The Recollection of Mind Consciousness Is Regulated by the Manas

Question: Some people say that the manas' faculty of grasping is extremely vast and far-reaching, attaching to everything without exception, and therefore the manas cannot remember anything; remembering things from this life and the past has always been the business of the mind consciousness, and has nothing to do with the manas. Is this statement correct?

Answer: This statement is not correct. Although the dharma that the manas grasps are very broad, making it difficult to focus, the manas still has memory of the people, things, and events it has experienced; it simply cannot recollect them the way the mind consciousness does. If the manas wants to process the dharma it has remembered, it must have the mind consciousness recollect them. Only when the mind consciousness recollects them can the six consciousnesses process them concretely. If they cannot be recollected, they cannot be processed, because the manas has no tools of the six consciousnesses and cannot fabricate anything by itself.

If the manas does not want to process the remembered dharma in any way, not considering them important or necessary, it will not direct the mind consciousness to recollect them. Whether the mind consciousness recollects or not depends entirely on the direction, mobilization, and control of the manas, on the manas' volition. As for things the manas experienced in past lives, if they need special treatment and handling, it will also have the mind consciousness recollect them; but since the mind consciousness has not experienced them, it cannot recollect them, and will feel baffled and incredulous, somewhat muddled and confused. If the mind consciousness is more intelligent, it will be half understanding and half not, seeming to understand yet not quite. For example, when walking in a certain place, the mind consciousness will feel that the place is very familiar, yet cannot recall when it has been here before. But the manas knows—He knows that in a past life He came here, and now passing through here again, He will also let the mind consciousness know and feel it. Yet the mind consciousness cannot recollect it, and only under the manas' suggestion feels as if it has experienced it before. Meeting a certain person is the same.

When encountering toys and things familiar from before the age of three to five, the mind consciousness feels a special sense of intimacy, a special feeling, yet the mind consciousness cannot articulate it. This is the manas hinting to the mind consciousness. The manas knows these things, but cannot recollect them or know the details, so He alerts the mind consciousness. Therefore the manas definitely has the function of memory—He remembers but cannot recollect. When the mind consciousness possesses superknowledge, it can rely on the manas to recollect events from life after life. But when the manas does not need it, even if the mind consciousness has superknowledge, it will not recollect and discern; it is still directed and controlled by the manas.