The Principles of Hypnosis (Part 1)

Now, let's discuss the principles of hypnosis, using the three hypnotic cases from yesterday as examples. In the first case, as soon as the hypnotist issued the instruction to sleep, the subjects immediately collapsed onto each other and fell asleep. Later, the master issued the instruction to wake up, and all individuals awoke from deep sleep. Upon waking, they had no awareness of having collapsed together during their sleep state.

Why did this occur? In our ordinary waking state, consciousness (vijñāna) and the mental faculty (manas) mutually rely upon, support, and guide each other. Ordinarily, the mental faculty follows the guidance or control of consciousness, obeys its commands, and is influenced by it. In this instance, the mental faculty was no longer influenced by its own consciousness. Whose influence was it under? The hypnotist's influence. The hypnotist assumed a role equivalent to that of the subject's own consciousness. The mental faculty then completely obeyed and trusted all instructions from the hypnotist, believing whatever was said and submitting one hundred percent, surpassing its trust in its own consciousness. The hypnotist's commands overrode the commands of the subject's own consciousness.

Therefore, whatever the hypnotist said, the subject's mental faculty believed. Once it believed, it could immediately act accordingly. Why could it act as soon as it believed? Because the mental faculty is the sovereign consciousness; it possesses potency. Whatever it intends to do, it can accomplish as long as no factors hinder it. The hypnotist instructed it to sleep. Since there was no consciousness to control or guide the mental faculty, it obeyed, immediately decided to sleep, relinquished all external conditions, and without the participation of consciousness, fell asleep instantly. During this sleep state, there were neither the five consciousnesses nor consciousness itself. Therefore, while asleep and collapsed together, their own consciousness was unaware, and naturally, upon waking, consciousness still did not know. Consciousness ceased during sleep, so it remained unaware of the state of its own sleep.

Why does one fall asleep so quickly under hypnosis, unlike during ordinary sleep? Because when preparing to sleep ordinarily, one must first cease the discernment of the five consciousnesses, then extinguish the discernment and mental formations of consciousness, with the cessation of consciousness being slightly more difficult. Under hypnosis, consciousness ceases to function directly, hence one falls asleep immediately upon the instruction.

This principle reveals that as long as the mental faculty believes something – and this belief is not ordinary belief but extremely deep, unwavering faith, accepting whatever is said without internal deliberation, without considering right or wrong, without consciousness to control it (as the mental faculty's own ability to discern the six dusts is relatively weak and it does not engage in discrimination) – then whatever the hypnotist says is accepted, and whatever is commanded is done. This illustrates the inferior aspect of the mental faculty's wisdom. If consciousness were present, capable of thinking, discerning right from wrong, it could take measures and control the mental faculty. But without the six consciousnesses as helpers, without consciousness as an aid, lacking strong discriminative ability on its own, when the hypnotist instructs it to sleep, the mental faculty doesn't need to deliberate; it can fall asleep immediately.

If each of us, through cultivation and deep meditative absorption (samādhi), reaches a profound state of concentration, the mental faculty perceives the realm of the six dusts, perceives its own physical body, and perceives all states as different from before. Because in deep samādhi, the mental faculty's focus is concentrated, wisdom is developed, and it realizes that the physical body can be controlled by itself; it knows the illusory nature of phenomena is less real, or it disregards phenomena altogether. Since there is no control from consciousness in deep samādhi, whatever the mental faculty intends to do, it can accomplish. If it wishes to manifest supernatural powers, it can activate wondrous functions.

For example, in the fourth dhyāna (meditative absorption), if the mental faculty thinks, "I want to fly into the sky," at that moment, without the interference of the six consciousnesses, consciousness not disturbing it, without the concept of sky or the obstruction of the physical body, it can immediately fly into the sky, traversing mountains and valleys. If the mental faculty thinks, "I want to hear distant sounds, or sounds from the heavens," without the interference of consciousness, as soon as it thinks this, it can hear sounds from the farthest distances. How does consciousness interfere? Consciousness constantly tells it, "This is impossible, that is impossible." As soon as it says "impossible," the mental faculty feels it truly is impossible, and the action cannot be accomplished.

Without the interference of consciousness, if the mental faculty says it wants to do something, it immediately acts, and the underlying master (the fundamental nature) helps it accomplish it. Thus, immeasurable supernatural powers are developed in this way. When consciousness interferes, it relies on its own life experiences and habitual tendencies to influence the mental faculty, saying this cannot be done, that cannot be done. Because consciousness has not perceived the true reality, all its thoughts and contemplations are incorrect, causing significant interference for the mental faculty. Without the interference of consciousness, everyone's potential for supernatural powers can be developed.

Now, the hypnotist's role replaces that of consciousness. Whatever the hypnotist says, the mental faculty believes, and whatever it believes, it can accomplish. Supernatural powers arise in this way, and the principle of hypnosis is also like this.