The Admonitory Function of Manas

Question: In the past, when I felt fear, dread, or anxiety in my heart, I always sensed that something was about to happen, though I didn’t know what it was. My mind was unsettled, and as a result, something did indeed occur. Is this the manas knowing in advance?

Answer: Psychological phenomena such as fear, dread, and anxiety are emotional manifestations of the manas, causing the consciousness to feel that something unfavorable is about to occur, yet without knowing exactly what it is. The manas can foresee many things in advance; it knows almost everything but cannot personally respond to them. It only possesses an alerting function, enabling the consciousness to become aware so that it can take action, plan, and make arrangements. The manas feels anxious about impending events but does not know how to express this to make the consciousness aware. Only after the event occurs does the consciousness realize what it was, but by then it is often too late to be of any help.

Sometimes, events dreamed about are also matters the manas is concerned with, which it then alerts the consciousness to recognize and handle. Consequently, the events in the dream do indeed occur later. This is the alerting function of the manas, also known as a precognitive dream. Because the consciousness is intelligent, wise, and capable of analysis and reasoning, it can devise solutions to problems and take concrete measures and actions, whereas the manas cannot take any action. Therefore, when it foresees that something is about to happen, it alerts the consciousness in various ways to remind it. Once the consciousness receives this alert and suggestion, it may grasp what is likely to occur and prepare in advance. If the manas possesses the wisdom to alert the consciousness, it can make it easier for the consciousness to comprehend. If the consciousness is wise, it can also readily grasp the warnings and hints from the manas.

A precognitive dream is the manas informing the consciousness in advance about future events. The manas can know events that have not yet happened in the future; it is able to reach into the future. Why is this so? Because the tathāgatagarbha, based on karmic seeds, can know matters of the three realms—past, present, and future. The manas, relying on the dharmas perceived by the tathāgatagarbha, can generate its own perceptions. Since the tathāgatagarbha can perceive all dharmas, the manas can also perceive all dharmas, though the nature of what they perceive differs.