dhātu
Elements
[ DHAA-too ]
Seeing it in life
An analytical framework expanding the āyatanas by including the six classes of consciousness, totalling eighteen elements.
In short
The eighteen elements — six bases, six objects, six consciousnesses.
The analysis
The eighteen dhātus expand the twelve āyatanas by adding the six classes of consciousness — eye-consciousness through mind-consciousness — that arise dependent on each internal-external pairing. Where āyatana names the bases available for contact, dhātu adds the resulting consciousness explicitly into the analytical framework.
Where it sits
Dhātu is one of several overlapping frameworks applied to the same underlying reality — khandha, āyatana, and dhātu all analyse experience, each with a different level of granularity and pedagogical purpose.
Seeing a familiar object involves, in this framework, eighteen dhātu: the eye-base, the visible-form base, and eye-consciousness, alongside the other fifteen elements present as the total field even though only three are actively engaged in that moment.
Commonly mistaken for
Physical elements in the modern chemical sense. This is a cognitive-analytical framework covering sense bases and consciousness, unrelated to elements in the scientific sense.
Redundant with āyatana. Dhātu specifically adds the six consciousnesses, making it a more complete framework.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha VII; Dhātu Vibhaṅga Sutta (MN 140).
Related terms