The Functions and Principles of Memory

Memory is recollection and remembrance, which are functions of the mind consciousness. Everything that happens at present, all bodily, verbal, and mental actions, involve the participation and operation of the mind consciousness. The contents that the mind consciousness discerns and engages in are handed over to the manas at all times and places. After the manas discerns them, they fall as seeds into the substance of the eighth consciousness, and the eighth consciousness stores these contents as seeds. Later, when the manas attaches to and wants to discern them, once the eighth consciousness knows the manas's mental activity of volition, it complies and cooperates with the manas, transmitting out the previously stored seeds, thus forming mental sense-objects (dharmāyatana). After the manas contacts the mental sense-object, because its discerning wisdom is inferior and it cannot discern the specific contents, it gives rise to the mental factor of volition, deciding to discern this mental sense-object. Thereupon the eighth consciousness cooperates by producing the mind consciousness to discern this mental sense-object. In this way, the mind consciousness discerns exactly what the mental sense-object is; that is, the mind consciousness recalls things from the past. This is the process of remembering and recollecting.

If the events that occurred were incomplete, or the manas did not care, and the mind consciousness's discernment and engagement were slight, then the karmic formations would be slight, and the karmic seeds stored by the eighth consciousness would be slight. When the eighth consciousness outputs the seeds, the mental sense-objects formed would not be very clear, and the mind consciousness's discernment would be incomplete and unclear—in common parlance, this is called weak memory. For example, if we memorize an essay without fully committing it to memory, this karmic formation is also stored as a seed. When the eighth consciousness outputs it again, the mind consciousness cannot discern it completely and clearly, and the essay cannot be fully recited.

Another example: if the manas does not care much about a person, and pays little attention to that person, then the mental factor of volition lacks sufficient decisiveness, and the mind consciousness's understanding and knowledge of that person will be incomplete, with a shallow impression. This too is stored as a seed. When the seed's conditions ripen and one meets this person again, the eighth consciousness outputs the past karmic seeds, and the mind consciousness cannot clearly discern this person; the impression of this person is vague and indistinct.

When the eighth consciousness outputs karmic seeds, mental sense-objects are formed. When the karmic seeds are output to the supreme faculty (indriya), if there is a problem with the supreme faculty, an obstruction—for example, cerebellar atrophy or other such impairments—the images output by the eighth consciousness and the karmic seeds cannot be fully consistent, and the mental sense-objects that manifest are not truthful. At this time, the mind consciousness cannot discern them correctly and accurately, resulting in inverted discernment, or perhaps no discernment at all. This is amnesia.

Damage to the supreme faculty, stimulation of the brain, or lack of nutrition to the brain can all cause varying degrees of amnesia. Therefore, students should strengthen their nutrition before examinations, so that the four great elements and material components in the supreme faculty are balanced, allowing the eighth

consciousness to normally manifest the images of the inner object-aspect (nimitta). Only then can the mind consciousness normally discern these images, so that during the examination one's thinking is clear, one can perform well, and one's examination results will be good.

If there is a problem with the supreme faculty, the images manifested by the eighth consciousness may become chaotic information. In this way, the mind consciousness's discernment becomes confused, and inverted or erroneous discernment may occur. Others would think this person may be mentally abnormal, yet he himself considers himself perfectly normal, not in the least believing that he is abnormal.