& Elements

Body Parts

in Dhātuvibhaṅga Sutta (MN 140)

2

… head hairs, body hairs … feaces, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s hard, solid, and sustained [by craving]: This is called the internal earth element. Now both the internal earth element & the external earth element are simply earth element. And that should be seen as it has occurred with right paññā: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’

Earth Element

3

… bile, phlegm … urine, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s water, watery, & sustained [by craving]: This is called the internal water element. Now both the internal water element & the external water element are simply water element. And that should be seen as it has occurred with right paññā: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’

Water Element

4

… that by which [the body] is warmed, aged, & consumed with fever; and that by which what is eaten, drunk, consumed & tasted gets properly digested; or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s fire, fiery, & sustained [by craving]: This is called the internal fire element. Now both the internal fire element & the external fire element are simply fire element. And that should be seen as it has occurred with right paññā: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’

Fire Element

5

… up-going winds, down-going winds, winds in the stomach, winds in the intestines, winds that course through the body, in-and-out breathing, or anything else internal, within oneself, that’s wind, windy, & sustained [by craving]: This is called the internal wind element. Now both the internal wind element & the external wind element are simply wind element. And that should be seen as it has occurred with right paññā: ‘This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.’

Wind Element