Eighteen spheres
eighteen spheres (aṣṭādaśa-Dhātu, 十八界).
A sentient being is composed of the eighteen spheres:
the Six faculties (Eye, ear, nose, tongue, Body, and Mental faculty Manas),
the six sense objects (sights, sounds, scents, flavors, tactile sensations, and Mental objects),
and the six consciousnesses (Eye Consciousness, ear Consciousness, nose Consciousness, tongue Consciousness, Body Consciousness, and Mental Consciousness).
Mental Consciousness, the sixth Consciousness, functions by itself as well as together with the first five consciousnesses. As the Eye is the physical base from which Eye Consciousness arises, likewise Manas (Mental faculty) is the Mental base from which Mental Consciousness arises. In the Mahāyāna Doctrine, Manas is also designated as the seventh Consciousness, which has four inborn Defilements:
(1) self-Delusion (我癡),
(2) self-Love (我愛),
(3) self-view (我見), and
(4) self-Arrogance (我慢).
Ālaya, the eighth Consciousness, though not explicitly included in the eighteen spheres, is the root of them all.
