Consciousness Resides Neither Inside, Outside, Nor in Between the Physical Body

The six consciousnesses differentiate the internal six sense objects within the subtle sense faculties and come into contact with these internal sense objects. However, the consciousness mind does not reside inside, outside, or in the middle of the material body. In the first volume of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the World-Honored One addressed this issue, explaining that the consciousness mind is not inside, outside, or in the middle of the material body. This is because the consciousness mind is formless and without characteristics; it cannot dwell within the material body. If it resided within the material body, one could discover its location simply by dissecting the body.

However, even if you dissect the body piece by piece, you cannot find the consciousness mind. Therefore, the consciousness mind does not reside within the material body. Nor does it reside outside the material body. If the consciousness mind were outside the material body, it would be in empty space. Then the six consciousnesses would be unrelated to oneself and would not belong to oneself. If the six consciousnesses in empty space could function upon oneself, they could equally function upon other sentient beings, meaning consciousness would be shared commonly. This is impossible. If the consciousness mind were between the material body and empty space, there is no actual place that can be called "the middle"; one cannot find a so-called middle position. Therefore, the consciousness mind is not inside, outside, or in the middle of the material body.

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