Difference between revisions of "Skandha" - New World Encyclopedia

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The five '''skandhas''' ([[Sanskrit]]: स्कान्धास) or '''khandhas''' ([[Pāli]]: खान्धास) are the five "aggregates" which categorize or constitute all individual experience according to [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[phenomenology]]. An important corollary in Buddhism is that a "person" is made up of these five aggregates, beyond which there is [[anatta|no "self"]].
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{{PancaKhandha}}
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In [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] doctrine and [[metaphysics]], the word '''skandha''' (Sanskrit: स्कान्धास) refers to the five "aggregate" elements that are said to comprise the psychophysical personality. These five aggregates are: Form ''(rūpa),''<ref>In Philip Rawson (1991, 11), the first skandha is defined as: "Name and form (Sanskrit ''nāma-rūpa,'' Tibetan ''gzugs'')…." In the Pali literature, ''nāma-rūpa'' traditionally refers to the first four aggregates, as opposed to the fifth aggregate, consciousness.</ref> feeling ''(vedanā),''<ref>Generally, ''vedanā'' is considered to ''not'' include "emotions." For example, Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000a, 80) writes: "The Pali word ''vedanā'' does not signify emotion (which appears to be a complex phenomenon involving a variety of concomitant mental factors), but the bare affective quality of an experience, which may be either pleasant, painful or neutral." Correspondingly, Chögyam Trungpa (2001, 32) notes: "In this case 'feeling' is not quite our ordinary notion of feeling. It is not the feeling we take so seriously as, for instance, when we say, 'He hurt my feelings.' This kind of feeling that we take so seriously belongs to the fourth and fifth skandhas of concept and consciousness."</ref> perception ''(samjñā),''<ref>In some [[sutra]]s, it is explicitly tied to all types of sensory experience: "These six classes of perception—perception of form, perception of sound, perception of smell, perception of taste, perception of tactile sensation, perception of ideas: This is called perception." ''Samyutta Nikaya'' 22.57. Translated by Bhikkhu Thanissaro, [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.057.than.html Sattatthana Sutta], ''accesstoinsight.org.'' Retrieved October 19, 2008.</ref> consciousness (Skt. ''vijñāna,'' Pāli ''viññāṇa''), and reasoning (Skt. ''vāsanā'' or ''samskāra'').<ref> The [[Abhidhamma]] divides ''sankhāra'' into 50 mental factors consisting of all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object (Bodhi 2000a, 26).</ref> The term skandha can also mean "compound, mass, heap, bundle, or tree trunk."<ref>Thanissaro (2002). Also see, for example, Thanissaro (2005) [MN 13], where ''khandha'' is translated as "mass" in the phrase ''dukkhakkhandha'' (which Thanissaro translates as "mass of stress"), and Thanissaro (1998) [MN 44] where ''khandha'' is translated as "aggregate" but in terms of bundling the [[Noble Eightfold Path]] into the categories of virtue ''(silakkhandha),'' concentration ''(samadhikkhandha),'' and wisdom ''(pannakkhandha).''</ref>
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According to the teachings of the [[Buddha]], a proper understanding of the Skandhas is an important step towards the attainment of [[Nirvana]] (freedom from suffering). In the [[Theravada]] tradition of [[Buddhism]], suffering ''(dukkha)'' arises when one identifies with, or otherwise clings to, an aggregate; suffering is extinguished therefore by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. In the [[Mahayana]] ([[Madhyamika]]) tradition of Buddhism, ultimate freedom is said to be realized by deeply penetrating the intrinsically [[Sunyata|empty nature]] of all aggregates. These doctrinal developments arose out of Buddhist metaphysics, which denies the existence of any eternal soul ''(atman)'' outside of this aggregation.
  
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In the [[Theravada]] tradition, [[Dukkha|suffering]] arises when one identifies with or otherwise [[upadana|clings]] to an aggregate; hence, suffering is [[nibbana|extinguished]] by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. The [[Mahayana]] tradition further puts forth that [[nirvana|ultimate freedom]] is realized by [[Prajnaparamita|deeply penetrating]] the intrinsically [[Shunyata|empty nature]] of all aggregates.
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==Enumeration and relationship==
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In the [[Pali canon]], the aggregates are causally related as follows:<ref>See, for instance, [[Samyutta Nikaya|SN]] 35.93, "The Dyad (2)" (Bodhi 2000b, 1172–1173).</ref>
  
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Outside of Buddhist didactic contexts, "skandha" can mean mass, heap, bundle or tree trunk.<ref>Thanissaro (2002).  Also see, for example, Thanissaro (2005) where ''khandha'' is translated as "mass" in the phrase ''dukkhakkhandha'' (which Thanissaro translates as "mass of stress") and Thanissaro (1998) where ''khandha'' is translated as "aggregate" but in terms of bundling the [[Noble Eightfold Path]] into the categories of virtue (''silakkhandha''), concentration (''samadhikkhandha'') and wisdom (''pannakkhandha'').</ref>
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*'''Form''' ''(rupa)'' arises from experientially irreducible physical/physiological phenomena.<ref>In terms of how these phenomena are analyzed in traditional Buddhist texts, see the description of the "Great Elements" in the [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.140.than.html Dhatu-vibhanga Sutta], ''accesstoinsight.org.'' Retrieved October 19, 2008.</ref>
  
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==Definition==
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*Form—in terms of an external object (such as a sound) and its associated sense organ (such as the ear)—gives rise to '''consciousness''' ''(viññāṇa).''<ref>In the Pali canon, the concurrence of an object, its sense organ, and the related consciousness ''(viññāṇa)'' is called "contact" ''(phassa).'' In addition to referring to the five '''form'''-derived sense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body), their associated objects and consciousness, ''phassa'' also pertains to these aspects of '''mentality''' ''(nama)'': Mind, mind objects, and mind-consciousness. In the [[Abhidhamma]] (e.g., see Bodhi 2000a, 78), ''phassa'' is a mental factor, the means by which consciousness "touches" an object.</ref><ref>Traditional Buddhist texts do not directly address Western philosophy's so-called [[Philosophy of Mind|mind-body problem]] since in Buddhism the exploration of the aggregates is not primarily to ascertain ultimate empirical reality but to obtain ultimate release from suffering.</ref>
  
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Buddhist doctrine describes five aggregates:<ref>Contemporary writers (such as [[Chogyam Trungpa|Trungpa Rinpoche]] and [[Bill Porter (author)|Red Pine]]) sometimes conceptualize the five aggregates as "one physical and four mental" aggregates.  More traditional Buddhist literature (such as the [[Abhidhamma]]) might speak of one physical aggregate (form), three mental factors (sensation, perception and mental formations) and consciousness.</ref>
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*From the contact of form and consciousness arise the three mental ''(nāma)'' aggregates of '''feeling''' ''(vedanā),'' '''perception''' ''(saññā),'' and '''mental formation''' ''(sankhāra).''<ref>A mental aggregate arises either from conscious contact with form or from another mental aggregate (Bodhi 2000a, 78ff).</ref>
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#'''"form"''' or '''"matter"'''<ref>In Rawson (1991:  p.11), the first skandha is defined as:  "name and form (Sanskrit ''nāma-rūpa'', Tibetan ''gzugs'')...".  In the [[Pali literature]], ''[[Namarupa|nāma-rūpa]]'' traditionally refers to the first four aggregates, as opposed to the fifth aggregate, consciousness.</ref> (Skt., Pāli ''[[rūpa]]'', Tib. ''gzugs''):<br>external and internal matter.  Externally, ''rupa'' is the physical world. Internally, ''rupa'' includes the material body and the physical sense organs.<ref>External and internal manifestations of ''rupa'' are described, for instance, in Bodhi (2000b), p. 48.</ref>
 
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#'''"sensation"''' or '''"feeling"''' (Skt., Pāli ''[[vedanā]]'', Tib. ''tshor-ba''):<br> sensing an object<ref>In these definitions, "object" refers to either a cognized form (what Western epistemologists might refer to as "sense data") or a mental expression, such as a cognized memory.</ref> as either pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.<ref>The Pali canon universally identifies that ''vedana'' involves the sensing or feeling of something as pleasant or unpleasant or neutral (see, for instance, SN 22).  When contemporary authors elaborate on ''vedana'', they define it similarly (see, for instance, [[Nhat Hanh]], 1999, p. 178; Trungpa, 2001, p. 21; and, Trungpa, 2002, p. 126).  The one exception is in Trungpa (1976), pp. 20-23, where he states that the "strategies or impluses" of "indifference, passion and aggression" are "part of the third  stage [aggregate]," "guided by perception."  (This section of Trungpa, 1976, is anthologized in Trungpa, 1999, pp. 55-58.)</ref><ref>Generally, ''vedanā'' is considered to ''not'' include "emotions." For example, Bodhi (2000a), p. 80, writes: "The Pali word ''vedanā'' does not signify emotion (which appears to be a complex phenomenon involving a variety of concomitant mental factors), but the bare affective quality of an experience, which may be either pleasant, painful or neutral."  Perhaps somewhat similarly, Trungpa (1999), p.58, writes: "Consciousness [the fifth aggregate] consists of emotions and irregular thought patterns...."  And Trungpa (2001), p. 32, notes: "In this case 'feeling' is not quite our ordinary notion of feeling.  It is not the feeling we take so seriously as, for instance, when we say, 'He hurt my feelings.' This kind of feeling that we take so seriously belongs to the fourth and fifth skandhas of concept and consciousness."</ref>
 
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#'''"perception"''' or '''"cognition"''' (Skt. ''samjñā'', Pāli ''[[saññā]]'', Tib. ''hdu-shes''):<br> registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).<ref>From ''samyutta-ñana'', conditioned knowledge.{{citation needed}}</ref><ref>It is ordinarily conditioned by ones past ''[[sankhara]]'', and therefore conveys a coloured image of reality.{{citation needed}}</ref><ref>In the practice of [[vipassana]], sañña is changed into pañña, the understanding of reality as it is. It becomes anicca-sañña, dukkha-sañña, anatta-sañña, asubha-sañña—that is, the perception of impermanence, suffering, egolessness, and of the illusory nature of physical beauty.{{citation needed}}</ref>
 
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#'''"mental formations"''' or '''"volition"''' (Skt. "vāsanā" or ''samskāra'', Pāli ''[[sankhāra]]'', Tib. ''hdu-byed'') :<br> all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.<ref>The [[Abhidhamma]] divides ''sankhāra'' into fifty mental factors (Bodhi, 2000a, p. 26).  Trungpa (2001), pp. 47ff, states that there are fifty-one "general types" of ''samskara''.</ref><ref>''Sankhāra'' are the source of ''[[karma]]''.{{citation needed}}</ref>
 
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#'''"consciousness"''' (Skt. ''visjñāna'', Pāli ''[[viññāṇa]]''<ref>According to the Visuddhimagga XIV.82, the Pali terms ''viññāṇa'', ''citta'' and ''mano'' are synonymous (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 453).  However, Trungpa (2001, p. 73) distinguishes between ''viññāṇa'' and ''citta'', stating that ''viññāṇa'' (consciousness) is "articulated and intelligent" while ''citta'' (mind) is a "simple instinctive function .... very direct, simple and subtle at the same time."</ref>, Tib. ''nam-par-shes-pa''):
 
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::(a) ''In the [[Nikayas]]:'' cognizance.<ref>See, for instance, [[Samyutta Nikaya|SN]] 22.79, "Being Devoured" (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 915).</ref><ref>In commenting on the use of "consciousness" in SN 22.3[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.003.than.html], Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1046-7, ''n.'' 18, states:<blockquote>"The passage confirms the privileged status of consciousness among the five aggregates.  While all the aggregates are conditioned phenomena marked by the [[three characteristics]], consciousness serves as the connecting thread of personal continuity through the sequence of rebirths.... The other four aggregates serve as the 'stations for consciousness' (''vinnanatthitiyo'': see [SN] 22:53-54).  Even consciousness, however, is not a self-identical entity but a sequence of dependently arisen occasions of cognizing; see MN I 256-60."</blockquote></ref>
 
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::(b) ''In the [[Abhidhamma]]:'' a series of rapidly changing interconnected discrete acts of cognizance.<ref>This conception of consciousness is found in the Theravada [[Abhidhamma]] (Bodhi, 2000a, p. 29).</ref>
 
