What Happens During Anesthesia

Question: After anesthesia is administered, the gross sense faculties malfunction, and the Tathagatagarbha cannot discern the external appearance aspect. Consequently, it cannot manifest the tactile object at the refined sense faculties, and the person feels no pain. For the Tathagatagarbha to discern the external appearance aspect of the six objects, it must rely on normal gross sense faculties. Are the body and environment discerned apart from the gross sense faculties not the appearance aspect, but rather seeds? Is this correct?

Answer: The Tathagatagarbha can always contact and discern the external six objects, regardless of whether the gross sense faculties are normal or even present. If the gross sense faculties are abnormal, the Tathagatagarbha transmits the subtle particles of the five objects through them, or fails to transmit them normally, causing the five objects to become distorted and deformed. If there are no gross sense faculties, the Tathagatagarbha still discerns the external six objects. The gross sense faculties contacted and discerned by the Tathagatagarbha are all appearance aspects, not seeds. Seeds reside in the seed state within the Tathagatagarbha; they are formless and markless. What has form and marks is not a seed.

Anesthesia is used to numb the central nervous system (refined sense faculties) or parts of the conductive nerves, preventing the arising of conscious awareness to perceive pain. Apart from the moment of actual death, the Tathagatagarbha can always apprehend the external five objects through the gross sense faculties; nothing can affect it.

In the case of general anesthesia, if all five sense faculties are incapacitated and the Tathagatagarbha cannot discern and transmit the six objects, then the mental faculty (manas) certainly loses hope and will consider leaving the physical body to seek rebirth. In reality, during bodily anesthesia, the blood continues to flow without stopping or coagulating, breathing persists without cessation, the heart continues to beat without stopping, and the person remains alive. Therefore, the Tathagatagarbha can discern and manifest the five objects through the five sense faculties to sustain the vital activities of the physical body. Blood flow, heartbeat, and breathing all belong to the realm of the six objects; the Tathagatagarbha is still upholding and manifesting them. It can certainly discern the six objects. The mental faculty, relying on this discernment, knows 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 distorted nerve signals, or transmitting only partially; it cannot completely stop transmission. Otherwise, the mental faculty would discern nothing, become panicked, and upon losing hope, would decide to leave the physical body, resulting in death.

During deep general anesthesia, a person's first six consciousnesses have ceased, like being in dreamless sleep. The arising of the six consciousnesses requires the mental faculty and mental objects as conditions. At this time, the mental faculty is functional and certainly desires the arising of consciousness. The problem must lie with the six objects. The effect of anesthetic drugs acts directly on the refined sense faculties in the brain. The Tathagatagarbha can still discern the external appearance aspect, but the internal five objects and mental objects certainly cannot fully manifest; only a part can manifest, insufficient to guarantee the birth of conscious awareness. Waking from unconsciousness occurs when the anesthetic drugs lose their effect and can no longer anesthetize the central nervous system. The Tathagatagarbha can then transmit the subtle particles of the six objects to the refined sense faculties via the conductive nerves. The internal six objects arise and manifest normally, at which point consciousness appears, the five sense consciousnesses arise, and the person awakens from unconsciousness.

The Tathagatagarbha's discernment of the body sense faculty is not only the discernment of seeds but also the discernment of the essential realm, which is the external six objects. The mental faculty can also rely on the perceiving aspect of the Tathagatagarbha, possessing its own perceiving nature, to discern the body sense faculty. The mental faculty certainly knows whether the body sense faculty is usable. Anesthesia generally does not last very long. During this period, as long as there are still some diminished internal aspects of the six objects present, the mental faculty will not decide to relinquish the body. It knows the body sense faculty is still usable and holds hope for the five-aggregate body. However, if the drug effect lasts too long, the mental faculty, feeling uncertain, might make the wrong decision to abandon the body sense faculty.

Although during anesthesia the central nervous system cannot transmit the appearance aspects of the six objects normally, and the six objects within the refined sense faculties are weak and incomplete, darkness is still form, and silence is still sound; it is impossible for there to be absolutely no internal six objects within the refined sense faculties. A blind person seeing darkness is still seeing; a deaf person hearing silence, where there is no sound, is still hearing. During anesthesia-induced unconsciousness, the six objects certainly exist. While unconscious, the mental faculty tries its best to regain consciousness. Based on what does it try? It must be able to discern the six objects to strive to regain consciousness and not wish to remain unconscious. To regain consciousness, there must be mental objects arising from the five objects; having only the exclusive mental realm is insufficient; there must also be the objective realm. It's just that these realms are not very strong, being relatively weak, so the Tathagatagarbha cannot rely on them to give birth to the six consciousnesses for discernment.

During anesthesia-induced unconsciousness, the Tathagatagarbha, relying on abnormal refined sense faculties, certainly manifests abnormal mental objects. Some individuals, upon regaining consciousness, report having seemingly dreamt something, with certain realms appearing in the dream. This indicates that it is not completely devoid of internal six objects; the exclusive mental realm can still arise. Therefore, the mental faculty cannot abandon the physical body, and the sentient being cannot die.

General anesthesia numbs the tactile nerves to prevent feeling pain in certain parts of the body. The tactile sensation of pain from that part cannot be transmitted to the refined sense faculties, so there is no body consciousness or mental consciousness to feel the pain in that part. Deep anesthesia can also lead to death. If the anesthetized area is too extensive, affecting even the gross sense faculties, preventing normal blood circulation and oxygen delivery, then the heartbeat and pulse will gradually stop. At this point, the five aggregates truly cannot function. The mental faculty discerns this and will certainly leave the physical body, resulting in death.