Is the Consciousness-Mind Within the Body?

The exhaustion of the form aggregate and the exhaustion of the sensation aggregate have not been attained, but the state of the exhaustion of the sensation aggregate can theoretically be explained. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra states that when the sensation aggregate is exhausted, the mind detaches from the body. This means that without the conscious mind present in the body, there is no sensory perception within the body—no perception of pain, comfort, or ease. At that stage, one could be subject to slaughter or preservation without pain; one would know that hands, feet, head, or eyes were being handled but feel no pain, as the body would be like a piece of wood. So, is the conscious mind within the body?

If the conscious mind were within the physical body, then by dissecting the body bit by bit, one should be able to locate it. Yet, it cannot be found no matter how one searches. Therefore, the conscious mind is not within the physical body. If the conscious mind were outside the physical body, it would be unrelated to the body, and the body would lack the functions of the five aggregates. Hence, the conscious mind is not outside the physical body either. If the conscious mind were in an intermediate state, there is fundamentally no concept or location for such an intermediate. If the surface of the body is called the intermediate, this is incorrect because the body's surface belongs to the physical body. If the space immediately outside the body's surface is called the intermediate, that belongs to the outside of the physical body. Therefore, the conscious mind is not in any intermediate state of the physical body.

Where, then, is the conscious mind? Regardless of what the six consciousnesses perceive, they perceive only reflections, not the original forms of the external six dusts. The original forms are perceived by the eighth consciousness, which is called the substantial realm.