The Alerting Function of Manas toward Mind Consciousness

Question: Once, while digging up yinchen (a medicinal herb) beside a graveyard, I kept feeling that there was someone behind me, but in fact there was no one around. Is this a feeling of the manas or of the mind consciousness? Is there really someone there, or is it an illusion?

Answer: The feeling that someone is there is a feeling of the mind consciousness; this feeling is transmitted to the mind consciousness by the manas. The mind consciousness did not see anyone behind, but the manas can see, and because it cannot process the matter itself, it lets the mind consciousness feel it first and then deal with it. If at this time the mind consciousness does not understand, it cannot handle it. If the mind consciousness understands that there might be a ghost behind, it will make a decision whether to leave or not to leave. Those with courage will not leave; those who are timid will leave. Of course, this courage refers to that of the manas, and in the end, the decision to leave is still the manas's decision.

The manas can know people and matters that the mind consciousness cannot see, including beings of the ghost realm, but the mind consciousness does not know. When the manas wants the mind consciousness to know, the mind consciousness will give rise to doubt and have a feeling. If the mind consciousness has wisdom, it will reasonably analyze, deliberate, and infer, and then it will know what the matter is.