Commentary

Between the Six Internal Bases and the Six External Bases are produced discriminations, which are called the Six Consciousness, namely, the eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness and mind-consciousness. The Six Consciousness and the Twelve Bases are together called the Eighteen Fields. Fields imply the meaning of groups and classifications. These fields form the foundations and conditions of all mental activities. That is, a person can be divided into eighteen fields, each having its own properties, characteristics and areas of activities. The Six Internal Bases are sensible organs, but the Six external Bases are insensible objects, while the Six Consciousness are discriminative power/ability. In emptiness, there is no Six Consciousness too.