Questions and answers:
“Since the gandhabba (manomaya kaya) combined with pasada rupa, are ON all the time, can I assume that this is the MEMORY circuit (so to speak)?”
I wrote that gandhabba is alive (i.e, not dead). But it is not “ON” until an arammana comes in. I think I explained that.
– It is like a drum is there, but there will be no sound until something strikes it.
– That sound is like the consciousness. No consciousness until an arammana hits the hadaya vatthu (either directly with dhammā or via the five pasada rupa.)
– There is no “memory circuit”. What would that be? There is no need for such a thing.
“If the brain does not produce consciousness (which I do not believe it does), why am I still me when I wake up in the morning or when a person who has been in a coma for 10 years regains consciousness and is the same person as before the coma?”
– You are the same you because the gandhabba (with the same anusaya, gati) is the same!
– Of course, anusaya and gati can change, but that happens over time, with understanding.
“Is the gandhabba directly responsible for this?”
Of course, it is. The gandhabba (hadaya vatthu plus pasada rupa) is you. The physical body with the brain lasts only about 100 years, but a human gandhabba may live for thousands of years.
– The bain dies with the physical body. Gandhabba comes out and waits for another womb to make another body.
– As we have discussed, gandhabba is created by kammic energy and will last until that kamiic energy is spent. That is the end of “human bhava” within which one is reborn with a physical body many times.
– When that gandhabba dies, another one will be created by kammic energy, unless one has attained the Arahant stage. That new gandhabba can be born in any of the 31 realms. Of course, we normally reserve the word gandhabba only for humans and animals. But Devas/Brahmas also have hadaya vatthu/pasada rupa, so it is the same concept.
I recommend going back and reading more posts on gandhabba:
“Search Results for: gandhabba”
– I do understand that it is a bit complex subject.