The term “interaction among the six sensory organs” is employed to refer to the merits of the Buddha who is capable of perfectly embracing in one sensory organ the abilities to “see, listen, smell, distinguish, feel, and understand.” This supernatural power has been widely discussed in “The Merits of Dharma Preachers” of The Dharma Flower Sutra, “The Illuminating Bodhisattva of Noble Virtues” of the Nirvana Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, and the Wurangama-Sutra, etc. In the 46th scroll of the 80-scroll Avatamsaka Sutra—“ Inconceivable Qualities of Buddhas,” we encounter a passage which goes thus “all the Buddhas can perform buddha-work originally done by ears through eyes, buddha-work originally done by nose through ears, buddha-work originally done by tongue through nose, buddha-work originally done by body through tongue, buddha-work originally done by intentions through body. The varieties of worldly phenomena arise from the workings of intentions.” Also, the Tang-dynasty Dharma Master Cheng-kuan, in the 73rd scroll of his Interpretations of the Avatamsaka Sutra, observed that “the buddha-work achieved by ears can well be performed by eyes, nose . . . and so forth, and vice versa. This is the so-called interaction among the six sensory organs.” This paper aims to discuss the meanings and the scientific evidences of the “interaction among the six sensory organs.” Moreover, the ten kinds of the “six sensory organs” recorded in the “Detachment from the World” of Avatamsaka Sutra and the Universal Liberation Sutra will be explored.
