Dhātumanasikārapabba — Attention to the Nature of the Elements (Exercise 5 in Satipaṭṭhāna Practice) Reflections by Bhante Dr. Chandima
1.5. Kāyānupassanā Dhātumanasikārapabba
(Section on Attending to the Nature of the Elements as Mindfulness of the Body)
Again, monks, a bhikkhu reflects on this very body, however it may be placed or disposed, in terms of the elements: “In this body, there exists the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.”
- This passage introduces dhātu-manasikāra—mindful contemplation of the four great elements (mahābhūta). The reflection invites us to see the body as a natural formation, not a personal possession.
Tejo-dhātu (fire element) signifies temperature and metabolic
Vāyo-dhātu (air element) corresponds to movement—breath,
1.5.2
Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, dakkho goghātako vā goghātakantevāsī vā gāviṃ vadhitvā catumahāpathe bilaso vibhajitvā nisinno assa.
Just as monks, a skilled butcher or his apprentice, having slaughtered a cow, sits at a crossroads cutting it into pieces with his knife.
- This vivid simile emphasizes analytical discernment, not cruelty. Like a butcher separating flesh into parts without emotional involvement, the practitioner examines the body with precise attention. The comparison points to detachment through understanding—seeing that what we call “body” is merely a combination of physical elements. It is not to endorse harm but to cultivate dispassionate clarity: recognizing that attachment fades when we see the body as impersonal and transient.
In the same way, a bhikkhu reflects on this very body, however placed, in terms of the elements: “In this body, there exists the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.”
- Repetition in the early Buddhist texts serves reinforcement. The practitioner is encouraged to revisit this contemplation repeatedly—in sitting, walking, or lying down. Such ongoing reflection transforms ordinary awareness into wisdom-based mindfulness. By recognizing the elements within the body, one perceives continuity with the external world: earth joins earth, water joins water. This dissolves ego boundaries and fosters ecological humility and harmony with nature.
- The triadic formula—internal, external, and both—broadens mindfulness beyond the self. Observing one’s own body (ajjhattaṃ) cultivates introspective clarity; observing others’ bodies (bahiddhā) nurtures empathy and detachment; observing both dissolves the boundary of self and other, revealing universality in bodily processes.
- This section deepens contemplation into anicca-saññā—the perception of impermanence. One sees the body as a process, continuously arising and ceasing. Awareness of this flux uproots craving and builds insight into dukkha and anattā. The body is no longer “mine,” but a transient flow of conditions.
- At this stage, awareness becomes purified of grasping. The practitioner does not think “I am the body,” but merely recognizes “there is a body.” This detached observation marks the maturity of mindfulness: awareness for the sake of knowing, not for owning. One abides free from worldly attachment (anissito ca viharati).
- This refrain concludes each section of kāyānupassanā, reinforcing the integration of mindfulness into bodily existence. The phrase “observing the body in the body” (kāye kāyānupassī viharati) points to direct, experiential awareness—not of concepts about the body, but of the living reality itself as it unfolds in the present.
1) Why six elements in MN 140 but four in Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10)?
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Different scope & purpose.
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In Satipaṭṭhāna (e.g., kāyānupassanā dhātumanasikāra), the Buddha has you contemplate the body as the four great elements: pathavī (earth/solidity), āpo (water/cohesion), tejo (fire/temperature), vāyo (air/motion). This keeps the exercise strictly somatic.
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In MN 140, the Buddha expands the analysis beyond the body to include:
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ākāsa-dhātu (space/room/cavities) — to undercut reification of “something in-between” the solids and fluids.
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viññāṇa-dhātu (consciousness element) — to dismantle identification with knowing/experiencing itself.
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So: Satipaṭṭhāna uses 4 Dhātu to deconstruct the body; Dhātuvibhaṅga uses 6 Dhātu to deconstruct the whole person (matter + space + consciousness).
A. Six Elements (cha dhātuyo)
Pathavī, Āpo, Tejo, Vāyo, Ākāsa, Viññāṇa (consciousness).
