The Function of Cognition of the Manas

Answer: The manas, relying on the perceiving-aspect of the tathāgatagarbha, can see all dharmas, and thus can read the information manifested by one's own tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbhas interact and are interconnected with one another; relying on the tathāgatagarbha, the manas can perceive all dharmas. For the tathāgatagarbha, there are no secrets among all dharmas—He knows everything—and the manas can accordingly know all dharmas as well. Things that cannot be seen or touched nearby, the manas can all know; it is only the mind consciousness that does not know. All the physiological reactions of the body are regulated by the manas, yet the mind consciousness does not know why these reactions occur.

That the minds of sentient beings can communicate with one another is also a merit of the tathāgatagarbha. When the tathāgatagarbhas exchange information, the manas can accordingly know this information, and thereby can know the other person's circumstances and state of mind; the manas then transmits this to the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness can sense certain things. The better and closer the relationship between people, the more the manas understands, the stronger the mind consciousness's sense of resonance, and the more common ground and mutual fondness there is. The affinity and repulsion between sentient beings refer to the function of the manas; karmic affinity also refers to the manas's function of awareness. Because the manas has existed since beginningless kalpas and has never ceased to exist, it knows all the people, matters, and things it has experienced, without the obscurity of the intermediate state (the veil of the antarā-bhava). Therefore, when sentient beings meet, feelings of liking or disliking arise, and they know how their karmic affinity stands—all these are the functions of the manas's knowing.