Sensory Activity Fields

Sensory Activity Fields (skye mched)

Abhidharma sources identify twelve sensory activity fields (Skt. dvādaśāyatana), six of which are external and the remainder internal, divided into pairs as follows: The activity field of the eye (cakṣurāyatana) and the activity field of form (rūpāyatana), the activity fields of the ear (śrotrāyatana) and of sound (śabdāyatana), the activity fields of the nose (ghrāṇāyatana) and of smell (gandhāyatana), the activity fields of the tongue (jihvāyatana) and of taste (rasāyatana), the activity fields of the body (kāyāyatana) and of touch (spraṣṭāyatana), and, lastly, the activity fields of the intellect (mana āyatana) and of mental objects or phenomena (dharmāyatana). See L. Pruden (trans.), Abhidharmakośabhāṣyaṃ, Ch. 1, The Dhātus, pp. 72ff. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)