Is the Mind Inside or Outside the Body?
“World-Honored One,” Ananda said to the Buddha, “The ten classes of beings in all the worlds believe that the conscious mind dwells in the body; the way I see it, the blue-lotus eyes in the Buddha’s face are indeed part of the Buddha’s body. Also, the physical organs which I use to perceive objects are evidently part of my face too. Therefore, my conscious mind too must surely be in my body.”
The Buddha asked Ananda, “Now as you sit in this Dharma Hall, can you see where Prince Jetri’s Grove is?”
“This great and sacred Dharma Hall, with its many stories, is in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Childless, and Prince Jetri’s Grove is outside the hall.”
“Ananda, what is the first thing you see from where you are sitting now?”
“Here in the hall, I am looking first at the Buddha, then I see the great assembly, and as I gaze out, I see the grove in the park.”
“Why is it, Ananda, that when you look out, you can see the grove in the park?”
“World-Honored One, the doors and windows of this great hall are wide open, that’s why I can be in the hall and still see into the distance.”
The Buddha said to Ananda, “You are right, someone in the hall can see far into the park when the doors and windows are wide open. Now, could that person not see the Buddha inside the hall and yet see the grove outside the hall?”
Ananda answered, “It would not be possible to be in the hall and able to see the grove, and yet not see the Buddha.”
“Ananda, the same is true of you. You have the intelligence to understand everything clearly. If your mind, with its clear understanding, were inside your body, then the inside of your body would be what your mind would first come into contact with and have knowledge of. Are there beings that see the inside of their bodies first, before they can observe things outside? Even if they could not see their heart, liver, spleen, or stomach, they would at least detect the growing of their nails and hair, the twisting of their sinews, and the throbbing of their pulse – but in fact they can’t see these things, why? And since your mind is not cognizant of what is inside your body, how can it have knowledge of what is outside? You must know that when you say the mind being inside the body, you are actually stating the impossible.”
Ananda bowed to the Buddha, “Now I realize that my mind must be located outside my body. For instance, if a lamp is lit in a room, it would certainly illuminate the inside of the room first, then its light would stream through the doorway and reach outside. Since beings do not see inside their bodies but only see outside, it must be as though the lamp being placed outside the room and the room being dark. This principle seems conform to the Buddha’s teaching, so it can’t be wrong this time, can it?”
The Buddha said to Ananda, “The monks who followed me to Sravasti to receive their alms have returned to Prince Jetri’s Grove, and now they are eating their food, but I have finished my meal. Now consider this: can all of them become full after one of them has eaten?”
Ananda answered, “Of course not, World-Honored One. Although these monks are all Arhats, they still have their individual physical bodies. How could one person’s eating make everybody full?”
The Buddha said, “Then if your mind that sees and knows were outside your body, your body and mind would be separate, and the body would not be aware of what the mind knows, and the mind would not have knowledge of what the body is aware of. Now as I hold up my hand, does your mind distinguish it when your eyes see it?”
Ananda said, “It does, World-Honored One.”
The Buddha then told Ananda, “Since your mind and eyes can work together to perceive my hand, how can the mind be outside? You must now know that when you say the mind being outside the body yet still being aware of what happens inside the body, you are actually stating the impossible.”
阿难白佛言：世尊！一切世间，十种异生，同将识心，居在身内；纵观如来青莲华眼，亦在佛面。我今观此浮根四尘，只在我面；如是识心，实居身内。
佛告阿难：汝今现坐如来讲堂，观祇陀林，今何所在？世尊！此大重阁清净讲堂，在给孤园，今祇陀林，实在堂外。阿难！汝今堂中，先何所见？世尊！我在堂中，先见如来，次观大众 ；如是外望，方瞩林园。阿难！汝瞩林园，因何有见？世尊！此大讲堂，户牖开豁，故我在堂，得远瞻见。佛告阿难：如汝所言，身在讲堂，户牖开豁，远瞩林园。亦有众生，在此堂中，不见如来，见堂外者？阿难答言：世尊！在堂不见如来，能见林泉，无有是处 ！阿难！汝亦如是！汝之心灵，一切明了。若汝现前所明了心，实在身内 ，尔时先合了知内身。颇有众生，先见身中，后观外物？纵不能见心肝脾胃，爪生发长，筋转脉摇，诚合明了，如何不知？必不内知，云何知外？是故应知，汝言觉了能知之心，住在身内，无有是处。
阿难稽首，而白佛言：我闻如来，如是法音，悟知我心，实居身外。所以者何？譬如灯光，然于室中，是灯必能先照室内 ，从其室门，后及庭际。一切众生，不见身中，独见身外；亦如灯光，居在室外，不能照室。是义必明，将无所惑 ，同佛了义，得无妄耶？
佛告阿难：是诸比丘，适来从我室罗筏城，循乞抟食，归祇陀林，我已宿斋。汝观比丘，一人食时，诸人饱否？阿难答言：不也，世尊！何以故？是诸比丘，虽阿罗汉 ，躯命不同，云何一人，能令众饱？佛告阿难：若汝觉了知见之心，实在身外，身心相外，自不相干。则心所知，身不能觉；觉在身际，心不能知。我今示汝兜罗绵手，汝眼见时，心分别否？阿难答言：如是世尊！佛告阿难：若相知者，云何在外？是故应知，汝言觉了能知之心，住在身外，无有是处。
Buddha Mind 