The view of "mine" and the view of "not different from self" (na m’eso attâ ti) must both be eliminated

The view of self is hard to eliminate, deeply rooted; the view of what belongs to self (mama-kāra) is also very hard to eliminate, deeply rooted. When one takes part of the functions and operations of the five aggregates as the self, one takes the other part of the functions and operations as belonging to the self, deeply and firmly grasping them as "mine."

Self and what belongs to self are not one—they are different, distinct. For example, if one holds that the aggregate of feeling is the self, then the aggregate of form is not the self but belongs to the self, "mine." This seems to eliminate the identity view that takes the aggregate of form as the self, but in fact, taking the aggregate of form as belonging to the self is also a kind of identity view. The view of what belongs to self is deeply rooted; it is also a wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), not in accord with the Dharma, and it too must be eliminated. After the elimination of self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), when one's views are set right, one will realize that self and what belongs to self are not different—both are the view of self, and both must be eliminated. The aggregate of feeling is not the self; the aggregate of form is neither the self nor what belongs to the self; neither of the two is the self.

Before eliminating the view of self, one takes the aggregate of feeling as the self and the aggregate of form as belonging to the self, believing that the aggregate of feeling exists within the aggregate of form, and the aggregate of form exists within the aggregate of feeling, mutually present, pervading each other's substance. After eliminating the view of self, when one's views are set right, one realizes that the aggregate of feeling is not the self, and the aggregate of form is not what belongs to the self; the aggregate of feeling is not within the aggregate of form, nor is the aggregate of form within the aggregate of feeling; the two do not exist within each other, because the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—are not the self.

This question is difficult to fathom. One needs to hold the question suspended in the mind, suspended in the manas, during meditative concentration (samādhi); one day the insight will break through, and its meaning will be thoroughly understood. Once this knot is untied, the obstacles to eliminating the view of self will be removed, and the resistance to contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) will be diminished.