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::(c) ''In [[Mahayana]] sources:'' the base that supports all experience.<ref>While not necessarily contradicted by the [[Nikayas]], this is a particularly [[Mahayana]] statement.  For instance, Nhat Hanh (1999, pp. 180-1) states: "Consciousness here means [[store consciousness]], which is at the base of everything we are, the ground of all of our mental formations."  Similarly, Trungpa (2001, pp. 73-4) states that consciousness "is the finally developed state of being that contains all the previous elements....  [C]onsciousness constitutes an immediately available source of occupation for the momentum of the skandhas to feed on."</ref>
 
  
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See [[#References in Buddhist literature|Table 1]] for examples of definitional references to the aggregates in [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist primary sources]].
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In this scheme, physical form, the mental aggregates,<ref>Form and the mental aggregates together are technically referred to as ''nāmarūpa,'' which is variously defined as "name-and-form," "materiality-mentality," and "matter-mind." Bodhi (2000b, 47–48) mentions that Ñāṇamoli translated ''nāmarūpa'' as "mentality-materiality," which Bodhi assesses to be "in some respects … doctrinally more accurate, but it is also unwieldy…." Bodhi goes on to note that "in the Nikāyas, ''nāmarūpa'' does not include ''consciousness'' (viññāṇa)."</ref> and consciousness are mutually dependent.<ref>According to Bodhi (2000b, 48), based on suttas in SN 14, consciousness "can operate only in dependence on a physical body ''(rūpa)'' and in conjunction with its constellation of concomitants ''(nāma)''; conversely, only when consciousness is present can a compound of material elements function as a sentient body and the mental concomitants participate in cognition." Also, for example, see the Nagara Sutta ("The City," SN 12:65) (Thanissaro 1997a), where the Buddha in part states: "[F]rom name-&-form as a requisite condition comes consciousness, from consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form."</ref> Other Buddhist literature has described the aggregates as arising in a linear or progressive fashion, from form to feeling to perception to mental formations to consciousness. (Trungpa 2001, 36–37) In regards to these aggregates:
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*The first five <u>sense organs</u> (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) are derivatives of '''form.''' The sixth sense organ (mind) is part of '''consciousness.'''
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*The first five <u>sense objects</u> (visible forms, sound, smell, taste, touch) are also derivatives of '''form.''' The sixth sense object (mental object) includes '''form,''' '''sensation,''' '''perception,''' and '''mental formations.'''
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*The <u>six sense consciousness</u> is the basis for '''consciousness.'''<ref>Bodhi (2000a, 287–288)</ref>
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Traditional Buddhist literature (such as the [[Abhidhamma]]) speaks of one physical aggregate (form), three mental factors (sensation, perception, and mental formations) and consciousness. Contemporary writers (such as Trungpa Rinpoche and Red Pine) sometimes conceptualize the five aggregates as "one physical and four mental" aggregates.  
  
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In the [[Pali canon]], the aggregates are causally related as follows:<ref>See, for instance, [[Samyutta Nikaya|SN]] 35.93, "The Dyad (2)" (Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 1172-3).</ref>
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(See [[#References in Buddhist literature|Table 1]] for examples of definitional references to the aggregates in the Buddhist canon.)
  
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<table><tr><td>
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==Role in Buddhist metaphysics and soteriology==
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*'''Form''' (''rupa'') arises from experientially irreducible physical/physiological phenomena.<ref>In terms of how these phenomena are analysed in traditional Buddhist texts, see the [[mahabhuta|four "Great Elements"]].</ref>
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In the [[Buddha]]'s first discourse, the ''Dhammacakkappavattana'' Sutta" ("The Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth Discourse,"<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html Samyutta Nikaya 56:11], ''accesstoinsight.org.'' Retrieved October 19, 2008.</ref> he mentions the role of the skandhas as follows:
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<blockquote>The Noble Truth of Suffering ''(dukkha),'' monks, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, dissociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to receive what one desires is suffering—in brief the five aggregates subject to grasping are suffering.<ref>Translated from the Pali by Thera Piyadassi (1999) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth''], ''accesstoinsight.org'' (boldface added). Retrieved October 19, 2008.</ref></blockquote>
  
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*Form &ndash; in terms of an external object (such as a sound) and its associated sense organ (such as the ear) &ndash; gives rise to '''consciousness''' (''viññāṇa'').<ref>In the Pali canon, the concurrence of an object, its sense organ and the related consciousness  (''viññāṇa'') is called "contact" (''[[phassa]]'').  In addition to referring to the five '''form'''-derived sense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body), their associated objects and consciousness, ''phassa'' also pertains to these aspects of '''mentality''' (''nama''): mind, mind objects and mind-consciousness. In the [[Abhidhamma]] (e.g., see Bodhi, 2000a, p. 78), ''phassa'' is a mental factor, the means by which consciousness "touches" an object.</ref><ref>Traditional Buddhist texts do not directly address Western philosophy's so-called [[Philosophy of Mind|mind-body problem]] since in Buddhism the exploration of the aggregates is not primarily to ascertain ultimate empirical reality but to obtain ultimate release from suffering.</ref>  
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According to Thanissaro (2002):
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<blockquote>Prior to the Buddha, the Pali word khandha had very ordinary meanings: A khandha could be a pile, a bundle, a heap, a mass. It could also be the trunk of a tree. In his first sermon, though, the Buddha gave it a new, psychological meaning, introducing the term "clinging-khandhas" to summarize his analysis of the truth of stress and suffering. Throughout the remainder of his teaching career, he referred to these psychological khandhas time and again.</blockquote>
  
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*From the contact of form and consciousness arise the three mental (''nāma'') aggregates of '''feeling''' (''vedanā''), '''perception''' (''saññā'') and '''mental formation''' (''sankhāra'').<ref>A mental aggregate arises either from conscious contact with form or from another mental aggregate (Bodhi, 2000a, pp. 78ff).</ref>
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The Buddha taught that self-identifying with an aggregate would, by necessity, lead to clinging ''(upadana)''<ref>Note that, in Buddhism, one ''clings'' to (guards) something they have (or mistakenly believe they have), whereas one ''craves'' (searches) for that which they lack. (See the articles on [[upadana]] and [[tanha]] for references.) Thus, the notion of the "''clinging'' aggregates" refers to things with which we identify or which we think we can possess. When, instead, one ''desires'' such things, it is technically ''craving,'' not clinging.</ref> to that element; and, given that all aggregates are impermanent ''(anicca),'' it is invariable that this attachment would eventually yield agitation ''(paritassati),'' loss, grief, stress, or suffering. Therefore, to be free of suffering required the wisdom to experience the aggregates clearly, without clinging or craving ''([[tanha]]),'' and without associating them with any notion of self ''(anatta).'' For example, if one believes "this body is mine" or "I exist within this body," then as their body ages, becomes ill, and approaches death, such a person will likely experience longing for youth or health or eternal life, will likely dread aging, sickness, and death, and will likely spend much time and energy lost in fears, fantasies, and ultimately futile activities.  
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<table style="background:#FFFFFF; font=large; text-align=center">
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In the Nikayas, such is likened to shooting oneself with a second arrow, where the first arrow is a physical phenomenon (such as, in this case, a bodily manifestation associated with aging or illness or dying) and the second is the mental anguish of the undisciplined mind associated with the physical phenomenon (see the Sallatha Sutta<ref>For on-line translations of the Sallatha Sutta ("The Arrow" or "The Dart," SN 36.6), see Thanissaro (1997c) and Nyanaponika (1998).</ref>). Conversely, it is said that one with a disciplined mind, who is able to see this body as a set of aggregates, will be free of such fear, frustration, and time-consuming escapism.
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<tr>
 
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<td style="background:#ADFF2F; color:black" width="48" rowspan="3">form</td>
 
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<td rowspan="3">↔</td>
 
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<td style="background:#B0C4DE; color:black" width="48" rowspan="3">con-<br>scious-<br>ness</td>
 
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<td rowspan="3">↔</td>
 
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<td style="background:#FFD700; color:black" width="48" rowspan="1">feeling</td>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr><td style="background:#FFD700; color:black" rowspan="1">perception</tr>
 
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<tr><td style="background:#FFD700; color:black" rowspan="1">formation</tr>
 
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</table>
 
  
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The way in which one becomes aware of one's own identification with (thus clinging to) the aggregates is found in Buddhist mindfulness practices that are said to awaken understanding, release, and wisdom.
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<center>''Aggregates' interactions (as represented in the Pali canon).''</center>
 
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</td></tr></table>
 
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<p>
 
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In this scheme, form, the mental aggregates,<ref>Form and the mental aggregates together are technically referred to as ''[[namarupa|nāmarūpa]]'', which is variously defined as "name-and-form," "materiality-mentality" and "matter-mind."  Bodhi (2000b), pp. 47-48, mentions that Ñāṇamoli translated ''nāmarūpa'' as "mentality-materiality," which Bodhi assesses to be "[i]n some respects ... doctrinally more accurate, but it is also unwieldy...."  Bodhi goes on to note that, "in the Nikāyas, ''nāmarūpa'' does not include ''consciousness'' (viññāṇa)."</ref> and consciousness are mutually dependent.<ref>According to Bodhi (2000b), p. 48, based on suttas in SN 14, consciousness "can operate only in dependenece on a physical body (''rūpa'') and in conjunction with its constellation of concomitants (''nāma''); conversely, only when consciousness is present can a compound of material elements function as a sentient body and the mental concomitants participate in cognition." Also, for example, see the Nagara Sutta ("The City," SN 12:65) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.065.than.html (Thanissaro, 1997a)], where the Buddha in part states: "[F]rom name-&-form as a requisite condition comes consciousness, from consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form."</ref>
 
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<p>
 
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Other Buddhist literature has described the aggregates as arising in a linear or progressive fashion, from form to feeling to perception to mental formations to consciousness.<ref>For an example of this unidirectional, linear causal model, see Trungpa (2001), pp. 36-37, where, in part, he states:  "The first flash is the form and the next, feeling.  As you flash further and further, the content becomes more and more involved.  When you flash perception, that contains feeling and form; when you flash consciouness that contatins all the other four."</ref>
 
  
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==[[Theravada]] perspectives==
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Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000b, 840) states that an examination of the aggregates has a "critical role" in understanding the Buddha's teachings: The five aggregates are the "ultimate referent" in the Buddha's elaboration on suffering ''(dukkha).'' Thus, "since all four truths revolve around suffering, understanding the aggregates is essential for understanding the [[Four Noble Truths]] as a whole." Understanding the Nature of Release ''([[nirvana]])'' can only be achieved once an individual ceases clinging to the five aggregates.
  
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[[Bhikkhu Bodhi]] (2000b, p. 840) states that an examination of the aggregates has a "critical role" in the Buddha's teaching for multiple reasons, including:
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According to the ''Mahasunnata Sutta'' ("The Greater Discourse on Emptiness," MN 122):
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#'''Understanding the Four Noble Truths:''' The five aggregates are the "ultimate referent" in the Buddha's elaboration on suffering ([[dukkha]]) in his First Noble Truth (see excerpted quote below) and "since all four truths revolve around suffering, understanding the aggregates is essential for understanding the [[Four Noble Truths]] as a whole."
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<blockquote>When he [a monk] abides contemplating rise and fall in these five aggregates affected by clinging, the conceit "I am" based on these five aggregates affected by clinging is abandoned in him…. (Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi 2001, 975)</blockquote>
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#'''Future Suffering's Cause:''' The five aggregates are the substrata for clinging and thus "contribute to the causal origination of future suffering."
 
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#'''Release:''' Clinging must be removed from the five aggregates in order to achieve release.
 