Source:
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Mahārāhulovāda Sutta (MN 62) — Buddha explains how to bring wisdom through the six elements
Function:
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Comprehensive deconstruction of personality (puggala).
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Combines material, spatial, and mental elements.
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Leads to nibbidā (disenchantment) and virāga (fading of unwholesome passion) → muni santo (sage at peace).
B. Eighteen Elements (aṭṭhārasa dhātuyo)
= 6 internal sense bases (ajjhattikāni āyatanāni)
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6 external sense objects (bāhirāni āyatanāni)
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6 corresponding consciousnesses (viññāṇa-dhātuyo).
The Buddha calls one “skilled in elements” who knows and sees these triads:
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cakkhu-dhātu, rūpa-dhātu, cakkhu-viññāṇa-dhātu — eye, forms, eye-consciousness
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sota-dhātu, sadda-dhātu, sota-viññāṇa-dhātu — ear, sounds, ear-consciousness
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ghāna-dhātu, gandha-dhātu, ghāna-viññāṇa-dhātu — nose, odors, nose-consciousness
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jivhā-dhātu, rasa-dhātu, jivhā-viññāṇa-dhātu — tongue, tastes, tongue-consciousness
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kāya-dhātu, phoṭṭhabba-dhātu, kāya-viññāṇa-dhātu — body, tangibles, body-consciousness
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mano-dhātu, dhamma-dhātu, manoviññāṇa-dhātu — mind, mental objects, mind-consciousness
Sources:
C. Six hedonic/cognitive elements
sukha-dhātu (pleasure)
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dukkha-dhātu (pain)
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somanassa-dhātu (happiness/mental pleasure)
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domanassa-dhātu (sadness/mental pain)
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upekkhā-dhātu (equanimity)
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avijjā-dhātu (ignorance)
D. Six ethical-orientation elements (three dyads)
kāma-dhātu vs nekkhamma-dhātu — sensuality ↔ renunciation
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byāpāda-dhātu vs abyāpāda-dhātu — malice ↔ good will
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vihiṃsā-dhātu vs avihiṃsā-dhātu — cruelty ↔ harmlessness
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kāmāvacara-dhātu (sense-realm)
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rūpāvacara-dhātu (form-realm)
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arūpāvacara-dhātu (formless-realm)
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saṅkhata-dhātu (the conditioned element)
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asaṅkhata-dhātu (the unconditioned element — nibbāna)
The earth element in your parents came from their food — food came from plants — plants drew minerals from the soil — the soil came from the decay of past bodies. So in reality, your body is ancestrally shared with the whole ecosystem. The elements never belong to anyone; they simply reassemble for a short time as “you.”
You Never Touch the Same World Twice
Every touch, sight, and breath is a meeting of ever-shifting dhātus — your tejo (heat) balances with the air’s vāyo, your skin’s āpo with ambient humidity. The “same world” you think you wake to each morning has already dissolved and re-arisen countless times before breakfast.
Your Body Is Borrowed Matter on Temporary Lease
The pathavī-dhātu in your bones came from soil and will soon return there; the āpo-dhātu you drink is ancient river water passing through you. To realize this is to live lightly — a renter of the cosmos, not its owner.
Emotions Are Just Weather in Elemental Form
Anger? Surging tejo. Fear? Disturbed vāyo. Sadness? Heavy āpo. Joy? Expansive ākāsa. When you see feelings as elemental weather, you stop saying “I am angry” and start noticing “fire is rising.” The storm ends faster.
Eating Is a Ritual of Elemental Communion
Each meal is earth’s solidity, water’s liquidity, fire’s transformation, air’s motion, and consciousness’s knowing converging in one bite. Gratitude deepens when we taste not “my lunch” but “the universe feeding itself.”
