The Function of Hypnosis

The five hindrances (greed/desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt) create obstructions that block the arising of the first dhyāna. This is the obstruction to meditative concentration caused by the manas's karmic bonds of the five hindrances. Once the manas's karmic bonds are untied, the obstructions are removed and meditative concentration arises.

Karmic bonds can be untied through hypnosis. During hypnosis, there is no obstruction from the mind consciousness, so the manas can face itself and articulate its own karmic bonds. Then, under the guidance of the hypnotist, through forms such as repentance, the karmic bonds are untied, and the mind immediately relaxes, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.

In daily life, the mind consciousness is concerned with saving face and refuses to face itself, obstructing the manas from openly revealing the bonds within its own mind, so the knots cannot be untied. The manas, however, is straightforward and does not care about face—it says whatever there is. If it trusts the hypnotist, it can be subdued, thereby changing itself, dissolving karmic seeds and karmic conditions, and resolving problems. Some people have very many karmic bonds yet are also concerned with face; they cannot get past the mind consciousness—the mind consciousness blocks the way and does not allow others to peer into what lies within the manas. For them, only hypnosis can resolve the problems deep within their minds. Therefore, superficial repentance is the repentance of the mind consciousness; if the manas has not repented, the karmic seeds do not disappear. Only when the manas becomes aware of and carries out the repentance do the karmic seeds disappear.

If the ignorances of the manas are resolved one by one, the path to buddhahood will be traveled quickly. Then there would be no need to read so many Buddhist sutras or laboriously memorize the Tripitaka and twelve divisions of the canon. Sitting right here, one could untie the knots in one's mind, gradually eradicating ignorance. Buddhahood would then come quickly, supernatural powers would appear, and spiritual strength would increase.

To cure an illness, one must treat its root—and this root is the manas. The root of wisdom and the root of goodness both reside in the manas. Some children can be seen from an early age to possess roots of goodness and merit. Does this refer to what the mind consciousness possesses or what the manas possesses? Since it is present from birth, it is not possessed by the mind consciousness but is endowed in the manas—brought over through the manas's cultivation in past lives, not belonging to the mind consciousness. Some children can sit cross-legged in meditation at only a few years old; these are habits the manas has brought from previous lives. A small child who can already play the qin and compose music is also displaying the functioning of the manas's power of wisdom. Some people are born magnanimous, with a vast capacity to tolerate others—this too is brought over through the manas's cultivation in previous lives.