  
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Below, excerpts from the [[Pāli]] literature will bear out Bhikkhu Bodhi's assessment.<ref>In regards to how [[Theravada]] practioners view the aggregates, Bodhi (2000b, p. 840) cautions:
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==Theravada and Mahayana perspectives==
  
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:"[T]he analysis into the aggregates undertaken in the [[Nikaya]]s is not pursued with the aim of reaching an objective, scientific understanding of the human being along the lines pursued by physiology and psychology....  For the Buddha, investigation into the nature of personal existence always remains subordinate to the liberative thrust of the [[Dhamma]]...."
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In [[Theravada]] Buddhism, the [[Pāli Canon]] bears out the importance of the doctrine of the skandhas. In regards to how Theravada practitioners view the aggregates, Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2002) argues:
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<blockquote>The [Pāli] canon depicts the Buddha as saying that he taught only two topics: suffering and the end of suffering ([[SN]] 22.86<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.086.than.html ''Anuradha Sutta: To Anuradha'']</ref>). A survey of the Pali discourses shows him using the concept of the khandhas to answer the primary questions related to those topics: What is suffering? How is it caused? What can be done to bring those causes to an end?</blockquote>
  
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Likewise, [[Thanissaro Bhikkhu]] (2002) underlines:
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In other words, Theravada practitioners do not see the notion of the aggregates as providing an absolute truth about ultimate reality or as a map of the mind, but instead as providing a tool for understanding how our method of apprehending sensory experiences and the self can lead to either our own suffering or to our own liberation. It is through the five skandhas that clinging ''(upadana)'' occurs.<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.005.than.html ''Samadhi Sutta'' (SN 22:5)]</ref>
  
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:"The [Pāli] canon depicts the Buddha as saying that he taught only two topics: suffering and the end of suffering ([[SN]] 22.86[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.086.than.html]). A survey of the Pali discourses shows him using the concept of the khandhas to answer the primary questions related to those topics: What is suffering? How is it caused? What can be done to bring those causes to an end?"
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Additionally, the Samyutta Nikaya contains a book entitled the "Khandhavagga" ("The Book of Aggregates"), which compiles over a hundred suttas related to the five aggregates. Typical of the materials in this collection is the ''Upadaparitassana Sutta'' ("Agitation through Clinging Discourse," SN 22:7), which states in part:  
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<blockquote>…The instructed noble disciple … does not regard form [or other aggregates] as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. That form of his changes and alters. Despite the change and alteration of form, his consciousness does not become preoccupied with the change of form…. [T]hrough non-clinging he does not become agitated. (Bodhi 2000b, 865–866)</blockquote>
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In other words, Theravada practitioners do not see the notion of the aggregates as providing an absolute truth about ultimate reality or as a map of the mind, but instead as providing a tool for understanding how our method of apprehending sensory experiences and the self can lead to either our own suffering or to our own liberation.</ref>
 
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===Suffering's ultimate referent===
 
−
 
 
−
In the [[Buddha]]'s first discourse, the "[[Dhammacakkappavattana]] [[Sutta]]" ("The Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth Discourse," [[Samyutta Nikaya|SN]] 56:11 [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html]), he provides a classic elaboration on the first of his [[Four Noble Truths]], "The Truth of Suffering" (Dukkhasacca): 
 
−
 
 
−
:"The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha), monks, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, dissociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to receive what one desires is suffering — in brief the '''five aggregates''' subject to grasping are suffering." [Boldface added.]  (Trans. from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera, 1999  [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html].)
 
−
 
 
−
According to Thanissaro (2002):
 
−
:"Prior to the Buddha, the Pali word khandha had very ordinary meanings: A khandha could be a pile, a bundle, a heap, a mass. It could also be the trunk of a tree. In his first sermon, though, the Buddha gave it a new, psychological meaning, introducing the term 'clinging-khandhas' to summarize his analysis of the truth of stress and suffering. Throughout the remainder of his teaching career, he referred to these psychological khandhas time and again."[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/khandha.html]
 
−
 
 
−
In what way are the aggregates suffering?  For this we can turn to Khandhavagga suttas.
 
−
 
 
−
===Future suffering's cause===
 
−
 
 
−
The [[Samyutta Nikaya]] contains a book entitled the "Khandhavagga" ("The Book of Aggregates") compiling over a hundred suttas related to the five aggregates. Typical of these suttas is the "Upadaparitassana Sutta" ("Agitation through Clinging Discourse," SN 22:7), which states in part:  
 
−
 
 
−
:"...[T]he instructed noble disciple ... does not regard form [or other aggregates] as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. That form of his changes and alters. Despite the change and alteration of form, his consciousness does not become preoccupied with the change of form.... [T]hrough non-clinging he does not become agitated." (Trans. by Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 865-866.)
 
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Put another way, if we were to self-identify with an aggregate then we would cling ([[upadana]])<ref>Note that, in Buddhism, one ''clings'' to (guards) something they have (or mistakenly believe they have) whereas one ''craves'' (searches) for that which they lack.  (See the articles on [[upadana]] and [[tanha]] for references.)  Thus, the notion of the "''clinging'' aggregates" refers to things with which we identify or which we think we can possess.  When, instead, one ''desires'' such, it is technically ''craving'', not clinging.</ref> to such; and, given that all aggregates are impermanent ([[anicca]]), it would then be likely that at some level we would experience agitation (paritassati) or loss or grief or stress or suffering (see [[dukkha]]).  Therefore, if we want to be free of suffering, it is wise to experience the aggregates clearly, without clinging or craving ([[tanha]]), as apart from any notion of self ([[anatta]]). 
 
  
 
Many of the suttas in the Khandhavagga express the aggregates in the context of the following sequence:   
 
Many of the suttas in the Khandhavagga express the aggregates in the context of the following sequence:   
−
#An uninstructed worldling (assutavā puthujjana)
+
#An uninstructed worldling ''(assutavā puthujjana)''
−
##''regards'': form ''as'' self; self as ''possessing'' form; form as ''in'' self; self as ''in'' form.<ref>In the Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka, there are four types of [[upadana|clinging]]: (1) clinging to sensual pleasure; (2) clinging to wrong views; (3) clinging to rites and ceremonies; and, (4) clinging to a doctrine of self.  (For references, see the article on ''[[upadana]]''.)  By ''definition'', the fourth type of clinging (clinging to a doctrine of self) involves having one or more of twenty possible identity views (''sakkayaditthi'').  The twenty identity views are beliefs in:
+
##''regards'' form ''as'' self; self as ''possessing'' form; form as ''in'' self; self as ''in'' form.
−
*form ''is'' self, ''is possessed by'' self, ''is in'' self; ''contains'' self.
 
−
*sensation ''is'' self, ''is possessed by'' self, ''is in'' self; ''contains'' self.
 
−
*perception ''is'' self, ''is possessed by'' self, ''is in'' self; ''contains'' self.
 
−
*mental formation ''is'' self, ''is possessed by'' self, ''is in'' self; ''contains'' self.
 
−
*consciousness ''is'' self, ''is possessed by'' self, ''is in'' self; ''contains'' self.
 
−
In other words, references to "clinging" in terms of the aggregates generally refer to "''''clinging to a doctrine of self'''."</ref>
 
 
##lives ''obsessed'' by the notions: I am form; and/or, form is mine
 
##lives ''obsessed'' by the notions: I am form; and/or, form is mine
 
##this form ''changes''
 
##this form ''changes''
 
##with the changes of form, there ''arises'' dukkha
 
##with the changes of form, there ''arises'' dukkha
−
#An instructed noble disciple (sutavā ariyasāvaka) does ''not'' regard form as self, etc., and thus, when form changes, dukkha does not arise.
+
#An instructed noble disciple ''(sutavā ariyasāvaka)'' does ''not'' regard form as self, etc., and thus, when form changes, ''dukkha'' does not arise.<ref>Note that in each of the suttas where the above formula is used, subsequent verses replace "form" with each of the other aggregates: Sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.</ref>
−
(Note that, in each of the suttas where the above formula is used, subsequent verses replace "form" with each of the other aggregates: sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness.) 
 
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<center>'''Example of Aggregate-Clinging'''</center>
 
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To give a simplistic example, if one believes "this body is mine" or "I exist within this body," then as their body ages, becomes ill and approaches death, such a person will likely experience longing for youth or health or eternal life, will likely dread aging and sickness and death, and will likely spend much time and energy lost in fears, fantasies and ultimately futile activities. 
 
−
 
 
−
In the Nikayas, such is likened to shooting oneself with a second arrow, where the first arrow is a physical phenomenon (such as, in this case, a bodily manifestation associated with aging or illness or dying) and the second is the mental anguish of the undisciplined mind associated with the physical phenomenon (see the Sallatha Sutta<ref>On-line translations of the Sallatha Sutta ("The Arrow" or "The Dart," SN 36.6) include [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.than.html Thanissaro (1997c)] and [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.nypo.html Nyanaponika (1998)].</ref>).
 
−
 
 
−
On the other hand, one with a disciplined mind who is able to see this body as a set of aggregates will be free of such fear, frustration and time-consuming escapism.<ref>For a more body-specific meditation method for developing detachment from bodily forms, see [[Patikulamanasikara]].</ref>
 
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</div></td>
 
−
</table>
 
−
But how does one become aware of and then let go of ones own identification with or clinging to the aggregates?  Below is an excerpt from the classic [[Satipatthana Sutta]] that shows how traditional [[vipassana|mindfulness]] practices can awaken understanding, release and wisdom.<ref>Unlike the [[Satipatthana Sutta]], the classic [[Anapanasati Sutta]] ("Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse," [[MN]] 118) does not ''directly'' reference the aggregates.  However, the Pali literature includes works that ''interpret'' the Anapanasati Sutta in light of the aggregates.
 
−
 
 
−
<br>'''In the Patisambhidāmagga:''' The [[Khuddaka Nikaya]]'s book, the Patisambhidāmagga ("The Path of Analysis"), includes an analysis of the following meditative instruction (first tetrad, third instruction) from the Anapanasati Sutta:
 
−
 
 
−
:"He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.'" (Thanissaro, trans., 2006.)
 
−
 
 
−
Regarding this instruction, the Patisambhidāmagga (Ñāṇamoli, 1998, p. 75) analyzes the word "body" (kaya) as follows:
 
−
 
 
−
:"'''Body''': There are two bodies - the mentality-body and the materiality body.
 
−
 
 
−
:"Feeling, perception, volition, sense-impression, attention — mentality and the mentality of the body — and those (things) which are called the mental formations — this is the mentality body. 
 
−
 
 
−
:"The four great primaries and the materiality derived from the four great primaries — in-breath and out-breath and the sign for the binding (of mindfulness) — and those (things) which are called the bodily formations — this is the materiality body."
 
−
 
 
−
In other words, the Patisambhidāmagga frames the practice of the Anapanasati Sutta's third step as a contemplation of the five aggregates.
 
−
 
 
−
<br>'''In the Visuddhimagga:''' The [[Visuddhimagga]]'s analysis of the Anapanasatti Sutta includes an analysis of the following meditative instruction (fourth tetrad, first instruction) from the Anapanasati Sutta:
 
−
 
 
−
:"He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on inconstancy.'" (Thanissaro, trans., 2006.)
 
−
 
 
−
In regards to this instruction, the Visuddhimagga ([[Buddhaghosa]], 1999, pp. 282-3; see also Ñāṇamoli, 1998, p. 40) advises one to apprehend "inconstancy" (or "impermanence") as meaning the following:
 
−
 
 
−
:"Herein, the '''five aggregates''' are 'the impermanent'.  Why? Because their essence is rise and fall and change.  'Impermanence' is the rise and fall and change in those same aggregates, or it is their non-existence after having been...." [Boldface added.]
 
−
 
 
−
Impermanence ([[anicca]]) is a characteristic common to all aggregates.  This impermanence will lead to suffering ([[dukkha]]) if we identify with the aggregate.  To avoid such suffering, the suttas instruct us to see the aggregates as the selfless ([[anatta]]) objects they are.
 
−
</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
===Release through aggregate-contemplation===
 
−
 
 
−
In the classic Theravada meditation reference, the "[[Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta]]" ("The Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse," [[MN]] 10), the Buddha provides four bases for establishing mindfulness:  body (kaya), sensations (vedana), mind (citta) and mental objects (dhamma).  When discussing mental objects as a basis for meditation, the Buddha identifies five objects, including the aggregates.  Regarding meditation on the aggregates, the Buddha states:
 
−
 
 
−
:"How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five aggregates of clinging?
 
  
−
:"Herein, monks, a monk thinks, 'Thus is material form; thus is the arising of material form; and thus is the disappearance of material form. Thus is feeling; thus is the arising of feeling; and thus is the disappearance of feeling. Thus is perception; thus is the arising of perception; and thus is the disappearance of perception. Thus are formations; thus is the arising of formations; and thus is the disappearance of formations. Thus is consciousness; thus is the arising of consciousness; and thus is the disappearance of consciousness.'<ref>Bodhi (2000b, pp. 743, n. 58) points out that this formula for aggregate-contemplation can also be found in SN 12.21, 12.23, 22.78, 22.89 and 22.101, as well as MN 122.</ref>
+
In contrast, [[Mahayana]] Buddhism emphasizes the intrinsic emptiness of all things including skandhas. The classic "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" ("[[Heart Sutra]]") begins:
−
 
+
:''The [[Bodhisattva]] [[Avalokitesvara|Avalokita]],''  
−
:"...Or his mindfulness is established with the thought, 'Mental objects exist,' to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus also, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five aggregates of clinging." (Nyanasatta, trans., 1994.)
 
