The Principle of Karmic Resonance

Matters of spiritual responsiveness are still matters of the manas. The manas, following the tathāgatagarbha, knows everything without exception; it is only the mind consciousness that does not know. When the manas becomes aware of certain extraordinary things, there will be reactions in the physical body or in the emotions—hair standing on end all over the body, inexplicable joy, inner restlessness and agitation, inner trepidation, a solemn countenance, and so forth. All the secret things people do can be hidden from the mind consciousness, but not from the manas and the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, there will also be karmic retribution in the future. The unconscious estrangement or unconscious closeness that arises between people is due to certain things the mind consciousness does not know. For this reason, we should be adept at guarding and restraining our own minds, not committing even the slightest transgression; with a mind-ground of purity, karmic seeds are pure, and karmic retribution is pure.