Why Can the Manas and the Mind Consciousness Convey Each Other's Intentions?

For example, when the manas wants to eat, the tathāgatagarbha complies with the manas's wish and gives rise to the mind consciousness; the manas then conveys to the mind consciousness the task of discerning the various dishes before one's eyes, and among these dishes to select the ones one likes to eat. The mind consciousness can comprehend the manas's intentions, and after the mind consciousness has discerned them, the manas can also comprehend the mind consciousness's intentions; the two can communicate with each other in an instant. However, when the manas discerns dharmas from past lives and conveys them to the mind consciousness, the mind consciousness cannot comprehend them, or only understands a tiny bit. Why is this? Because the mind consciousness never experienced those past lives, it has no memory of them and cannot discern them.

When the manas decides to discern the various dishes in order to determine which one to eat, the mind consciousness arises to discern them on behalf of the manas. After the mind consciousness has discerned and judged the characteristics of each dish, it conveys this to the manas, and once the manas is informed, it decides what to eat. It is also possible that the mind consciousness, relying only on observation together with the eye consciousness, cannot discern comprehensively, so the manas decides to take a bite and taste it, whereupon the tongue consciousness and nose consciousness join in the discernment and judgment. Once the manas is informed, it knows which dish is delicious and to its liking, and thus eats heartily, ignoring the dishes that do not taste good.

These dishes can be directly contacted in the present by the mind consciousness together with the five sense consciousnesses, so there is feeling, perception, and volition, and judgment can be made. As for the dharmas of past lives, without supernormal powers the five sense consciousnesses simply cannot contact them at all; the mind consciousness lacks the power of knowing others' minds, has no experience, and its wisdom is insufficient, so it cannot know what the manas is thinking and contemplating. If the mind consciousness possesses great wisdom, it can clearly discern the dharmas that the manas is thinking, contemplating, and hinting at in its mind.

Why can the mind consciousness and the manas convey their intentions to each other? Because the manas contacts the mental sense-objects and gives rise to the mind consciousness, and then the three come together in contact. Regarding the mental sense-objects, not only can the manas discern them, but the mind consciousness can also discern them; the difference lies only in the degree of discernment, in whether it is clear or not. And throughout this process, the mind consciousness and the manas are also in constant contact with each other; when mind contacts mind, they can naturally know each other's intentions. The difference lies in the degree of knowing, in the depth and scope. As long as the mind consciousness exists, it is necessarily in contact with the manas, so their respective intentions can be conveyed and exchanged anytime and anywhere. If the communication goes poorly, the mind becomes sulky and at odds; when communication flows smoothly, the mood is pleasant. This is somewhat similar to the relationship between two people interacting with each other.