−
 
 
−
Thus, through mindfulness contemplation, one sees an "aggregate as an aggregate" — sees it arising and dissipating. Such clear seeing creates a space between the aggregate and clinging, a space that will prevent or enervate the arising and propagation of clinging, thereby diminishing future suffering.<ref>That meditation creates a space between the aggregates (including [[upadana|clinging]]) is a readily accessible meditation experience.  For a published authoritative statement regarding this experience, see, for example, Trungpa (2001), pp. 85-86, where in response to a student's query he replies: "By meditating you are slowing down the process.  When it has slowed down, the skandhas are no longer pushed against one another.  There is space there, already there."</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
As clinging disappears, so too notions of a separate "self."  In the Mahasunnata Sutta ("The Greater Discourse on Emptiness," [[MN]] 122), after reiterating the aforementioned aggregate-contemplation instructions (for instance, "Thus is form; thus is the arising of form; and, thus is the disappearance of form"), the Buddha states:
 
−
 
 
−
:"When he [a monk] abides contemplating rise and fall in these five aggregates affected by clinging, the conceit 'I am' based on these five aggregates affected by clinging is abandoned in him...." (Nanamoli & Bodhi, 2001, p. 975.)
 
−
 
 
−
In a complementary fashion, in the Buddha's second discourse, the Anattalakkhana Sutta ("The Characteristic of Nonself," SN 22:59), the Buddha instructs:
 
−
 
 
−
:"Monks, form is nonself.  For if, monks, form were self, this form would not lead to affliction, and it would be possible to [manipulate] form [in the following manner]: 'Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus....' [Identical statements are made regarding feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness.]
 
−
 
 
−
:"...Seeing thus [for instance, through contemplation], monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with form [and the other aggregates].... Being disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate.  Through dispassion [his mind] is liberated."  (Bodhi, 2005, pp. 341-2.)
 
−
 
 
−
As seen below, the Mahayana tradition continues this use of the aggregates to achieve self-liberation.
 
−
 
 
−
==[[Mahayana]] perspectives==
 
−
 
 
−
In one of Mahayana Buddhism's most famous declarations, the aggregates are referenced:
 
−
 
 
−
:"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form."
 
−
 
 
−
What does this mean?  To what degree is it a departure from the aforementioned Theravada perspective?  Moreover, more generally, how are the aggregates used in the [[Buddhist texts#Mahayana texts|Mahayana literature]]?  These questions are addressed below.
 
−
 
 
−
===The intrinsic emptiness of all things===
 
−
 
 
−
The classic "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" ("[[Heart Sutra]]") begins:
 
−
:''The [[Bodhisattva]] [[Avalokiteshvara|Avalokita]],''  
 
 
:''while moving in the deep course of [[Prajnaparamita|Perfect Understanding]],''
 
:''while moving in the deep course of [[Prajnaparamita|Perfect Understanding]],''
−
:''shed light on the five skandhas''
+
:''shed light on the five ''skandhas''
 
:''and found them equally empty [of self].''   
 
:''and found them equally empty [of self].''   
−
:''After this penetration, he overcame all pain.''<ref>Nhat Hanh (1988), p. 1.  See also Red Pine (2004), p. 2, and Suzuki (1960), p. 26.</ref><ref>Suzuki (1960), p. 29, notes that the last sentence of this first stanza ("After this penetration, he overcame all pain") is unique to Hsuan-chuang's translation and is omitted in other versions of the Heart Sutra.</ref>
+
:''After this penetration, he overcame all pain.''<ref>Nhât Hanh (1988, 1); see also Red Pine (2004, 2) and Suzuki (1960, 26).</ref><ref>Suzuki (1960, 29) notes that the last sentence of this first stanza ("After this penetration, he overcame all pain") is unique to Hsuan-chuang's translation and is omitted in other versions of the Heart Sutra.</ref>
  
−
From its very first verse, the Heart Sutra introduces an alternative practice and worldview to the Theravada perspective of the aggregates:
+
From its very first verse, the Heart Sutra introduces an alternative to the practice and view of the Theravada school with respect to the aggregates. First, whereas Theravada meditation practice generally uses change-penetrating ''(vipassana)'' meditation, in Mahayana the non-dualistic [[prajnaparamita]] practice is invoked. Second, when "emptiness of self" is mentioned in Theravada texts, the English word "self" is a translation of the Pali word ''"atta"'' (Sanskrit, ''"[[atman]]"''); in the Heart Sutra, the English word "self" is a translation of the Sanskrit word ''"sva-[[bhava]]."''<ref>''"Svabhava"'' has also been translated as "self-nature" (Suzuki 1960, 26), "separate self" (Nhât Hanh 1988, 16), and "self-existence" (Red Pine 2004, 67).</ref> According to Red Pine, "the 'self' ''(sva)'' … was more generalized in its application than "ego" ''([[atman (Buddhism)|atman]])'' and referred not only to ''beings'' but to ''any inherent substance'' that could be identified as existing in time or space as a permanent or independent entity." (Red Pine 2004, 68) [Italics added].  
−
*<u>Prajnaparamita:</u>  Whereas Theravada meditation practices with the aggregates generally use change-penetrating [[vipassana]] meditation, here the non-dualistic [[prajnaparamita]] practice is invoked.<ref>For further analysis of this difference, see [[Perfection of Wisdom#Teachings]].</ref>
+
In other words, whereas the ''Sutta Pitaka'' typically instructs one to apprehend the aggregates ''without clinging or self-identification,'' [[Prajnaparamita]] leads one to apprehend the aggregates as having ''no intrinsic reality.''<ref>While Red Pine (2004) contextualizes the Prajnaparamita texts as a historical ''reaction'' to some early Buddhist Abhidhammas, some interpretations of the Theravada Abhidhamma are actually ''consistent'' with the prajnaparamita notion of "emptiness."</ref>
−
*<u>Svabhava:</u>  In Theravada texts, when "emptiness of self" is mentioned, the English word "self" is a translation of the [[Pali]] word ''"atta"'' (Sanskrit, ''"[[atman]]"''); in the Heart Sutra, the English word "self" is a translation of the Sanskrit word ''"sva-[[bhava]]"''.<ref>''"Svabhava"'' has also been translated as "self-nature" (Suzuki, 1960, p. 26), "separate self" (Nhat Hanh, 1988, p. 16) and "self-existence" (Red Pine, 2004, p. 67).</ref> According to [[Bill Porter (author)|Red Pine]], "The 'self' (''sva'') ... was more generalized in its application than 'ego' (''[[atman (Buddhism)|atman]]'') and referred not only to ''beings'' but to ''any inherent substance'' that could be identified as existing in time or space as a permanent or independent entity."<ref>Red Pine (2004), p. 68.</ref> (Italics added.) 
 
−
In other words, whereas the [[Sutta Pitaka]] typically instructs one to apprehend the aggregates ''without [[upadana|clinging]] or [[anatta|self-identification]]'', [[Prajnaparamita]] leads one to apprehend the aggregates as having ''no intrinsic reality''.<ref>While Red Pine (2004) contextualizes the Prajnaparamita texts as a historical ''reaction'' to some early Buddhist Abhidhammas, some interpretations of the Theravada Abhidhamma are ''consistent'' with the prajnaparamita notion of "emptiness."</ref>
 
  
−
In the Heart Sutra's second verse, after rising from his aggregate meditation, Avalokiteshvara declares:
+
In the Heart Sutra's second verse, after rising from his meditation on the aggregates, Avalokiteshvara (the [[bodhisattva]] of compassion) declares:
  
−
:''"Form is [[Shunyata|emptiness]], emptiness is form,''  
+
:''Form is [[Shunyata|emptiness]], emptiness is form,''  
 
:''form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form.''   
 
:''form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form.''   
−
:''The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness."''<ref>Nhat Hanh (1988), p.1. Again, also see Red Pine (2004), p. 2, and Suzuki (1960), p. 26.</ref>
+
:''The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness.''<ref>Nhât Hanh (1988, 1). Again, also see Red Pine (2004, 2), and Suzuki (1960, 26).</ref>
−
 
 
−
[[Thich Nhat Hanh]] interprets this statement as: 
 
−
:"Form is the wave and emptiness is the water....  [W]ave is water, water is wave....  [T]hese five [aggregates] contain each other.  Because one exists, everything exists."<ref>Nhat Hanh (1988), p. 15.</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
[[Bill Porter (author)|Red Pine]] comments:
 
−
:"That form is empty was one of the Buddha's earliest and most frequent pronouncements.  But in the light of Prajnaparamita, form is not simply empty, it is so completely empty, it is emptiness itself, which turns out to be the same as form itself.... All separations are delusions.  But if each of the skandhas is one with emptiness, and emptiness is one with each of the skandhas, then everything occupies the same indivisible space, which is emptiness....  Everything is empty, and empty is everything.<ref>Red Pine (2004), pp. 75, 77.</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
===Tangibility and transcendence===
 
  
−
Commenting on the [[Heart Sutra]], [[Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki|D.T. Suzuki]] notes:
+
Red Pine interprets this statement as follows:
−
:"When the sutra says that the five Skandhas have the character of emptiness ..., the sense is: no limiting qualities are to be attributed to the Absolute; while it is immanent in all concrete and particular objects, it is not in itself definable."<ref>Suzuki (1960), p. 29, ''n''. 4.</ref>
+
<blockquote>That form is empty was one of the Buddha's earliest and most frequent pronouncements. But in the light of Prajnaparamita, form is not simply empty, it is so completely empty, it is emptiness itself, which turns out to be the same as form itself…. All separations are delusions. But if each of the skandhas is one with emptiness, and emptiness is one with each of the skandhas, then everything occupies the same indivisible space, which is emptiness…. Everything is empty, and empty is everything. (Red Pine 2004, 75, 77)</blockquote>
  
−
That is, from the Mahayana perspective, the aggregates convey the [[Samvriti|relative]] (or conventional) experience of the world by an individual, although [[Paramartha|Absolute]] truth is realized through them. 
+
==Vajrayana perspectives==
  
−
==[[Vajrayana]] perspectives==
+
The [[Vajrayana]] tradition of Buddhism further develops the Buddhist understanding of the skandhas in terms of [[mahamudra]] epistemology and tantric reifications.
−
 
 
−
The Vajrayana tradition further develops the aggregates in terms of [[mahamudra]] epistemology and [[Vajrayana|tantric]] reifications.
 
  
 
===The truth of our insubstantiality===
 
===The truth of our insubstantiality===
 +
Referring to mahamudra teachings, Chogyam Trungpa identifies the form aggregate as the "solidification" of ignorance (Pali, ''avijja''; Sanskrit, ''avidya''), allowing one to have the illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spacious wisdom (Pali, ''vijja''; Skt. ''vidya''), and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."<ref>Trungpa (2001, 10–12) and Trungpa (2002, 124, 133–134).</ref>
  
−
Referring to mahamudra teachings, [[Chogyam Trungpa]] (Trungpa, 2001, pp. 10-12; and, Trungpa, 2002, pp. 124, 133-4) identifies the form aggregate as the "solidification" of [[avijja|ignorance]] (Pali, ''avijja''; Skt., ''avidya''), allowing one to have the illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spacious [[vidya|wisdom]] (Pali, ''vijja''; Skt. ''vidya''), and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."<ref>This type of analysis of the aggregates (where ignorance conditions the five aggregates) might be akin to that described by the [[Twelve Nidanas]].</ref>
+
According to Trungpa Rinpoche (Trungpa 1976, 20–22), the five skandhas are "a set of Buddhist concepts which describe experience as a five-step process" and that "the whole development of the five skandhas… is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality," while "the practice of meditation is to see the transparency of this shield." (Trungpa 1976, 23)
  
−
According to Trungpa Rinpoche (1976, pp. 20-22), the five skandhas are "a set of Buddhist concepts which describe experience as a five-step process" and that "the whole development of the five skandhas...is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality," while "the practice of meditation is to see the transparency of this shield." (ibid, p.23)
+
In this way, the illusory (or at least impermanent) nature of the bodily experiences, and the means of penetrating these illusions (tantric meditation) are emphasized.
  
