And is assumed from mind and mental states.
And it is therefore these though not the same,
Nor just the mere collection they make up.
One cannot find the sense of self in these. (6.139)
From the sutras:
O Great King. The person, the individual, is the six elements, the six fields of contact and the eighteen movements of the mind.1
The six elements are earth, water, fire, wind, consciousness and space, and it is in relation to these that the self is imputed. The six supports of contact, such as eyes, refer to the sense field of visual perception and so forth, up to the sense field of mental perception, and it is in relation to these that the self is imputed.
The eighteen movements of the mind refers to the six ways the mind can be pleasantly involved with visual, audible, olfactory, palatable, tactile, or mental objects, the ways it can be unpleasantly involved with these, and the ways it can have a neutral involvement with these; and in relation to these, and assumed from the mind and mental states, the self is imputed.
Since it is stated that, ‘the self is imputed in relation to the elements and so forth,’ it here states, it is these though not the same, meaning that it is not anything other nor is it the same. It neither makes sense that is it just the mere collection of these. Since it cannot be that the self is these aforementioned phenomena, it does not stand to reason that the ego mind is found in them. And when the aggregates cannot be the abode of the ego, and is not something other than the aggregates, the ego then has no abode; and the yogi seeing no ‘I’ comes to understand that neither does ‘mine’ have any essence, eliminates every conditioned phenomenon and transcends to the state free from adoption, illustrating how brilliant this analysis is.
Title
Chapter 1: Pramuditā
