Third set of sense basis

This is the third set of the twelve sense bases.

ལུས་ lus is body so this is the body sense basis (kaya-ayatana.)

རེག་བྱ་ reg bya is touch so this is the touch sense basis (sprastavya-ayatana.)

ཡིད་ yid is here mental organ so this is the mind sense basis (mana-ayatana.)

ཆོས་ chos is here mental object so this is the mental object basis (dharma-ayatana.)

Some might wonder why it is so important to find and label various parts of the mental experience? It is really how a systems analyst works, in politics, software, organizations and so on. By finding out each logical part and how it all works together, the big picture emerges. In this case the answers are to be found later, and Abhidharma-Samuccaya will point out time after time: there's really nothing self-existent in the mental world. It is rather parts who work together, and each part is dependent on another part or parts.

We will see this next as Abhidharma-Samuccaya explains why there are exactly five skandhas, no more and no less.