 
===Bardo deity manifestations===
 
===Bardo deity manifestations===
−
 
+
One of the major developments of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition was a profound exploration of the metaphysical and cosmological nature of reincarnation ''([[samsara]]).'' One element of these discoveries was the description of various deities and interim states ''([[bardo]]s)'' that exist between incarnations, all of which came to be depicted in their unique iconographic tradition. Intriguingly, some Tibetan Lamas postulate a connection between this iconography and their particular perspective on the aggregates. It is in this sense that the ''[[Tibetan Book of the Dead]]'' (Fremantle and Trungpa, 2003) makes the following associations between the aggregates and tantric deities during the bardo after death:
−
Trungpa Rinpoche writes (2001, p. 38):
 
−
:"[S]ome of the details of [[Vajrayana|tantric]] iconography are developed from abhidharma [that is, in this context, detailed analysis of the aggregates]. Different colors and feelings of this particular consciousness, that particular emotion, are manifested in a particular deity wearing such-and-such a costume, of certain particular colors, holding certain particular sceptres in his hand.  Those details are very closely connected with the individualities of particular psychological processes."
 
−
 
 
−
Perhaps it is in this sense that the [[Tibetan Book of the Dead]] (Fremantle & Trungpa, 2003) makes the following associations between the aggregates and tantric deities during the [[bardo]] after death:
 
 
* "The blue light of the skandha of '''consciousness''' in its basic purity, the wisdom of the [[dharmadhatu|dharmadhātu]], luminous, clear, sharp and brilliant, will come towards you from the heart of [[Vairocana]] and his consort, and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear it." (p. 63)
 
* "The blue light of the skandha of '''consciousness''' in its basic purity, the wisdom of the [[dharmadhatu|dharmadhātu]], luminous, clear, sharp and brilliant, will come towards you from the heart of [[Vairocana]] and his consort, and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear it." (p. 63)
 
* "The white light of the skandha of '''form''' in its basic purity, the mirror-like wisdom, dazzling white, luminous and clear, will come towards you from the heart of [[Vajrasattva]] and his consort and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 66)
 
* "The white light of the skandha of '''form''' in its basic purity, the mirror-like wisdom, dazzling white, luminous and clear, will come towards you from the heart of [[Vajrasattva]] and his consort and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 66)
 
* "The yellow light of the skandha of '''feeling''' in its basic purity, the wisdom of equality, brilliant yellow, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, unbearable to the eyes, will come towards you from the heart of [[Ratnasambhava]] and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 68)
 
* "The yellow light of the skandha of '''feeling''' in its basic purity, the wisdom of equality, brilliant yellow, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, unbearable to the eyes, will come towards you from the heart of [[Ratnasambhava]] and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 68)
−
* "The red light of the skandha of '''perception''' in its basic purity, the wisdom of discrimination, brilliant red, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, sharp and bright, will come from the heart of [[Amitabha|Amitābha]] and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it." (p. 70)
+
* "The red light of the skandha of '''perception''' in its basic purity, the wisdom of discrimination, brilliant red, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, sharp and bright, will come from the heart of [[Amitabha|Amitābha]] and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it." (p. 70)
−
* "The green light of the skandha of '''concept''' [samskara] in its basic purity, the action-accomplishing wisdom, brilliant green, luminous and clear, sharp and terrifying, adorned with discs of light, will come from the heart of [[Five Dhyani Buddhas|Amoghasiddhi]] and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it. It is the spontaneous play of your own mind, so rest in the supreme state free from activity and care, in which there is no near or far, love or hate." (p. 73)
+
* "The green light of the skandha of '''concept''' [samskara] in its basic purity, the action-accomplishing wisdom, brilliant green, luminous and clear, sharp and terrifying, adorned with discs of light, will come from the heart of [[Five Dhyani Buddhas|Amoghasiddhi]] and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it. It is the spontaneous play of your own mind, so rest in the supreme state free from activity and care, in which there is no near or far, love or hate." (p. 73)
−
 
 
−
==Relation to other Buddhist concepts==
 
−
 
 
−
Other fundamental Buddhist concepts associated with the five skandhas include:
 
−
 
 
−
*'''[[Samsara]]''': <br>It is through the five skandhas that the world (samsara) is experienced, and nothing is experienced apart from the five skandhas.
 
−
 
 
−
*'''[[three marks of existence|Three Characteristics]]''': <br>It is through the five skandhas that impermanence ([[anicca]]) is experienced, that suffering ([[duhkha]]) arises, and that "non-self" ([[anatman|anatta or anatman]]) can be realized.
 
−
 
 
−
<table>
 
−
<tr><td width=50%>
 
−
*'''Four Paramatthas''': <br>The [[Abhidhamma]] and [[Pali literature|post-canonical Pali texts]] create a meta-scheme for the [[Sutta Pitaka]]'s conceptions of aggregates, sense bases and elements.<ref>Bodhi (2000a), p. 6.</ref>  This meta-scheme is known as the four ''paramatthas'' or four ultimate realities: 
 
−
**consciousness
 
−
**mental factors
 
−
**material phenomena
 
−
**[[Nibbana|Nibbāna]]
 
−
The mapping between the ultimate realities and the aggregates is represented in the chart to the right. <ref>Chart is based on Bodhi (2000a), p. 288.</ref>
 
−
</td><td width=50%>
 
−
<div align=center>
 
−
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size:100%">
 
−
<tr><td>'''aggregate'''</td><td>'''ultimate reality'''</td>
 
−
<tr><td>form</td><td>28<br>material<br>phenomena</td>
 
−
<tr><td>sensation</td><td rowspan="3">52<br>mental<br>factors</td>
 
−
<tr><td>perception</td>
 
−
<tr><td>formation</td>
 
−
<tr><td>&nbsp;<br>consciousness<br>(''vinnana'')</td><td>&nbsp;<br>consciousness<br>(''citta'')</td>
 
−
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td><br>Nibbāna<br>&nbsp;</td>
 
−
</table>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</td></table>
 
−
 
 
−
*'''[[Twelve Nidanas]] / [[Pratitya-samutpada|Dependent Origination]]''': <br>The Twelve Nidanas describe twelve phenomenal links by which suffering is perpetuated between and within lives.  It is through the five skandhas that clinging ([[upadana]]) occurs,<ref>For instance, see the Samadhi Sutta (SN 22:5).[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.005.than.html]</ref> a pivotal link in this endless chain of suffering.<ref>Bodhi (2000b, pp. 839-840) writes: "Whereas the teaching on dependent origination is intended to disclose the dynamic pattern running through everyday experience that propels the round of rebirth and death forward from life to life, the teaching on the five aggregates concentrates on experience in its lived immediacy in the continuum from birth to death."  Perhaps in a similar vein, Bodhi (2000b, pp. 762-3, n. 132) notes elsewhere that, according to the Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary: "There are two kinds of ''origin,'' momentary origin (''khanika-samudaya'') and origin through conditions (''paccaya-samudaya'').  A bhikkhu who sees one sees the other."</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
*'''Eighteen Dhatus'''<ref>The Pāli word ''dhātu'' is used in multiple contexts in the [[Pali canon|Pāli canon]]. For instance, Bodhi (2000b), pp. 527-8, identifies four different ways that ''dhātu'' is used including in terms of the "eighteen elements" and in terms of "the four primary elements" (''[[mahabhuta|catudhātu]]'').</ref>: <br>The eighteen dhatus function through the five aggregates. The eighteen dhatus can be arranged into six triads, where each triad is composed of a sense organ, a sense object and sense consciousness.  In regards to the aggregates<ref>Bodhi (2000a), pp. 287-8.</ref>:
 
−
**The first five <u>sense organs</u> (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) are derivates of '''form'''.  The sixth sense organ (mind) is part of '''consciousness'''</u>.
 
−
**The first five <u>sense objects</u> (visible forms, sound, smell, taste, touch) are also derivatives of '''form'''.  The sixth sense object (mental object) includes '''form''', '''sensation''', '''perception''' and '''mental formations'''. 
 
−
**The <u>six sense consciousness</u> are the basis for '''consciousness'''.
 
  
 
==References in Buddhist literature==
 
==References in Buddhist literature==
  
−
The table below briefly cites [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist primary sources]] that characterize different aspects of the aggregates. This table is by no means exhaustive.
+
The table below briefly cites Buddhist primary sources that characterize different aspects of the aggregates. This table is by no means exhaustive.
  
 
<table border="1">
 
<table border="1">
  
−
<tr><!-- this used to be a <caption> but was changed to a row to accommodate Firefox —>
+
<tr><td colspan="3">
−
<u>Table 1. Some references to the aggregates in Buddhist primary sources.</u><ref>Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 841, 914-5; Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 443-64; Thanissaro, 1997b, 2001a & 2001b.</ref> <br>(Abbreviations: MN = [[Majjhima Nikaya]]; SN = [[Samyutta Nikaya]]; Vism = [[Visuddhimagga]].)
+
<u>Table 1. Some references to the aggregates in Buddhist primary sources</u><ref>Bodhi (2000b, 841, 914–915); Buddhaghosa (1999, 443–464); Thanissaro (1997b, 2001a, and 2001b).</ref> <br/>(Abbreviations: MN = Majjhima Nikaya; SN = Samyutta Nikaya; Vism = Visuddhimagga)
−
</tr>
+
</td></tr>
  
 
<tr style="background:black;">
 
<tr style="background:black;">
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<tr style="background:#ADFF2F; color:black">
 
<tr style="background:#ADFF2F; color:black">
 
<td>'''rūpa'''</td>
 
<td>'''rūpa'''</td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>It is the four Great Elements (''[[mahabhuta|mahābhūta]]'') — earth, water, fire, wind — and their derivatives.</td>
+
<td>It is the four Great Elements ''(mahābhūta)''—earth, water, fire, wind—and their derivatives.</td>
−
<td>SN 22.56<ref>Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.056.than.html Thanissaro (1997b)].</ref></td>
+
<td>SN 22.56<ref>Available on-line (Thanissaro 1997b).  
 +
</ref></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>It is afflicted with cold, heat, hunger, thirst, flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, reptiles.<ref>Bodhi (2000b, p. 1070, n. 110) points out and Thanissaro (2001a, nn. 1 and 2) suggests that this definition is at least in part "word play" related to the homophonic (non-etymological) correspondence between the Pāli words for "form" (''rūpa'') and "afflicted" (''ruppati'').</ref></td>
+
<td>It is afflicted with cold, heat, hunger, thirst, flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, reptiles.<ref>Bodhi (2000b, 1070, n. 110) points out and Thanissaro (2001a, nn. 1 and 2) suggests that this definition is at least in part "word play" related to the homophonic (non-etymological) correspondence between the Pāli words for "form" ''(rūpa)'' and "afflicted" ''(ruppati).''</ref></td>
−
<td>SN 22.79<ref>Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.079.than.html Thanissaro (2001a)].</ref></td>
+
<td>SN 22.79<ref>Available on-line (Thanissaro 2001a).
 +
</ref></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>The cause, the condition and the delineation are the four Great Elements.<ref>Bodhi (2000b, pp. 743-4, n. 58, pp. 1064-5, n. 81) refers to MN 109's identification of the aggregates' causes/conditions as "proximate" or "synchronic" conditions, while the causes/conditions identified in other suttas, such as [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.005.than.html SN 22.5], are "collective distal" or "diachronic" conditions.</ref></td>
+
<td>The cause, the condition, and the delineation are the four Great Elements.<ref>Bodhi (2000b, 743–744, n. 58; 1064–1065, n. 81) refers to MN 109's identification of the aggregates' causes/conditions as "proximate" or "synchronic" conditions, while the causes/conditions identified in other suttas, such as [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.005.than.html SN 22.5], accesstoinsight.org (retrieved October 19, 2008), are "collective distal" or "diachronic" conditions.</ref></td>
−
<td>MN 109<ref>Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.109.than.html Thanissaro (2001b)].</ref></td>
+
<td>MN 109<ref>Available on-line (Thanissaro 2001b).
 +
</ref></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>There are 24 kinds of "derived" forms (''upādāya rūpam'').<ref>The Visuddhimagga XIV.36-72 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 443-450; also see Bodhi, 2000a, p. 236) defines the 24 derived forms as:
+
<td>There are 24 kinds of "derived" forms ''(upādāya rūpam)''.<ref>The Visuddhimagga XIV.36–72 (Buddhaghosa 1999, 443–450); also see Bodhi (2000a, 236) where the 24 derived forms are defined as:
 