Technology Is Made of the Same Elements as You
Your phone’s metal is pathavī; its circuits run on tejo; your touch transfers āpo; its vibration mirrors vāyo; the digital space it opens is ākāsa; your awareness using it is viññāṇa-dhātu. The ancient elements didn’t vanish — they evolved into your screens.
There Is No Real Boundary Between Inside and Outside
The air you inhale a moment ago was exhaled by trees; the heat in your skin radiates into space. Dhātu insight shows that “in here” and “out there” are linguistic conveniences — reality breathes as one continuous pulse.
Death Is Just an Elemental Rearrangement
When life ends, nothing actually disappears — pathavī returns to soil, āpo to water, tejo to warmth, vāyo to wind, viññāṇa to the untraceable continuum of conditions. The person dies, but the elements merely shift dance partners.
Peace Is Found When the Elements Cease Competing
Restlessness, greed, and delusion arise when one dhātu tries to dominate the rest — too much fire, too little water, unbalanced air. Mindful living is ecological balance within: a micro-universe in harmony.
4) Dhātu from a Medicinal and Healing Perspective
The Body as a Balance of Elements
Health is equilibrium among the mahābhūta — pathavī (solidity), āpo (fluidity), tejo (heat), and vāyo (motion).
When any element dominates or weakens, disease arises.
→ Too much tejo causes fever; too much āpo leads to congestion; too much vāyo brings anxiety or tremors.
Medicinal wisdom: Healing is not suppression but balancing the elemental dance.
Digestion as the Fire Element (Tejo-dhātu) in Action
Metabolism (agni) is the physician within — transforming food into energy and tissue.
If tejo is weak, toxins (āma) accumulate; if excessive, inflammation burns the system.
Practice: mindful eating, moderate spice, calm emotions — all regulate the inner fire.
Healing reflection: “When the fire burns evenly, clarity and vitality arise.”
Circulation and Emotion Flow with the Water Element (Āpo-dhātu)
Blood, lymph, and emotional calm depend on proper āpo.
Dehydration, grief, or excess desire disturb the body’s liquidity.
Practice: hydrating consciously, staying near natural water, cultivating compassion (metta) — all soothe āpo.
Healing reflection: “Gentleness is medicine; still water heals the storm.”
Nervous System and Breath Governed by the Air Element (Vāyo-dhātu)
Breathing, nerve conduction, muscle movement — all depend on vāyo.
When vāyo is erratic, we see insomnia, anxiety, tremors, or panic.
Practice: rhythmic breathing, stable routine, grounding touch, mindful walking.
Healing reflection: “Each breath restores the rhythm of the cosmos.”
Muscles and Bones as Expressions of Earth Element (Pathavī-dhātu)
Stability, endurance, and immunity depend on strong pathavī.
Poor nutrition, excessive travel, and chronic fear erode it.
Practice: wholesome diet, sleep, mindfulness of posture, gratitude for the body.
Healing reflection: “Firmness is kindness to the body.”
Mental Clarity and Warmth from Balanced Fire and Water
Mind and body share the same elemental harmony:
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Too much fire = irritability, anger, restlessness.
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Too much water = lethargy, dullness, craving.
Therapy: meditation, moderate diet, balanced lifestyle restore mental dhātu-samatā (elemental harmony of mind). Healing reflection: “Cool mind, warm heart — the perfect medicine.”
Disease as Elemental Imbalance, Healing as Re-alignment
From both Buddhist and Āyurvedic views, illness is not punishment but disharmony in elemental relations.
Right conduct (sīla), right mindfulness (sati), and right energy (viriya) are medicine for both body and mind.
Healing reflection: “When the elements are purified, the mind becomes a physician.”
Mindful Awareness as the Ultimate Medicine
The Dhātuvibhaṅga Sutta teaches contemplation of the elements as a diagnostic and curative process:
When you see sensations as earth, water, fire, air, attachment dissolves and psychosomatic stress heals.
Modern psychoneuroimmunology echoes this — awareness itself rebalances biochemistry.
Healing reflection: “Knowing the elements heals the one who knows.”
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