The Principle of Syncope (2024-06-02)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: Before I encountered the Buddha's teachings, I had two experiences of fainting—whenever I got angry, I would uncontrollably become stifled and pass out. Since I encountered the Buddha's teachings, my mind has opened up, and there are no longer so many things I cannot let go of, so I have never had such an episode again. The reason is that I came to feel that life is short, suffering, and impermanent. When fainting, I was slightly more lucid than when asleep; when I fainted, it felt as if I woke up in an instant. I did not feel that I was doing anything at the time; I just felt very quiet, hearing faint sounds from very, very far away. At that moment I could not feel the existence of my body, nor could I feel anything happening in this world, and I did not know where I was. My mind was somewhat hazy, and my perception was unclear. Then in an instant I recovered. When I woke up, I found blood marks from pinching between the thumb and index finger of my hand and at the middle of my nostrils, and I knew I had been pinched awake. When I came to, many people around me said, "You scared us to death," and at the same time I felt how tiring and vexing this world is, and I also felt a sense of loss.

At the time I fainted, I felt a breath fail to come up, and then this little episode occurred. If that breath had truly been cut off forever, and if I had not studied Buddhism and cultivated practice, I cannot imagine how terrified I would have been. At that point, even the closest loved ones or property could not be taken along and would be of no use, and one would still have to undergo retribution according to the karma one had created. Now, looking back on this little experience of mine, it can still be of use to my practice. When I saw the Master's teaching yesterday using the example of fainting, I repeatedly contemplated my own past experience of fainting, and I feel that with the help of this experience, together with the Dharma principles of the four foundations of mindfulness, it greatly helps my practice of eradicating the view of body and eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa). When the mind's grasping projects out a dream state, the first five consciousnesses are absent—that is how it seems to me. I do not know whether this is correct?

Assessment: Fainting due to anger means the manas's mind has become stagnant, and the breath also becomes stagnant and blocked; the airway is obstructed, and the blood-and-vital-energy supply cannot reach the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the head, so the six sense objects cannot be transmitted normally into the supreme faculty. Without the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses cannot continue operating and cease. From this we can see that the blood and vital energy circulate in the body extremely quickly, and changes also occur extremely quickly. Such a material body is impermanent—changes can appear at any moment, and death can come at any moment. People who frequently harbor silent anger have blood and vital energy that cannot circulate normally; there will be various blockages in the body, and they will be unhealthy.

Everyone's experience when fainting is different, because the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of their mind-ground differs, the manas's perceptive ability differs, the circulation of breath and energy differs, and the degree of fainting also differs. For those with much wholesome karma, there is almost no suffering after fainting; for those with much unwholesome karma, or those with deep attachments, the manas's grasping is deep after fainting, and it struggles ceaselessly, so there is a feeling of suffering. All these feelings are feelings of the mind consciousness. In the instant before the mind consciousness truly disappears, and when it is on the verge of waking up, there is a certain degree of perceptive ability; after it has completely disappeared, the manas continues to perceive. Each person's degree of manas attachment differs, their afflictive nature differs, and their power of wisdom differs, so their reactions differ. Different reactions lead to different experiences of the fainting state, and the feelings when the mind consciousness reappears also differ. Whether or not a person has cultivated practice makes an enormous difference in their feelings and in their retribution.

Why can pinching the philtrum (renzhong) wake a person up? Because the philtrum is the junction connecting the Ren and Du meridians, the critical point for the circulation of blood and vital energy throughout the body. When this point is unblocked, the circulation of blood and vital energy flows smoothly, the supreme faculty receives nourishment, the six sense objects can be transmitted normally into the supreme faculty, the faculties and objects make contact, and the six consciousnesses arise and discern the six sense objects. Through meditative concentration (samādhi), one can unblock the Ren and Du meridians, and the body will be very healthy; but if, after unblocking them, one cannot maintain it, blockages will appear in certain parts of the body, resulting in symptoms of illness.