*eye, ear, nose, tongue, body
 
*eye, ear, nose, tongue, body
 
*visible things, sound, odor, taste
 
*visible things, sound, odor, taste
Line 321: Line 153:
 
*matter's growth, continuity, decay, impermanence
 
*matter's growth, continuity, decay, impermanence
 
*physical nutriment
 
*physical nutriment
−
</ref>
+
</ref></td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.36ff</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.36ff</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
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<tr style="background:#FFD700;color:black">
 
<tr style="background:#FFD700;color:black">
 
<td>'''vedanā'''</td>
 
<td>'''vedanā'''</td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>It is feeling born of contact (''[[phassa]]'') with eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.</td>
+
<td>It is feeling born of contact ''(phassa)'' with eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
<td>It feels pleasure, pain, neither-pleasure-nor-pain.</td>
 
<td>It feels pleasure, pain, neither-pleasure-nor-pain.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
Line 344: Line 176:
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>The cause, the condition and the delineation are contact (''[[phassa]]'').
+
<td>The cause, the condition, and the delineation are contact ''(phassa).''</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>As individual experience, can be analyzed as bodily pleasure, bodily pain, mental joy, mental grief, equanimity.
+
<td>As individual experience, can be analyzed as bodily pleasure, bodily pain, mental joy, mental grief, equanimity.</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.127</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.127</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
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<tr style="background:#FFD700;color:black">
 
<tr style="background:#FFD700;color:black">
 
<td>'''saññā'''</td>
 
<td>'''saññā'''</td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
<td>It is perception of form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental phenomena.</td>
 
<td>It is perception of form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental phenomena.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
Line 368: Line 200:
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
<td>It perceives blue, yellow, red, white.</td>
 
<td>It perceives blue, yellow, red, white.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
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<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>The cause, the condition and the delineation are contact (''[[phassa]]'').
+
<td>The cause, the condition, and the delineation are contact ''(phassa)''.</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>Functions to make a "sign" for perceiving in the future that "this is the same."
+
<td>Functions to make a "sign" for perceiving in the future that "this is the same."</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.130</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.130</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
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<tr style="background:#FFD700;color:black">
 
<tr style="background:#FFD700;color:black">
 
<td>'''sankhāra'''</td>
 
<td>'''sankhāra'''</td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
<td>It is volition regarding form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental phenomena.</td>
 
<td>It is volition regarding form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental phenomena.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
Line 398: Line 230:
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>It constructs ''contructed'' forms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formation, consciousness.</td>
+
<td>It constructs ''constructed'' forms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formation, consciousness.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>The cause, the condition and the delineation are contact (''[[phassa]]'').
+
<td>The cause, the condition, and the delineation are contact ''(phassa).''</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>Characterized by "forming," functions to "accumulate," manifests as "intervening."
+
<td>Characterized by "forming," functions to "accumulate," manifests as "intervening."</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.132</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.132</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
Line 417: Line 249:
 
<tr style="background:#B0C4DE;  color:black">
 
<tr style="background:#B0C4DE;  color:black">
 
<td>'''viññāṇa'''</td>
 
<td>'''viññāṇa'''</td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
 
<td>It is eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, mind-consciousness.</td>
 
<td>It is eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, mind-consciousness.</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
 
<td>SN 22.56</td>
Line 428: Line 260:
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>It cognizes what is sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, sharp, mild, salty, bland.<ref>Regarding SN 22.79's typifying perception (''saññā'') through visual colors and consciousness (''viññāṇa'') through assorted tastes, Bodhi (2000b, p. 1072, n. 114) mentions tha the Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary states that perception grasps appearances and shapes while consciousness "can grasp particular distinctions in an object even when there is no appearance and shape."   
+
<td>It cognizes what is sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, sharp, mild, salty, bland.<ref>Regarding SN 22.79's typifying perception ''(saññā)'' through visual colors and consciousness ''(viññāṇa)'' through assorted tastes, Bodhi (2000b, 1072, n. 114) mentions that Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary states that perception grasps appearances and shapes while consciousness "can grasp particular distinctions in an object even when there is no appearance and shape."   
−
Similarly, in the Visuddhimagga (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 435-6), there is an extended analogy about a child, an adult villager and an expert "money-changer" seeing a heap of coins; the child's experience is analogous to perception, the villager's experience to consciousness, and the money-changer's experience to understanding (''[[prajñā|paňňā]]'').</ref></td>
+
Similarly, in the ''Visuddhimagga'' (Buddhaghosa 1999, 435–436), there is an extended analogy about a child, an adult villager, and an expert "money-changer" seeing a heap of coins: The child's experience is analogous to perception, the villager's experience to consciousness, and the money-changer's experience to understanding ''(paňňā).''</ref></td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
 
<td>SN 22.79</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>The cause, the condition and the delineation are name-and-form (''[[namarupa|nāmarūpa]]'').<ref>Consistent with MN 109's distinguishing between ''vinnāna'' and ''nāmarūpa'', Bodhi (2000b, p. 48; also see Bodhi, 2005, p. 447, n.19) states: "''Nāma'' is the assemblage of mental factors involved in cognition: feeling, perception, volition, contact and attention (''vedanā, sanna, cetanā, phassa, manasikāra''...)....  [I]n the Nikāyas, ''nāmarūpa'' does not include consciousness (''vinnāna'').  Consciousness is its condition, and the two are mutually dependent...."</ref>
+
<td>The cause, the condition, and the delineation are name-and-form ''(nāmarūpa).''<ref>Consistent with MN 109's distinguishing between ''vinnāna'' and ''nāmarūpa,'' Bodhi (2000b, 48; also see Bodhi 2005, 447, n.19) states: "''Nāma'' is the assemblage of mental factors involved in cognition: Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention (''vedanā, sanna, cetanā, phassa, manasikāra''…) … In the Nikāyas, ''nāmarūpa'' does not include consciousness ''(vinnāna).'' Consciousness is its condition, and the two are mutually dependent…."</ref></td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
<td>MN 109</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
  
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
−
<td>
+
<td></td>
−
<td>There are 89 kinds of consciousness.<ref>Of the 89 kinds of consciousness, 54 are of the "sense sphere" (related to the five physical senses as well as craving for sensual pleasure), 15 of the "fine-material sphere" (related to the meditative absorptions based on material objects), 12 of the "immaterial sphere" (related to the immaterial meditative absorptions), and eight are supramundane (related to the realization of Nibbāna)(Bodhi, 2000a, pp. 28-31).</ref>
+
<td>There are 89 kinds of consciousness.<ref>Of the 89 kinds of consciousness, 54 are of the "sense sphere" (related to the five physical senses as well as craving for sensual pleasure), 15 are of the "fine-material sphere" (related to the meditative absorptions based on material objects), 12 are of the "immaterial sphere" (related to the immaterial meditative absorptions), and eight are supramundane (related to the realization of Nibbāna) (Bodhi 2000a, 28–31).</ref></td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.82ff</td>
 
<td>Vism XIV.82ff</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
−
 
 
</table>
 
</table>
  
−
==References==
 
−
===See also===
 
−
*[[Anatta]]
 
−
*[[Atman (Buddhism)|Atman]]
 
−
*[[Pratitya-samutpada]]
 
−
*[[Samsara]]
 
−
*[[Schools of Buddhism]]
 
−
*[[Shunyata]]
 
−
*[[Ti-lakkhana]]
 
  
 
===Notes===
 
===Notes===
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
−
===Bibliography===
+
===References===
−
*Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2000a). ''A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha''.  Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-02-9.
+
*Bodhi, Bhikkhu, ed. 2000a. ''A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha.'' Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1928706029
−
*Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000b). ''The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya''.  Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
+
*Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. 2000b. ''The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya.'' Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0861713311
−
*Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2005). ''In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pāli Canon''.Boston: Wisdom Pubs. ISBN 0-86171-491-1.
+
*Bodhi, Bhikkhu, ed. 2005. ''In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pāli Canon.'' Boston: Wisdom Pubs. ISBN 0861714911
−
*Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) (1999). ''The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga''. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
+
*Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli). 1999. ''The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga.'' Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1928706002
−
*Fremantle, Francesca & Trungpa, Chõgyam (2003). ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo''. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-59030-059-9.
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*Fremantle, Francesca and Chõgyam Trungpa. 2003. ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo.'' Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1590300599
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*Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998). ''Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati): Buddhist texts from the Pāli Canon and Extracts from the Pāli Commentaries''. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0167-4.
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*Gimian, Carolyn Rose. 1999. ''The Essential Chögyam Trungpa.'' Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 1570624666
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*Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2001). ''The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya''.  Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
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*Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. 1998. ''Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati): Buddhist Texts from the Pāli Canon and Extracts from the Pāli Commentaries.'' Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9552401674
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*Nhât Hanh, Thich (1988). ''The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra''. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0-938077-11-2.
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*Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. and Bhikkhu Bodhi, ed. 2001. ''The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya.'' Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 086171072X
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*Nhât Hanh, Thich (1999). ''The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching''. NY: Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0369-2.
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*Nhât Hanh, Thich. 1988. ''The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra.'' Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0938077112
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*Nyanaponika Thera (trans.) (1998). ''Sallatha Sutta: The Dart''.  Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.nypo.html.
+
*Nhât Hanh, Thich. 1999. ''The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching.'' NY: Broadway Books. ISBN 0767903692
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*Nyanasatta Thera (trans.) (1994). ''Satipatthana Sutta: The Foundations of Mindfulness''.  Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html.
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*Nyanaponika Thera, trans. 1998. ''Sallatha Sutta: The Dart.'' Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.nypo.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
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*Piyadassi Thera (trans.) (1999). ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth''.  Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html.
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*Nyanasatta Thera, trans. 1994. ''Satipatthana Sutta: The Foundations of Mindfulness.'' Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Rawson, Philip (1991). ''Sacred Tibet.'' London, Thames and Hudson Ltd.
+
*Piyadassi Thera, trans. 1999. ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth.'' Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Red Pine (2004). ''The Heart Sutra''. Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Hoard. ISBN 1-59376-009-4.
+
*Rawson, Philip. 1991. ''Sacred Tibet.'' London, Thames and Hudson Ltd. ISBN 050081032X
−
*Soma Thera (trans.) (2003). ''The Way of Mindfulness''. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0256-5.
+
*Red Pine. 2004. ''The Heart Sutra.'' Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker and Hoard. ISBN 1593760094
−
*Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro (1960). ''Manual of Zen Buddhism''. NY: Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3065-8.
+
*Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. 1960. ''Manual of Zen Buddhism.'' NY: Grove Press. ISBN 0802130658
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997a). ''Nagara Sutta: The City''.  Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.065.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 1997a. ''Nagara Sutta: The City.'' Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.065.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997b). ''Parivatta Sutta: The (Fourfold) Round'' [SN 22.56]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.056.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 1997b. ''Parivatta Sutta: The (Fourfold) Round'' [SN 22.56]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.056.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997c). ''Sallatha Sutta: The Arrow'' [SN 36.6]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 1997c. ''Sallatha Sutta: The Arrow'' [SN 36.6]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998). ''Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers" [MN 44]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.044.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 1998. ''Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers'' [MN 44]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.044.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2001a). ''Khajjaniya Sutta: Chewed Up'' [SN 22.79]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.079.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 2001a. ''Khajjaniya Sutta: Chewed Up'' [SN 22.79]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.079.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2001b). ''Maha-punnama Sutta: The Great Full-moon Night Discourse'' [MN 109]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.109.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 2001b. ''Maha-punnama Sutta: The Great Full-moon Night Discourse'' [MN 109]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.109.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
−
*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2002). ''Five Piles of Bricks: The Khandhas as Burden & Path''.  Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/khandha.html.
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*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu. 2002. ''Five Piles of Bricks: The Khandhas as Burden and Path.'' Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/khandha.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
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*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2005). ''Maha-dukkhakkhandha Sutta: The Great Mass of Stress'' [MN 13]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.013.than.html.
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*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 2005. ''Maha-dukkhakkhandha Sutta: The Great Mass of Stress'' [MN 13]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.013.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
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*Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2006). ''Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing'' [MN 118]. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html.
+
*Thanissaro, Bhikkhu, trans. 2006. ''Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing'' [MN 118]. Available on-line at [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html] accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
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*Trungpa, Chögyam (1976). ''The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation''. Boulder: Shambhala. ISBN 0-87773-084-9.
+
*Thera, Soma, trans. 2003. ''The Way of Mindfulness.'' Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9552402565
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*Trungpa, Chögyam (1999). ''The Essential Chögyam Trungpa''. Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 1-57062-466-6.
+
*Trungpa, Chögyam et al., 1976. ''The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation.'' Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 0877730849
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*Trungpa, Chögyam (2001). ''Glimpses of Abhidharma''. Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 1-57062-764-9.
+
*Trungpa, Chögyam. 2001. ''Glimpses of Abhidharma.'' Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 1570627649
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*Trungpa, Chögyam (2002). ''Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism''. Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 1-57062-957-9.
+
*Trungpa, Chögyam. 2002. ''Cutting through Spiritual Materialism.'' Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 1570629579
  
 
===External links===
 
===External links===
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+
All links retrieved January 29, 2023.
−
*<u>Theravada:</u>
+
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/index.html#khandha Khandavagga suttas (a selection)], translated primarily by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.  
−
**[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/index.html#khandha Khandavagga suttas (a selection)], translated primarily by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
 
−
 
 
−
*<u>Mahayana:</u>
 
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**[http://villa.lakes.com/cdpatton/Dharma/Basics/5-skandhas.html The Five Aggregates (Skandhas)], article about the five skandhas, by Charles Patton.
 
