Question

Gérard, could you explain what the twelve entries are?

Answer

In the explanation of the five aggregates, we saw that the bodily element (form) is broken down into inner form and outer form. The twelve entries represent the process by which we perceive the external world, at the level of form. Just as form is subdivided into inner form and outer form, the twelve entries are divided into six internal entries and six external entries, the six internal entries corresponding to the inner form and the six external entries to the outer form. The six internal entries are called "the six roots", while the six external entries are called "the six cognitive objects", that is to say that which is perceptible to us through the sense organs or the mind.

Each of the internal entry (roots) has a corresponding external entry (object). The concordance between each of the roots and its relative object is at the origin of all the systems of perception and knowledge.

Let's now examine each of the twelve entries, starting with the six internal inputs, that is to say the roots.

1.       Entry of the eye, also known as the visual root or the root of the eye. This is where colors and shapes enter us.

It refers to the whole of the visual system that enables us to perceive colors and therefore shapes.

2.       Entry of the ear, also known as the auditory root or the root of the ear. This is where sound enters us.

It refers to the entire auditory system that enables us to perceive sounds.

3.       Nose entry, also known as the olfactory root or nasal root. This is where odors enter us.

It refers to the olfactory system as a whole, which enables odors to be perceived.

4.       Entry of the tongue, also known as the gustatory root or root of the tongue. This is where flavors enter us.

It refers to the whole of the gustatory system which enables flavors to be perceived.

5.       Body entry, also called body root or body root. This is where physical sensations enter us, for example the sensation of hot and cold, wet and dry, hard and soft.

It refers to the whole of the physical sensory system linked to the skin and the nervous system that enables us to perceive the body "internally".

6.       Entry of the mind, also called mental root or root of the mind. Compared with the previous five roots, which are purely physical, this one refers to the mind's ability to represent things, and therefore to the inner perception that constantly receives the various images that arise in our mind.

Let's now look at the six external entries.

1.         Color entry, also called visible object. It refers to colors and shapes that can be perceived by sight.

2.         Sound entry, also called audible object. Human voices, animal cries and the noises made by objects when they collide or move are included in this input.

3.         Smell entry, also known as an olfactory object. There are different kinds of smells, pleasant and unpleasant etc.

4.         Flavor entry, also known as the taste object. There are different types of flavor: salty, acidic, bitter, sweet, pungent and bland.

5.         Contact entry, also known as tactile object. There are different kinds of contact, linked to the qualities of the four great elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Earth corresponds to solidity, water to humidity, fire to heat and wind to mobility. It should be noted that the same thing can present at the same time a combination of several of the great elements and give at the same time the impressions of coldness, heaviness and humidity.

6.         entry of the dharmas, also called the object of the intellect. Here, the word dharma has the meaning of that which is perceptible by thought, which therefore includes both objects that really exist and others that do not.

It therefore refers to all the information that reaches us either from outside or from our own mind and that is not included in the five previous entries.

In this way, our roots perceive objects that are in our environment and therefore apparently external to us. It is important to note that in Buddhism, the only objects that exist are those that penetrate our field of perception, that is to say those that come into contact with our six roots, which, incidentally, are only a reflection of our consciousness.