Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (VII)

The False Self of Sentient Beings Cannot Be Apart from the Six Elements

The presence of the five aggregates and eighteen elements constitutes a false self, called a sentient being. Where there are the five aggregates, there is contact: the eye contacts material form, the ear contacts sounds, the nose contacts odors, the tongue contacts flavors, the body contacts tangibles, and the manas contacts mental objects—these are the six contact bases (ṣaḍ sparśa-āyatana). Among these, the five faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body are composed of the first five of the six elements, and form, sound, odor, flavor, tangibility, and dharma are also composed of the first five elements, while the last one, the manas, is a conscious mind, generated from the seed of the consciousness element among the seven great seeds. After contact occurs, the six consciousnesses arise, and only then can feeling, perception, discrimination, judgment, and deliberation be produced; only then can there be delusive thoughts and plans, and only then can decisions be made.

Among the eighteen elements, the six faculties contacting the six sense objects give rise to the six consciousnesses. Once the six consciousnesses arise, we possess the discriminating nature of the conscious mind, and the activities of the five aggregates can occur. Among these, the five faculties and the six sense objects are composed of the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, while the manas and the six consciousnesses are formed from the consciousness element. Both the six contact bases and the eighteen elements cannot be apart from the six elements; that is to say, the false self of sentient beings cannot be apart from the six elements—it is only with the six elements as conditions that it can arise and exist.