The Related Discourses

2. The Sense Fields

This group of sūtras has the twelve sense fields (入處, lit. “entry places,” P./S. āyatana) as its common theme. These sense fields were roughly equivalent to what we call “senses” in modern English, but the concept had a broader meaning. It included both the sense organs and the external mediums that they detect. It also included the mind as a sixth sense in addition to the five physical senses.

There were a total of twelve sense fields, when the two lists of six internal and six external sense fields were combined. The internal sense fields are the sense organs themselves: the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The external sense fields consist of six mediums of sensory experience: visual forms, sounds, odors, flavors, touches, and mental objects. These twelve sense fields represented access points of experience separated into six channels or fields that operate simultaneously.

This section of SĀ consists of 285 individual sūtras when abbreviated variants are counted. This material spanned fascicles 8, 9, 43, 11, and 13 of Taisho edition (T99), which were rearranged into this order in Yinshun’s reconstruction.

See the notes listed in the introduction to the Aggregates regarding conventions followed in the list below.

The English translation of this saṃyukta is incomplete and remains a work in progress. Please feel free to send any feedback or corrections.

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