<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Key Dhamma Concepts > Sorting out Some Key Pali Terms (Taṇhā, Lobha, Dosa, Moha, etc) > Indriya and Āyatana – Big Difference

May 7, 2016; revised December 4, 2017; May 12, 2023; last revised December 29, 2024

Āyatana has no corresponding word in English. Indriya, in the context of āyatana, are the physical senses such as the eye and ear. Indriya becomes āyatana when used with a defiled mind.

Indriya – Two Possible Meaning

1. First, it must be noted that another type of indriya comes into play in a different context.

▪“Pañca indriya” indicates five faculties that must be cultivated to attain Nibbāna: sati, samādhi, paññā, viriya, and saddhā; see “Pañca Indriya and Pañca Bala – Five Faculties and Five Powers,” “37 Factors of Enlightenment” and “Two Versions of 37 Factors of Enlightenment.”

▪The six sense faculties are cakkhu indriya, sota indriya, ghāna indriya, jivhā indriya, kāya indriya, and mana indriya; see “WebLink: suttacentral: Arahanta Sutta (SN 48.27).” Only Arahants use them as indriya at all times; an average human (puthujjana) always uses them as āyatana, i.e., with rāga, dosa, or moha.

▪There are five indriya in “pañca indriya,” whereas six indriya are about the six sense faculties of sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and mind.

Indriya Are the Sensory Faculties

2. In the Western world, we speak about the five physical senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. The mind is supposed to “reside” in the physical brain, which is supposed to process signals from the five senses and generate “consciousness” or awareness of the external world.

▪For example, cakkhu indriya is the whole system comprising the physical eyes, nerves connecting to the visual cortex in the brain, the visual cortex, and the cakkhu pasāda rūpa. If any of those do not function, no signal will reach the hadaya vatthu, i.e., there will be no vision. Thus, an Arahant or an average human can see unless they are blind.

▪In addition, per Buddha Dhamma, another indriya (mana indriya) processes dhammā (kamma bīja and recalled memories) from the external world. This “mana indriya” or manindriya includes a “receiver/transmitter” located in the brain, (not yet identified by science) and also the hadaya vatthu in the manomaya kāya.

▪This has been discussed in detail in, “What are Dhamma? – A Deeper Analysis.”

3. In Buddha Dhamma, those five senses are “five doors” to the external physical world. The mind is the primary sense faculty, which experiences all sensory inputs.

▪Sensory faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body working with the brain) bring external signals (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and body touches) to the mind.

▪In Buddha Dhamma, the five physical senses, or the “indriya,” can be thought of as “physical instruments” mounted on our physical bodies to extract information (vision, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches) from the external physical world. The sensory inputs received are processed by the brain and transmitted to the mental boy (manomaya kāya) or gandhabba. The five pasāda rūpa in the mental body transfer those signals to the hadaya vatthu (seat of the mind), where citta (roughly translated as “thoughts”) arises in response to that sensory input. See “Brain – Interface between Mind and Body.”

▪If the mind does not generate rāga, dosa, or moha based on the sensory experience, the sense faculties work as indriya.

▪Buddha Dhamma has two versions of sensory faculties: “indriya” and “āyatana.” There is no corresponding word for āyatana in English; thus, we will use the Pāli word.

Six Indriya Can Become Internal Āyatana

4. If the mind generates rāga, dosa, or moha based on sensory experience, the sense faculties instantly become āyatana.

▪We have lived in this world of 31 realms forever because we enjoy sensory pleasures. Nothing is wrong with enjoying sensory pleasures, but we tend to engage in immoral deeds (akusala kamma), seeking more. That is the problem with sensory pleasures!

▪By understanding the true nature of sense inputs (according to the Buddha), we can see how seeking sensory pleasures leads to future suffering. He showed that “sensory pleasures” are “mind-made.” However, an in-depth examination is required to uncover how this happens.

5. The physical sense faculties bring to the mind a “distorted version” of external rūpa (sights, sounds, tastes, smells, touches); I call it “distorted saññā.” Only an Arahant‘s mind will not be “fooled” by that “distorted saññā” and, thus, sense faculties ALWAYS work as indriya.

▪A mind with all ten saṁyojana (saṁsāric bonds) will automatically and instantly attach to that “distorted version” of external rūpa and start generating rāga, dosa, and moha. When that happens, indriya becomes āyatana. One may start accumulating kamma if the mind further attaches to the sense input. We don’t stay focused on all the sensory inputs that we receive.

▪In an Arahant, an indriya never becomes āyatana, whereas indriya ALWAYS becomes āyatana for average humans (puthujjana.)

▪The mechanism by which a mind attaches to a sensory input requires a detailed explanation. Such an explanation is in the section “Sotāpanna Stage via Understanding Perception (Saññā).”

