The Admonitory Role 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 eventually, something did occur. Is this the manas knowing in advance?

Answer: Psychological phenomena such as fear, dread, and anxiety are emotional manifestations of the manas. They cause the consciousness to feel that something unfavorable is about to occur, yet without knowing exactly what it is. The manas can foresee many events in advance and is aware of almost everything. However, it cannot personally respond; it only possesses an alerting function, which prompts the consciousness to understand so that it can begin to act, plan, and make arrangements. The manas feels anxious about impending events but does not know how to express them to make the consciousness aware. Only after the event occurs does the consciousness learn what it was, but often it is too late to be of help.

Sometimes, events dreamed about are also things the manas is concerned with. It then alerts the consciousness to become aware and to handle them. As a result, the events in the dream do indeed occur later. This is the alerting function of the manas, also known as a predictive dream. Because the consciousness is intelligent, wise, and possesses analytical and reasoning abilities, it can devise solutions to problems and take concrete measures and actions. The manas, being incapable of any action, thus uses various methods to alert the consciousness when it foresees an impending event, reminding the consciousness to become aware. Once the consciousness receives this alert and suggestion, it may comprehend what might happen and prepare in advance. If the manas possesses the wisdom to alert the consciousness effectively, it can make it easier for the consciousness to grasp the warning or hint. Similarly, if the consciousness is wise, it can more readily understand the alerts and hints from the manas.

Predictive dreams occur when the manas alerts the consciousness in advance about future events. The manas can perceive events that have not yet happened in the future; it can reach into the future. Why is this so? Because the tathāgatagarbha, based on karmic seeds, can perceive matters of the past, present, and future within the three realms. The manas, relying on the phenomena perceived by the tathāgatagarbha, can generate its own perceptions. Since the tathāgatagarbha can perceive all phenomena, the manas can also perceive all phenomena, though the essential nature of what each perceives differs.