The Principle of the Heart-to-Heart Connection Between Mother and Child

When a mother is doing needlework at home and her child has an accident outside, the needle suddenly pricks the mother's hand and it bleeds; the mother immediately senses that something has happened to her child. Or if something happens to the mother, the child suddenly has an intuitive feeling and knows that something has happened to her.

The principle behind this is that the two people are not only bound by blood ties but also share a very deep karmic affinity. This connection is in fact a relationship between the two people's manas, and the karmic affinity is likewise a relationship between their manas. Because of experiences accumulated over countless kalpas, the manas is extremely clear about this, and so the two naturally pay attention to each other. Once something happens to one party, the other can immediately perceive it. Why is this so? Because the manas, together with its own tathāgatagarbha, knows everything without exception; the people and matters one cares about are naturally attended to continuously. Once something unusual happens to the other person, the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the manas's concerns, sends out that information, and the manas comes to know it. Then it finds a way to let its own mind consciousness know, so that the matter can be dealt with; if the manas does not let the mind consciousness know, it cannot handle it by itself.