The Five Sense Powers (indriya, dbang po)

The five sense powers are neither the coarse sense organs nor the consciousness associated with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue or body. Rather, they are clear matter located in the organs that give their respective consciousnesses power to cognize certain objects. For instance, the eye sense power has power with respect to visible forms, colors and shapes.

The five sense powers are:

• eye sense power (chaksurindriya, mig gi dbang po)
• ear sense power (shrotrendriya, rna ba’i dbang po)
• nose sense power (ghranendriya, sna’i dbang po)
• tongue sense power (jihvendriya, lce’i dbang po)
• body sense power (kayendriya, lus kyi dbang po)