khams

khams

Depending on the context, may translate either: (a) Skt. mahābhūta, Tib. {'byung ba chen po}, the four "main" or "great" outer elements of earth, water, fire, air, and (when there is a fifth) space; or: (b) Skt. dhātu, Tib. khams, the "eighteen elements" introduce, in the context of the aggregates, elements, and sense-media, the same six pairs as the twelve sense-media, as elements of experience, adding a third member to each set: the element of consciousness (vijñāna), or sense. Hence the first pair gives the triad eye-element (caksurdhātu), form-element (rūpadhātu), and eye-consciousness-element, or eye-sense-element (caksurvijñānadhātu)—and so on with the other five, noting the last, mind-element (manodhātu), phenomena-element (dharmadhātu), and mental-sense-element (manovijñānadhātu).

Eighteen collections of similar dharmas, under which all compounded and uncompounded dharmas may be included: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, plus their objects: visible forms, sounds, smells, flavors, touchables, and dharmas, plus the consciousnesses corresponding to each of the first six.

In different contexts four, five, or six elements may be enumerated. The four elements are earth, water, fire, and air. A fifth, space, is often added. The six elements are: earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness.

Often translated "element," commonly in the context of the eighteen elements of sensory experience (the six sense faculties, their six respective objects, and the six sensory consciousnesses), although the term has a wide range of other meanings. Along with skandha and āyatana, one of the three major categories in the taxonomy of phenomena in the sūtra literature.

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, odor, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; mind, mental objects, and mind consciousness).

See "eighteen sensory elements."

The six sensory objects, six sensory faculties, and six consciousnesses.

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