final point of manifestation: prthvi (earth) jala (water) tejas (fire) vāyu (air) ākāśa (ether or space) While mahābhūtas are the basis for the material world, tanmātras are but limited aspects and views of it, in no way able to fully describe it. We cannot actually perceive the reality, all we can access are limited "bands" of information that form a description of reality. These bands of information are the five tanmātras. This restriction however applies only to the limited beings (jiva, or ). For one who has gone beyond māyā, in the realm of the pure tattvas, there can be direct perception of reality, because as one's self is Ātman, so are the external objects. In such a state an enlightened being can perceive the world beyond the five senses (direct perception), in a state of diversity in unity and unity in diversity. See also , the four spheres of reality Tattva (Samkhya) Shaiva Siddhanta Trika Three Bodies Doctrine (Vedanta) References Sources pag. 1 cap. 6 and 7 Singh, Jaideva (1979). Siva Sutras: The Yoga of Supreme Identity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. External links Tattvas-36 Piyaray L. Raina, Kashmir Shaivism versus Vedanta – A Synopsis (includes an overview of the tattvas) Daniel Odier, SHIVA AND HIS UNIVERSAL MANIFESTATION Kashmir Shaivism Hindu philosophical concepts Spiritual faculties Hindu tantra Tantric practices