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**[http://www.udel.edu/Philosophy/afox/PHIL204/five.html The Five Skandhas], table showing the five skandhas, prepared by Alan Fox (Dept. of Philosophy, U. of Delaware).
 
−
 
 
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*<u>Tantric:</u>
 
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**[http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/mind.html A View on Buddhism: Mind and Mental Factors], web page including description of the Five Aggregates.
 
  
 
[[Category: Philosophy and religion]]
 
[[Category: Philosophy and religion]]

Latest revision as of 22:42, 29 January 2023

 The Five Aggregates (pañca khandha)
according to the Pali Canon.
 
 
form (rūpa)
  4 elements
(mahābhūta)		  
 
    ↓
    contact
(phassa)
    ↓ ↑
 
consciousness
(viññāna)
 
 
 
 
 
→
←
 
 
 
←
  mental factors (cetasika)  
 
feeling
(vedanā)
 
 
 
perception
(sañña)
 
 
 
formation
(saṅkhāra)
 
 
 
 
  • Form is derived from the Four Great Elements.
  • Consciousness arises from other aggregates.
  • Mental Factors arise from the Contact of
    Consciousness and other aggregates.
 Source: MN 109 (Thanissaro, 2001)  |  diagram details

In Buddhist doctrine and metaphysics, the word skandha (Sanskrit: स्कान्धास) refers to the five "aggregate" elements that are said to comprise the psychophysical personality. These five aggregates are: Form (rūpa),[1] feeling (vedanā),[2] perception (samjñā),[3] consciousness (Skt. vijñāna, Pāli viññāṇa), and reasoning (Skt. vāsanā or samskāra).[4] The term skandha can also mean "compound, mass, heap, bundle, or tree trunk."[5]

According to the teachings of the Buddha, a proper understanding of the Skandhas is an important step towards the attainment of Nirvana (freedom from suffering). In the Theravada tradition of Buddhism, suffering (dukkha) arises when one identifies with, or otherwise clings to, an aggregate; suffering is extinguished therefore by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. In the Mahayana (Madhyamika) tradition of Buddhism, ultimate freedom is said to be realized by deeply penetrating the intrinsically empty nature of all aggregates. These doctrinal developments arose out of Buddhist metaphysics, which denies the existence of any eternal soul (atman) outside of this aggregation.

Enumeration and relationship

In the Pali canon, the aggregates are causally related as follows:[6]

  • Form (rupa) arises from experientially irreducible physical/physiological phenomena.[7]
  • Form—in terms of an external object (such as a sound) and its associated sense organ (such as the ear)—gives rise to consciousness (viññāṇa).[8][9]
  • From the contact of form and consciousness arise the three mental (nāma) aggregates of feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), and mental formation (sankhāra).[10]

In this scheme, physical form, the mental aggregates,[11] and consciousness are mutually dependent.[12] Other Buddhist literature has described the aggregates as arising in a linear or progressive fashion, from form to feeling to perception to mental formations to consciousness. (Trungpa 2001, 36–37) In regards to these aggregates:

  • The first five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) are derivatives of form. The sixth sense organ (mind) is part of consciousness.
  • The first five sense objects (visible forms, sound, smell, taste, touch) are also derivatives of form. The sixth sense object (mental object) includes form, sensation, perception, and mental formations.
  • The six sense consciousness is the basis for consciousness.[13]

Traditional Buddhist literature (such as the Abhidhamma) speaks of one physical aggregate (form), three mental factors (sensation, perception, and mental formations) and consciousness. Contemporary writers (such as Trungpa Rinpoche and Red Pine) sometimes conceptualize the five aggregates as "one physical and four mental" aggregates.

(See Table 1 for examples of definitional references to the aggregates in the Buddhist canon.)

Role in Buddhist metaphysics and soteriology

In the Buddha's first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" ("The Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth Discourse,"[14] he mentions the role of the skandhas as follows:

The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha), monks, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, dissociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to receive what one desires is suffering—in brief the five aggregates subject to grasping are suffering.[15]

According to Thanissaro (2002):

Prior to the Buddha, the Pali word khandha had very ordinary meanings: A khandha could be a pile, a bundle, a heap, a mass. It could also be the trunk of a tree. In his first sermon, though, the Buddha gave it a new, psychological meaning, introducing the term "clinging-khandhas" to summarize his analysis of the truth of stress and suffering. Throughout the remainder of his teaching career, he referred to these psychological khandhas time and again.

The Buddha taught that self-identifying with an aggregate would, by necessity, lead to clinging (upadana)[16] to that element; and, given that all aggregates are impermanent (anicca), it is invariable that this attachment would eventually yield agitation (paritassati), loss, grief, stress, or suffering. Therefore, to be free of suffering required the wisdom to experience the aggregates clearly, without clinging or craving (tanha), and without associating them with any notion of self (anatta). For example, if one believes "this body is mine" or "I exist within this body," then as their body ages, becomes ill, and approaches death, such a person will likely experience longing for youth or health or eternal life, will likely dread aging, sickness, and death, and will likely spend much time and energy lost in fears, fantasies, and ultimately futile activities.

In the Nikayas, such is likened to shooting oneself with a second arrow, where the first arrow is a physical phenomenon (such as, in this case, a bodily manifestation associated with aging or illness or dying) and the second is the mental anguish of the undisciplined mind associated with the physical phenomenon (see the Sallatha Sutta[17]). Conversely, it is said that one with a disciplined mind, who is able to see this body as a set of aggregates, will be free of such fear, frustration, and time-consuming escapism.

The way in which one becomes aware of one's own identification with (thus clinging to) the aggregates is found in Buddhist mindfulness practices that are said to awaken understanding, release, and wisdom.

Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000b, 840) states that an examination of the aggregates has a "critical role" in understanding the Buddha's teachings: The five aggregates are the "ultimate referent" in the Buddha's elaboration on suffering (dukkha). Thus, "since all four truths revolve around suffering, understanding the aggregates is essential for understanding the Four Noble Truths as a whole." Understanding the Nature of Release (nirvana) can only be achieved once an individual ceases clinging to the five aggregates.

According to the Mahasunnata Sutta ("The Greater Discourse on Emptiness," MN 122):

When he [a monk] abides contemplating rise and fall in these five aggregates affected by clinging, the conceit "I am" based on these five aggregates affected by clinging is abandoned in him…. (Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi 2001, 975)

Theravada and Mahayana perspectives

In Theravada Buddhism, the Pāli Canon bears out the importance of the doctrine of the skandhas. In regards to how Theravada practitioners view the aggregates, Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2002) argues:

The [Pāli] canon depicts the Buddha as saying that he taught only two topics: suffering and the end of suffering (SN 22.86[18]). A survey of the Pali discourses shows him using the concept of the khandhas to answer the primary questions related to those topics: What is suffering? How is it caused? What can be done to bring those causes to an end?

In other words, Theravada practitioners do not see the notion of the aggregates as providing an absolute truth about ultimate reality or as a map of the mind, but instead as providing a tool for understanding how our method of apprehending sensory experiences and the self can lead to either our own suffering or to our own liberation. It is through the five skandhas that clinging (upadana) occurs.[19]

Additionally, the Samyutta Nikaya contains a book entitled the "Khandhavagga" ("The Book of Aggregates"), which compiles over a hundred suttas related to the five aggregates. Typical of the materials in this collection is the Upadaparitassana Sutta ("Agitation through Clinging Discourse," SN 22:7), which states in part:

…The instructed noble disciple … does not regard form [or other aggregates] as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. That form of his changes and alters. Despite the change and alteration of form, his consciousness does not become preoccupied with the change of form…. [T]hrough non-clinging he does not become agitated. (Bodhi 2000b, 865–866)

Many of the suttas in the Khandhavagga express the aggregates in the context of the following sequence:

  1. An uninstructed worldling (assutavā puthujjana)
    1. regards form as self; self as possessing form; form as in self; self as in form.
    2. lives obsessed by the notions: I am form; and/or, form is mine
    3. this form changes
    4. with the changes of form, there arises dukkha
  2. An instructed noble disciple (sutavā ariyasāvaka) does not regard form as self, etc., and thus, when form changes, dukkha does not arise.[20]

In contrast, Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the intrinsic emptiness of all things including skandhas. The classic "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" ("Heart Sutra") begins:

The Bodhisattva Avalokita,
while moving in the deep course of Perfect Understanding,
shed light on the five skandhas
and found them equally empty [of self].
After this penetration, he overcame all pain.[21][22]

From its very first verse, the Heart Sutra introduces an alternative to the practice and view of the Theravada school with respect to the aggregates. First, whereas Theravada meditation practice generally uses change-penetrating (vipassana) meditation, in Mahayana the non-dualistic prajnaparamita practice is invoked. Second, when "emptiness of self" is mentioned in Theravada texts, the English word "self" is a translation of the Pali word "atta" (Sanskrit, "atman"); in the Heart Sutra, the English word "self" is a translation of the Sanskrit word "sva-bhava."[23] According to Red Pine, "the 'self' (sva) … was more generalized in its application than "ego" (atman) and referred not only to beings but to any inherent substance that could be identified as existing in time or space as a permanent or independent entity." (Red Pine 2004, 68) [Italics added]. In other words, whereas the Sutta Pitaka typically instructs one to apprehend the aggregates without clinging or self-identification, Prajnaparamita leads one to apprehend the aggregates as having no intrinsic reality.[24]

In the Heart Sutra's second verse, after rising from his meditation on the aggregates, Avalokiteshvara (the bodhisattva of compassion) declares:

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form,
form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form.
The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness.[25]

Red Pine interprets this statement as follows:

That form is empty was one of the Buddha's earliest and most frequent pronouncements. But in the light of Prajnaparamita, form is not simply empty, it is so completely empty, it is emptiness itself, which turns out to be the same as form itself…. All separations are delusions. But if each of the skandhas is one with emptiness, and emptiness is one with each of the skandhas, then everything occupies the same indivisible space, which is emptiness…. Everything is empty, and empty is everything. (Red Pine 2004, 75, 77)

Vajrayana perspectives

The Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism further develops the Buddhist understanding of the skandhas in terms of mahamudra epistemology and tantric reifications.

The truth of our insubstantiality

Referring to mahamudra teachings, Chogyam Trungpa identifies the form aggregate as the "solidification" of ignorance (Pali, avijja; Sanskrit, avidya), allowing one to have the illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spacious wisdom (Pali, vijja; Skt. vidya), and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."[26]

According to Trungpa Rinpoche (Trungpa 1976, 20–22), the five skandhas are "a set of Buddhist concepts which describe experience as a five-step process" and that "the whole development of the five skandhas… is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality," while "the practice of meditation is to see the transparency of this shield." (Trungpa 1976, 23)

In this way, the illusory (or at least impermanent) nature of the bodily experiences, and the means of penetrating these illusions (tantric meditation) are emphasized.

