The Principle of Memory and Amnesia

Question: Twelve years ago, my brain suffered severe hypoxia, resulting in functional damage and memory loss (this was the doctor's diagnosis). It was the memories related to people and events. The doctor said I might never remember them again, and could only take some medication to slightly enhance my memory so it would not affect my future life. For the entire twelve years after that, my memory was very poor. I could not remember people's faces and often could not recall things that had just happened.

During the pandemic this year, I was alone in Wuhan. Those dozens of days were especially quiet. Then suddenly one day, the people and events of the past flashed through my mind, scene after scene, extremely clear. I immediately called my mother, and she asked me many questions and found that I had truly remembered. However, my memories of these twelve years are very vague. I really want to know an answer: what exactly happened when I lost my memory and then recovered it? Also, regarding my personality—I observed that after recovering my memory, I am more like my childhood self, with few distracting thoughts in my mind, good concentration, and good self-discipline. Even when I sleep very little, I feel energetic all day, completely unlike myself during these twelve years, when my brain became very active. Master, I long to know an answer; I truly want to know what happened.

Answer: If the brain is deprived of oxygen, the qi and blood cannot circulate normally and cannot synthesize the nutritional elements in the blood, so the blood's nourishment becomes insufficient. When the blood supply is insufficient, the brain's supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda) lacks the corresponding seeds of the four great elements, causing damage to brain function. When brain function is damaged, it cannot normally receive the six sense objects, including mental sense-objects and Image-Only Objects. When the faculties and objects cannot make normal contact, mind consciousness cannot arise to recall the past. This is the principle of amnesia.

During the pandemic, with free time on hand, the manas had little to grasp at and had nothing to occupy itself with, so the mind consciousness also had little to engage with and few delusive thoughts. Both the mind consciousness and the manas attained meditative concentration. As the mind quieted down, the manas did not cling much to the body, the circulation of qi and blood became smooth, the supply of the four great elements was balanced, and the brain was replenished with nourishment. Its function recovered, and it could continue to normally receive mental sense-objects and Image-Only Objects. Then mind consciousness arose to discern the Image-Only Objects, and the functional attribute of recollection came into being.

However, during the twelve years of illness, the brain's supreme faculty was damaged and the mind consciousness's discernment was weak and hazy, so no seeds of clear discernment were stored in the tathāgatagarbha. After recovery, from the tathāgatagarbha there were no longer any Image-Only Object mental sense-objects that could manifest, so the mind consciousness's recollection of these twelve years is rather vague.

During these twelve years, because the mind consciousness was weak, it lacked the power to influence and control the manas, and the manas manifested its own innate personality attributes. Twelve years ago, the mind consciousness was strong and could effectively control and influence the manas, so the mind consciousness's character, temperament, and disposition were dominant. Now that the mind consciousness has recovered its memory and its function is strong again, it will continue the character, temperament, and disposition of twelve years ago.