Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (167)

When Hīnayāna practice reaches a certain level, one can realize that the entire world of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) is empty, and that all dharmas of the eighteen elements (dhātu) are empty. One thereby eliminates the three inner fetters: self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), attachment to views, and doubt. From then on, one can advance toward liberation and be freed from the suffering of birth-and-death in saṃsāra. Practice means recognizing that the so-called "self" is empty: the physical body is empty, the mind is empty, feelings are empty, thoughts and perceptions are empty, deliberation and initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) are empty, and actions and volitional formations are empty. All five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—are empty. The eighteen elements are all empty: the six faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are empty. The material sense-objects that the six faculties confront are empty: form is empty, sound is empty, scent is empty, taste is empty, tangibility is empty, and mental objects are empty. The six consciousnesses are all empty: eye consciousness is empty, ear consciousness is empty, nose consciousness is empty, tongue consciousness is empty, body consciousness is empty, and mind consciousness is empty; finally, the manas is also empty. When all five aggregates are realized as empty, self-view is thereby eliminated, and one attains the first fruit (Srotaāpanna).