The aggregate of perception belongs to the delusive construction of pervading communication

The aggregate of perception (saṃjñā) belongs to the delusive thinking of fusion and communication. Because deluded thoughts conjure up certain states, the body undergoes changes in accordance with those delusions. The body does not actually come into contact with the states conjured by deluded thought; merely by thinking of them in the mind, the body undergoes changes. This shows that the body moves in accordance with the mind's thinking and is directed by the mind. How false and unreal is such involuntary movement of the body! Who is it that directs and controls the body, as if conjuring and manipulating it like a magician? It is the manas. The body and the conscious mind are interconnected and can merge with each other; the power of mental thought can drive the body and determine its movements. Which mind has such great and powerful force of thought? It is the mental thought of the manas that can act as the master—it has power and can transform the physical body. The mental thought of the mind consciousness can only influence and change the manas; it cannot directly move the physical body or transform it.

The aggregate of perception mainly refers to the thinking of the mind consciousness, and the thinking of the mind consciousness is, first, governed and determined by the manas, and second, can in turn govern and influence the manas. What is merely thought through and understood does not count as realization. Many principles can be understood through thinking, but that still does not constitute actual realization; therefore, after understanding something through thought, one still needs to realize it in practice. When one is happy, one dances with joy; or when the body devoutly prostrates in worship—what is the relationship between the body and the mind? When the conscious mind recalls a sad event, why do the eyes shed tears? When one recalls something that makes one angry, why does one clench one's fist and why does the heart pound? When one is depressed, why does the body fall ill? When one is cheerful, why does illness heal? All of these instances of the aggregate of perception belong to the delusive thinking of fusion and communication, and also count as random, idle thoughts—extremely false and illusory, with nothing real about them. There was never anything amiss in the world; it is only fools who trouble themselves.