How Do Indriya Become Āyatana?

5. Now we can also look at this from a different angle and see that while indriya can be considered as PHYSICAL devices that help “extract sense signals” from the outside world, āyatana are MENTAL.

▪Upon receiving ANY sensory input, any indriya of a puthujjana (with all ten saṁyojana intact) WILL automatically become āyatana. This becomes clear when carefully examining many suttās; see “Purāṇa and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”

▪In the “Idappaccayatā Paṭicca Samuppāda“, salāyatana arise via, “nāmarūpa paccayā salāyatana.” When we trace steps backwards, we see that nāmarūpa arise via “viññāṇa paccayā nāmarūpa.” Going further back, “saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇa,” “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra.” Thus salāyatana arise as a series of mental actions starting with avijjā.

▪When one attains the Sotāpanna stage, some sensory inputs will not make the corresponding indriya become āyatana because the three saṁyojana have been removed. As one attains higher magga phala, this effect will continue. Thus, an Arahant (with all ten saṁyojana removed from the mind) will not generate āyatana.

Indriya Becoming Āyatana Happens in a Split Second

6. If the corresponding saṁyojana is not removed, an indriya will become an āyatana in a split second without us being aware.

▪The contamination of a mind does not happen in one step. It takes a series of steps, with the mind becoming increasingly contaminated at each step. Analyzing these steps requires effort and involves examining several suttās. Those with enough background can explore the steps discussed in “Purāṇa and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.” Otherwise, remember that an indriya becoming an āyatana happens in the very early stages of that “mind contamination process” upon receiving sensory input.

▪We start consciously accumulating kamma after the “taṇhā paccayā upādāna” step in the Idappaccayātā Paṭicca Samuppāda, where this “mind contamination” is analyzed from another point of view. It is also discussed in “Ārammaṇa (Sensory Input) Initiates Critical Processes”; see #7 and chart there.

Conscious Kamma Accumulation

7. After an indriya becomes an āyatana, in many cases, we may not pursue that sensory input. Conscious kamma accumulation (with kāya, vacī, and mano kamma) happens only if the mind gets firmly attached to sensory input. This step takes place depending on the gati of the person at that time.

▪To understand that point, let us consider the following two situations the same person may face within a single day. Suppose person X travels to work on a bus or a train in the morning. If someone accidentally bumps into X or steps on X’s foot, X may brush it off without a second thought, fully aware that it was an accident. Suppose X had a rough day at work and is in an agitated/angry state of mind on his way home. If someone accidentally steps on X’s foot, he may get angry and shout at that person. His state of mind (gati) has changed!

▪If that other person also gets angry, the situation can deteriorate, with both people getting increasingly irate. That also happens via many steps discussed in “Purāṇa and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.” Strong kamma generation occurs at the end of that process with kāya, vacī, and mano kamma. For example, angry exchanges of words (vacī kamma) may progress to kāya kamma if one pushes or hits the other person.

Indriya Bhāvanā = Ānāpānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna

8. As we saw above, it is impossible to stop an indriya from turning to an āyatana if the mind has not removed the corresponding saṁyojana. For example, for anyone below the Anāgāmi state, cakkhu indriya will turn into cakkhu āyatana upon seeing a sensual sight; jivhā indriya will turn into jivhā āyatana upon tasting honey. That happens automatically, without us having any control of it.

▪However, once we become conscious that we are attached to it, we can stop that activity (look away or stop eating in the above examples.)

▪Of course, we need to focus on the most egregious acts first. For example, when one sees an eye-catching object in a shop, one may automatically stop and take another look because cakkhu indriya has turned into cakkhu āyatana. However, once we become aware that the “mind has attached to that object,” we can decide not to pursue it and walk away. That is what we call “being mindful.”

▪Thus,  “indriya bhāvanā” is nothing but one aspect of the Satipaṭṭhāna/Ānāpānasati Bhāvanā. In fact, “indriya bhāvanā” is to be practiced not in a “sitting down” meditation session but during normal day-to-day activities.

Summary

9. Turning an indriya (sensory faculty) into an āyatana cannot be avoided if the mind has not removed the corresponding saṁyojana.

▪Thus, only Arahants use their sense faculties as indriya ALL THE TIME. They do not form attachments to body touches, tastes, odors, sounds (music), pictures, or any concept (thoughts).

▪Even an average human does not pursue all sensory inputs. We may see numerous things even during a short walk. Most of the things we see we just ignore because they don’t interest us. Once an indriya turns into an āyatana, the mind must attach to it in another step involving the “taṇhā paccayā upādāna” step for potent kamma accumulation to occur. Whether or not that step happens depends on the state of mind (or gati) at that moment. We discussed examples in #7 and #8 above.