The Alerting Function of Manas Toward the Mind Consciousness

Question: Once when I was digging up yinchen (Artemisia capillaris) beside a graveyard, I kept feeling that someone was behind me, but in fact there was no one around. Is this a feeling of the manas or of the mind consciousness? Was someone really there, or was 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. Because it cannot deal with the matter itself, it lets the mind consciousness have a feeling first and then handle it. If at this point the mind consciousness does not understand, it cannot deal with it. If the mind consciousness understands that there might be a ghost behind, it will make a decision whether to leave or not. Those with courage will not leave; those with little courage will leave. Of course, this courage refers to that of the manas; in the end, it is still the manas's decision that determines whether to leave.

The manas can know the people and matters that the mind consciousness cannot see, including beings of the realms of ghosts and spirits, but the mind consciousness does not know. When the manas wants the mind consciousness to know, the mind consciousness will develop doubt and have a feeling. If the mind consciousness has wisdom, it will reasonably analyze, deliberate, and infer, and then it will know what is going on.