Other frequently seen translations for dharma include "mental phenomena" (e.g., Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 1135ff.), "thoughts," "ideas" (e.g., Thanissaro, 2001a) and "contents of the mind" (VRI, 1996, p. 39) while some translators simply leave this word untranslated due to its complex overtones in the Pali literature.
Bodhi (2000b), p. 1140; and, Thanissaro (2001b). According to Bodhi (2000b), p. 1399, n. 7, the Pali commentary regarding the Sabba Sutta states: "...[I]f one passes over the twelve saḷāyatana, one cannot point out any real phenomenon." Also see Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 680, "Sabba" entry where sabbaŋ is defined as "the (whole) world of sense-experience."<
Bodhi (2005b), starting at time 50:00. Bodhi (2005b) references, for instance, Majjhima Nikaya Sutta No. 149, where the Buddha instructs:
"...[K]nowing & seeing the eye as it actually is present, knowing & seeing [visible] forms... consciousness at the eye... contact at the eye as they actually are present, knowing & seeing whatever arises conditioned through contact at the eye – experienced as pleasure, pain, or neither-pleasure-nor-pain – as it actually is present, one is not infatuated with the eye... forms... consciousness at the eye... contact at the eye... whatever arises.... The craving that makes for further becoming – accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now this & now that – is abandoned by him. His bodily disturbances & mental disturbances are abandoned. His bodily torments & mental torments are abandoned. His bodily distresses & mental distresses are abandoned. He is sensitive both to ease of body & ease of awareness..." (Thanissaro, 1998c).
Note that the Twelve Causes and Six Sextets describe the relationship between the saḷāyatana and consciousness in different ways. Relatedly, there are canonical discouses that put forth hybrid models of these various psychophysical factors, such as described in "The World Discourse" (Loka Sutta, SN 12.44) (Thanissaro, 1998b; and, Bodhi, 2005a, pp. 358–59) where the aforementioned six "sextets" (from the eye and form to craving) condition the last four "causes" (clinging, becoming, birth, old age & death) and suffering. In reference to this and similar "variant" discourses, Bodhi (2005a) notes:
"These variants make it plain that the sequence of factors should not be regarded as a linear causal process in which each preceding factor gives rise to its successor through the simple exercise of efficient causality. Far from being linear, the relationship among the factors is always complex, involving several interwoven strands of conditionality." (Bodhi, 2005a, p. 316.)
In the context of SN 35.197, the term "empty" might simply be meant to convey "passive." It could also be used in the Buddhist sense of self-less, as in anatta (see). In fact, in SN 35.85, the Buddha applies this latter notion of emptiness (suññata) to all internal and external saḷāyatana (Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 1163–64; and Thanissaro, 1997c).
Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1237–1239 (where this discourse is identified as SN 35.238); Buddhaghosa (1999), p. 490 (where this discourse is identified as S.iv,175); and, Thanissaro (2004).
Similarly, in the last sutta of the Samyutta Nikaya's Salayatana-samyutta, entitled "The Sheaf of Barley" (which Bodhi, 2000b, identifies as SN 35.248 and Thanissaro, 1998d, as SN 35.207), the Buddha describes the sense organs as "struck" or "thrashed" by "agreeable and disagreeable" sense objects (Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 1257–59; Thanissaro, 1998d).
Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1230–1231 (where this discourse is identified as SN 35.232); and, Thanissaro (1997b).
Thanissaro, 1993. For other references to the saḷāyatana as "the All," see Thanissaro (2001b) and Thanissaro (2001a). The saḷāyatana are "the All" insomuch that all we know of the world is known through the saḷāyatana.
Soma (1999), section entitled, "The Six Internal and the Six External Sense-bases."
>The greatest concentration of discourses related to the saḷāyatana is in the Samyutta Nikaya, chapter 35, entitled "The Book of the Six Sense Bases" (Saḷāyatana-vagga). For instance, in Bodhi (2000b) edition of the Samyutta Nikaya, this chapter alone has 248 discourses. The Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25) entry for "Āyatana" (p. 105) also mentions other discourses in each of the Pali nikayas.
Bodhi (2000b), p. 1140; and, Thanissaro (2001b). According to Bodhi (2000b), p. 1399, n. 7, the Pali commentary regarding the Sabba Sutta states: "...[I]f one passes over the twelve saḷāyatana, one cannot point out any real phenomenon." Also see Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 680, "Sabba" entry where sabbaŋ is defined as "the (whole) world of sense-experience."<
Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 446, entry for "Pasāda" (retrieved 2008-04-16 from "U. Chicago" at [1]).
doi.org
Ellis 2021, p. 2. Ellis, Gabriel (2021). "Āyatana, the Buddha's forgotten teaching". Academia Letters, Article 749. doi:10.20935/AL749.
Ellis 2021, p. 3. Ellis, Gabriel (2021). "Āyatana, the Buddha's forgotten teaching". Academia Letters, Article 749. doi:10.20935/AL749.
Ellis 2021, p. 1. Ellis, Gabriel (2021). "Āyatana, the Buddha's forgotten teaching". Academia Letters, Article 749. doi:10.20935/AL749.
Ellis 2021, p. 2-3. Ellis, Gabriel (2021). "Āyatana, the Buddha's forgotten teaching". Academia Letters, Article 749. doi:10.20935/AL749.
Vsm. XIV, 37 (trans. Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 443; square-bracketed text in original). The Pali (from the Burmese CSCD, retrieved 2008-04-16 from "VRI" at http://www.tipitaka.org/romn/cscd/e0102n.mul2.xml) associated with this passage is:
