How Does Consciousness Recall Past Events?

Sometimes upon waking briefly in the morning, one may not immediately recognize where they have been sleeping; even after a minute or two, they might not realize they are in their own home—this is a fragmentation of consciousness. A major fragmentation of consciousness occurs after the birth of the new five aggregates, leaving one utterly ignorant and forgetful of everything from past lives; without supernatural powers, one may forget an entire lifetime. Minor fragmentation happens after waking from unconsciousness, after sobering up from drunkenness, after awakening from sleep, or at the moment the intermediate state body arises after death. Whenever consciousness fails to arise continuously, fragmentation occurs.

What enables consciousness to connect with the past? It relies on the co-existing mental faculty (manas), and of course the eighth consciousness, though we will set that aside for now. When consciousness first emerges, it strives to recall the past. All thoughts are provided to it by the mental faculty. In a state of mental haziness, consciousness can only perceive immediate circumstances and remains unaware of all events prior to awakening. The mental faculty prompts consciousness to think and recollect, leading consciousness to engage in recollection. The content recalled also consists of dharmas (phenomena) apprehended by the mental faculty, which consciousness continuously discerns and evaluates, eventually bringing forth the recollection. In truth, all the dharmas recollected by consciousness are presented by the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature).