What secretly ponders with questions hanging is the manas.

Ru Chun: A few days ago, Master mentioned in the group: Sun Wukong could not leap out of the Buddha's palm. I kept wondering in my mind why it is so. After thinking for several days without coming up with a satisfactory answer, I just set it aside and stopped thinking about it. But yesterday my family said that I only eat vegetarian food, taking a part for the whole—just like Sun Wukong, who only saw the pillars but did not see the Buddha's palm. When I heard this, my heart was shaken—isn't this exactly the answer I was looking for? Only seeing the pillars but not the Buddha's palm (tathāgatagarbha). Answers arrived at by association are not necessarily correct. What I want to confirm is: is this kind of carrying a question around while searching for an answer the work of the manas? Because at the time I could not think of an answer, and although there was a trace of reluctance in my heart, I could only helplessly let it go. When I heard my family member's words, I suddenly felt I understood—it felt like scratching an itch in just the right spot.

Assessment: You did not make clear what answer you wanted. When the mind secretly carries a question and ponders it, the mind consciousness (yourself) does not necessarily know about it—it is the manas that carries the question in the mind. When inspiration suddenly arises, the manas has worked out the answer, and the mind consciousness then understands the answer that the manas has investigated. But what the manas works out is not necessarily correct; there may be misunderstandings and discrepancies. Because the wisdom of the manas varies infinitely—even after enlightenment it is not perfect, let alone at the stage of an ordinary being in ignorance.

Ru Chun: Yes, Master. The mind consciousness did not know that I was still thinking. My manas's wisdom is very low; I only thought of this: the Buddha's palm symbolizes the tathāgatagarbha, and the pillars that Sun Wukong saw symbolize the world that our fleshly eyes perceive. When I thought of just this much, I felt quite content, without knowing whether it was right or wrong.