has her own breathing and heartbeat; food and water each enter their own stomach—each person eats and each is filled—but from the stomach downward, the digestive system has shared parts, so these foods and drinks are digested together and then excreted through the shared excretory system. Although each eats her own food, there is still mutual influence: if one is ill, the other can take medicine on her behalf.

The two share part of the nervous system, so their stress responses to the external world are fairly consistent, and their ways of responding are also similar. Although the two people's manas differ in temperament, because they have wholesome karmic affinity, in dealing with shared people, matters, and objects, they will cooperate and accommodate each other. From this it can be seen that the division of labor and cooperation between the two tathāgatagarbhas is extremely subtle and wondrous. The tathāgatagarbha knows everything, so as long as the karmic seeds allow, the tathāgatagarbhas will certainly cooperate closely, completing the work of coordination without words or mental thought—inconceivable.

Among the six consciousnesses, the two people's body consciousnesses cooperate the most; they must cooperate with each other almost constantly, otherwise nothing can be accomplished, because the nervous systems are interconnected and can also perceive each other. The two people's eye faculties are on their respective heads, and each eye consciousness is used by each, but because they are on one body, the objects they face cannot differ by much, so their visual range is limited; the ear faculties are on two heads, each with its own ear consciousness, each hearing its own sounds; the nose faculties are on their respective heads, each with its own nose consciousness, each able to smell its own scent objects; the tongue faculties are on their respective heads, each with its own tongue consciousness, each able to taste its own taste objects; each has her own manas, and the mind consciousnesses reside each in its own supreme faculty, deliberating and discerning different dharmas.

When the two people's five-aggregate bodies are to move, the two sets of eight consciousnesses must cooperate closely with each other, each with its own division of labor—equivalent to sixteen consciousnesses dividing the work and cooperating, far more complex than eight consciousnesses. The shared parts of the abdomen and lower jiao are numerous—almost everything is shared—so during digestion and excretion, the minds must be applied to one place, with shared mental engagement and shared feeling, and neither can be separate from the other. When one is ill, it is as if both are ill; when there is pain, both feel the pain simultaneously, yet it is still each one's own body consciousness and mind consciousness that separately sense the illness and pain, so the feelings have some differences.

Among the seven consciousnesses, the most closely connected is the cooperation between the two body consciousnesses; sharing one body, their coordination is extremely swift, nearly seamless, without the slightest sense of discord, and not at all forced. The most crucial is the directing and operation of the two manas. If both people had strong grasping at self, and their habits were diametrically opposed, they would quarrel constantly. The two have wholesome karmic affinity, so although their personalities, moods, habits, and preferences differ, they can still coordinate very well, applying their minds to one place and caring for each other; only thus can each obtain the greatest benefit.

When lying in bed to sleep, the two manas jointly decide to lie down, and they cannot move the body casually, for fear of affecting the other. If one person falls asleep, the six consciousnesses cease, and the body consciousness also ceases. If the other person has not yet fallen asleep and moves the body, it will cause the first person's mind consciousness and body consciousness to arise, thereby waking her up. If one deliberates too much in the mind, it will also affect the other's sleep, because they share the nervous system; and even if they did not, the power of mental thought and the power of the magnetic field would still influence the other person—here many secrets are involved.

If one person's body gradually becomes unusable, or she dies, the physical functions belonging to that person cease to operate. The head no longer functions, the supreme faculty is destroyed, one arm and leg become useless, the heart stops beating, and the internal organs can no longer be used. The other person is still alive and will have to make do with an incomplete body, whose functions will also be greatly affected and limited; after all, the dead portion of the body cannot be completely removed, and it will transmit some diseases. Even if the transmission of disease can be prevented, the loss of certain functions will greatly impede the five-aggregate functions of the surviving person; life will be quite inconvenient, the quality of life will decline greatly, and her lifespan will not be long either.

Where there is life there is suffering; how much more so when it is not even a normal life—a life with two bodies joined together is all the more suffering. But because sentient beings crave existence, they may not feel the suffering and will instead constantly pursue pleasure, even taking suffering as joy. Sentient beings are just this ignorant and foolish, with extremely heavy craving; no matter how bitter it is, they will not have any thought or pursuit of escaping suffering. With wisdom and without foolishness, there will be no craving; one will know suffering and seek to sever and depart from it. Therefore, the foundation of liberation lies in wisdom.