The Sensation of the Manas after Being Perfumed

Question: The disciple contemplates that the material body is suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self, contemplating oneself and contemplating others—birth, aging, sickness, death, eating, drinking, and bodily functions—all beyond one's own control. In ordinary walking, the contemplation is not deep, but when sitting quietly to contemplate, I feel a joyful feeling arise in body and mind, as if entering a new world, as if body and mind had entered another realm, and I really like this feeling. Is this feeling a result of the manas having been perfumed a little?

Answer: This is the joy factor among the seven factors of enlightenment, and it is precisely a good phenomenon in the process of being cultivated by the Buddha's teachings. Only when the manas has been perfumed does the joy factor of enlightenment appear; with joy, one can persist in long-term practice, and afterward the diligence factor of enlightenment will appear. Joy that comes from the depths of the heart arises from the manas being perfumed, and it manifests in the material body and in the mind consciousness. Only when the manas has been perfumed do the various changes in body and mind occur, including feelings of suffering and happiness, as well as feelings that are neither suffering nor happiness, because when the manas has gained new cognition and its thoughts and views have transformed, it will prompt the transformation of body and mind. If you frequently contemplate and observe that the five aggregates are without self, as well as other Buddhist principles, the changes in the manas and in body and mind will become greater and greater and more and more, and finally quantitative change will lead to qualitative change—a complete transformation, like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate, turning from an ordinary person into a sage.