Bardo deity manifestations

One of the major developments of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition was a profound exploration of the metaphysical and cosmological nature of reincarnation (samsara). One element of these discoveries was the description of various deities and interim states (bardos) that exist between incarnations, all of which came to be depicted in their unique iconographic tradition. Intriguingly, some Tibetan Lamas postulate a connection between this iconography and their particular perspective on the aggregates. It is in this sense that the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Fremantle and Trungpa, 2003) makes the following associations between the aggregates and tantric deities during the bardo after death:

  • "The blue light of the skandha of consciousness in its basic purity, the wisdom of the dharmadhātu, luminous, clear, sharp and brilliant, will come towards you from the heart of Vairocana and his consort, and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear it." (p. 63)
  • "The white light of the skandha of form in its basic purity, the mirror-like wisdom, dazzling white, luminous and clear, will come towards you from the heart of Vajrasattva and his consort and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 66)
  • "The yellow light of the skandha of feeling in its basic purity, the wisdom of equality, brilliant yellow, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, unbearable to the eyes, will come towards you from the heart of Ratnasambhava and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 68)
  • "The red light of the skandha of perception in its basic purity, the wisdom of discrimination, brilliant red, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, sharp and bright, will come from the heart of Amitābha and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it." (p. 70)
  • "The green light of the skandha of concept [samskara] in its basic purity, the action-accomplishing wisdom, brilliant green, luminous and clear, sharp and terrifying, adorned with discs of light, will come from the heart of Amoghasiddhi and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it. It is the spontaneous play of your own mind, so rest in the supreme state free from activity and care, in which there is no near or far, love or hate." (p. 73)

References in Buddhist literature

The table below briefly cites Buddhist primary sources that characterize different aspects of the aggregates. This table is by no means exhaustive.

Table 1. Some references to the aggregates in Buddhist primary sources[27]
(Abbreviations: MN = Majjhima Nikaya; SN = Samyutta Nikaya; Vism = Visuddhimagga)

aggregate description source
rūpa
It is the four Great Elements (mahābhūta)—earth, water, fire, wind—and their derivatives. SN 22.56[28]
It is afflicted with cold, heat, hunger, thirst, flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, reptiles.[29] SN 22.79[30]
The cause, the condition, and the delineation are the four Great Elements.[31] MN 109[32]
There are 24 kinds of "derived" forms (upādāya rūpam).[33] Vism XIV.36ff
vedanā
It is feeling born of contact (phassa) with eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. SN 22.56
It feels pleasure, pain, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. SN 22.79
The cause, the condition, and the delineation are contact (phassa). MN 109
As individual experience, can be analyzed as bodily pleasure, bodily pain, mental joy, mental grief, equanimity. Vism XIV.127
saññā
It is perception of form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental phenomena. SN 22.56
It perceives blue, yellow, red, white. SN 22.79
The cause, the condition, and the delineation are contact (phassa). MN 109
Functions to make a "sign" for perceiving in the future that "this is the same." Vism XIV.130
sankhāra
It is volition regarding form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental phenomena. SN 22.56
It constructs constructed forms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formation, consciousness. SN 22.79
The cause, the condition, and the delineation are contact (phassa). MN 109
Characterized by "forming," functions to "accumulate," manifests as "intervening." Vism XIV.132
viññāṇa
It is eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, mind-consciousness. SN 22.56
It cognizes what is sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, sharp, mild, salty, bland.[34] SN 22.79
The cause, the condition, and the delineation are name-and-form (nāmarūpa).[35] MN 109
There are 89 kinds of consciousness.[36] Vism XIV.82ff


Notes

  1. ↑ In Philip Rawson (1991, 11), the first skandha is defined as: "Name and form (Sanskrit nāma-rūpa, Tibetan gzugs)…." In the Pali literature, nāma-rūpa traditionally refers to the first four aggregates, as opposed to the fifth aggregate, consciousness.
  2. ↑ Generally, vedanā is considered to not include "emotions." For example, Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000a, 80) writes: "The Pali word vedanā does not signify emotion (which appears to be a complex phenomenon involving a variety of concomitant mental factors), but the bare affective quality of an experience, which may be either pleasant, painful or neutral." Correspondingly, Chögyam Trungpa (2001, 32) notes: "In this case 'feeling' is not quite our ordinary notion of feeling. It is not the feeling we take so seriously as, for instance, when we say, 'He hurt my feelings.' This kind of feeling that we take so seriously belongs to the fourth and fifth skandhas of concept and consciousness."
  3. ↑ In some sutras, it is explicitly tied to all types of sensory experience: "These six classes of perception—perception of form, perception of sound, perception of smell, perception of taste, perception of tactile sensation, perception of ideas: This is called perception." Samyutta Nikaya 22.57. Translated by Bhikkhu Thanissaro, Sattatthana Sutta, accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  4. ↑ The Abhidhamma divides sankhāra into 50 mental factors consisting of all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object (Bodhi 2000a, 26).
  5. ↑ Thanissaro (2002). Also see, for example, Thanissaro (2005) [MN 13], where khandha is translated as "mass" in the phrase dukkhakkhandha (which Thanissaro translates as "mass of stress"), and Thanissaro (1998) [MN 44] where khandha is translated as "aggregate" but in terms of bundling the Noble Eightfold Path into the categories of virtue (silakkhandha), concentration (samadhikkhandha), and wisdom (pannakkhandha).
  6. ↑ See, for instance, SN 35.93, "The Dyad (2)" (Bodhi 2000b, 1172–1173).
  7. ↑ In terms of how these phenomena are analyzed in traditional Buddhist texts, see the description of the "Great Elements" in the Dhatu-vibhanga Sutta, accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  8. ↑ In the Pali canon, the concurrence of an object, its sense organ, and the related consciousness (viññāṇa) is called "contact" (phassa). In addition to referring to the five form-derived sense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body), their associated objects and consciousness, phassa also pertains to these aspects of mentality (nama): Mind, mind objects, and mind-consciousness. In the Abhidhamma (e.g., see Bodhi 2000a, 78), phassa is a mental factor, the means by which consciousness "touches" an object.
  9. ↑ Traditional Buddhist texts do not directly address Western philosophy's so-called mind-body problem since in Buddhism the exploration of the aggregates is not primarily to ascertain ultimate empirical reality but to obtain ultimate release from suffering.
  10. ↑ A mental aggregate arises either from conscious contact with form or from another mental aggregate (Bodhi 2000a, 78ff).
  11. ↑ Form and the mental aggregates together are technically referred to as nāmarūpa, which is variously defined as "name-and-form," "materiality-mentality," and "matter-mind." Bodhi (2000b, 47–48) mentions that Ñāṇamoli translated nāmarūpa as "mentality-materiality," which Bodhi assesses to be "in some respects … doctrinally more accurate, but it is also unwieldy…." Bodhi goes on to note that "in the Nikāyas, nāmarūpa does not include consciousness (viññāṇa)."
  12. ↑ According to Bodhi (2000b, 48), based on suttas in SN 14, consciousness "can operate only in dependence on a physical body (rūpa) and in conjunction with its constellation of concomitants (nāma); conversely, only when consciousness is present can a compound of material elements function as a sentient body and the mental concomitants participate in cognition." Also, for example, see the Nagara Sutta ("The City," SN 12:65) (Thanissaro 1997a), where the Buddha in part states: "[F]rom name-&-form as a requisite condition comes consciousness, from consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form."
  13. ↑ Bodhi (2000a, 287–288)
  14. ↑ Samyutta Nikaya 56:11, accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  15. ↑ Translated from the Pali by Thera Piyadassi (1999) Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth, accesstoinsight.org (boldface added). Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  16. ↑ Note that, in Buddhism, one clings to (guards) something they have (or mistakenly believe they have), whereas one craves (searches) for that which they lack. (See the articles on upadana and tanha for references.) Thus, the notion of the "clinging aggregates" refers to things with which we identify or which we think we can possess. When, instead, one desires such things, it is technically craving, not clinging.
  17. ↑ For on-line translations of the Sallatha Sutta ("The Arrow" or "The Dart," SN 36.6), see Thanissaro (1997c) and Nyanaponika (1998).
  18. ↑ Anuradha Sutta: To Anuradha
  19. ↑ Samadhi Sutta (SN 22:5)
  20. ↑ Note that in each of the suttas where the above formula is used, subsequent verses replace "form" with each of the other aggregates: Sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.
  21. ↑ Nhât Hanh (1988, 1); see also Red Pine (2004, 2) and Suzuki (1960, 26).
  22. ↑ Suzuki (1960, 29) notes that the last sentence of this first stanza ("After this penetration, he overcame all pain") is unique to Hsuan-chuang's translation and is omitted in other versions of the Heart Sutra.
  23. ↑ "Svabhava" has also been translated as "self-nature" (Suzuki 1960, 26), "separate self" (Nhât Hanh 1988, 16), and "self-existence" (Red Pine 2004, 67).
  24. ↑ While Red Pine (2004) contextualizes the Prajnaparamita texts as a historical reaction to some early Buddhist Abhidhammas, some interpretations of the Theravada Abhidhamma are actually consistent with the prajnaparamita notion of "emptiness."
  25. ↑ Nhât Hanh (1988, 1). Again, also see Red Pine (2004, 2), and Suzuki (1960, 26).
  26. ↑ Trungpa (2001, 10–12) and Trungpa (2002, 124, 133–134).
  27. ↑ Bodhi (2000b, 841, 914–915); Buddhaghosa (1999, 443–464); Thanissaro (1997b, 2001a, and 2001b).
  28. ↑ Available on-line (Thanissaro 1997b).
  29. ↑ Bodhi (2000b, 1070, n. 110) points out and Thanissaro (2001a, nn. 1 and 2) suggests that this definition is at least in part "word play" related to the homophonic (non-etymological) correspondence between the Pāli words for "form" (rūpa) and "afflicted" (ruppati).
  30. ↑ Available on-line (Thanissaro 2001a).
  31. ↑ Bodhi (2000b, 743–744, n. 58; 1064–1065, n. 81) refers to MN 109's identification of the aggregates' causes/conditions as "proximate" or "synchronic" conditions, while the causes/conditions identified in other suttas, such as SN 22.5, accesstoinsight.org (retrieved October 19, 2008), are "collective distal" or "diachronic" conditions.
  32. ↑ Available on-line (Thanissaro 2001b).
  33. ↑ The Visuddhimagga XIV.36–72 (Buddhaghosa 1999, 443–450); also see Bodhi (2000a, 236) where the 24 derived forms are defined as:
    • eye, ear, nose, tongue, body
    • visible things, sound, odor, taste
    • feminine characteristics, masculine characteristics
    • life faculty (gives vitality to other matter)
    • heart-basis (blood-borne physical basis for mind and consciousness)
    • bodily intimation (movements), vocal intimation (speech utterances)
    • space element (empty and delimiting region between material objects)
    • matter's lightness, malleability, wieldiness
    • matter's growth, continuity, decay, impermanence
    • physical nutriment
  34. ↑ Regarding SN 22.79's typifying perception (saññā) through visual colors and consciousness (viññāṇa) through assorted tastes, Bodhi (2000b, 1072, n. 114) mentions that Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary states that perception grasps appearances and shapes while consciousness "can grasp particular distinctions in an object even when there is no appearance and shape." Similarly, in the Visuddhimagga (Buddhaghosa 1999, 435–436), there is an extended analogy about a child, an adult villager, and an expert "money-changer" seeing a heap of coins: The child's experience is analogous to perception, the villager's experience to consciousness, and the money-changer's experience to understanding (paňňā).
  35. ↑ Consistent with MN 109's distinguishing between vinnāna and nāmarūpa, Bodhi (2000b, 48; also see Bodhi 2005, 447, n.19) states: "Nāma is the assemblage of mental factors involved in cognition: Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention (vedanā, sanna, cetanā, phassa, manasikāra…) … In the Nikāyas, nāmarūpa does not include consciousness (vinnāna). Consciousness is its condition, and the two are mutually dependent…."
  36. ↑ Of the 89 kinds of consciousness, 54 are of the "sense sphere" (related to the five physical senses as well as craving for sensual pleasure), 15 are of the "fine-material sphere" (related to the meditative absorptions based on material objects), 12 are of the "immaterial sphere" (related to the immaterial meditative absorptions), and eight are supramundane (related to the realization of Nibbāna) (Bodhi 2000a, 28–31).

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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