The Five Skandhas / Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Perspectivesadapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The five skandhas (Sanskrit) are the five "aggregates" which categorize or constitute all individual experience according to Buddhist phenomenology. An important corollary in Buddhism is that a "person" is made up of these five aggregates, beyond which there is no "self".

In the Theravada tradition, suffering arises when one identifies with or otherwise clings to an aggregate; hence, suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. The Mahayana tradition further puts forth that ultimate freedom is realized by deeply penetrating the intrinsically empty nature of all aggregates.

DefinitionBuddhist doctrine describes five aggregates:

1. "form" or "matter"[ (Skt., Pāli rūpa):external and internal matter. Externally, rupa is the physical world. Internally, rupa includes the material body and the physical sense organs.[

2. "sensation" or "feeling" (Skt., Pāli vedanā):sensing an object[5] as either pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.

3. "perception" or "cognition" (Skt. samjñā, Pāli saññā,):registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).

4. "mental formations" (Skt. "vāsanā" or samskāra, Pāli sankhāra) :all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.

5. "consciousness" (Skt. vijñāna, Pāli viññā ṇ a [):

Note that each skandha gives rise to the next.

Theravada perspectivesIn the Buddha's first discourse, he provides a classic elaboration on the first of his Four Noble Truths, "The Truth of Suffering" :

"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."

In what way are the aggregates suffering? For this we can turn to Khandhavagga suttas.

Future suffering's cause

There are over one hundred sutras on the five aggregates; a typical entry from the "Upadaparitassana Sutta" ("Agitation through Clinging Discourse," follows (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."

Put another way, if we were to self-identify with an aggregate then we would cling (upadana) 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 (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:

1. An uninstructed worldling (assutavā puthujjana)

Example of Aggregate-Clinging

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

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.

(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.)

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).

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.

But how does one become aware of and then let go of one’s own identification with or clinging to the aggregates? Below is an excerpt from the classic Satipatthana Sutta that shows how traditional mindfulness practices can awaken understanding, release and wisdom.

Release through aggregate-contemplation

In the classic Theravada meditation reference, the "Satipa hāna Sutt a " ("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."...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.

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 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, 2005a, pp. 341-2.)

Mahayana perspectives

Mahayana Buddhism continues the use of the five aggregates, but with a slightly different interpretation, teaching the intrinsic emptiness of all things.

The Sanskrit version of the classic Heart Sutra (Prajnaparamitra Sutra, The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra) one of the most famous of all Mahayana scriptures begins:

“The noble Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, while practicing the deep practice of Pranmaparamita, looked upon the Five Skandhas, seeing they were empty of self-existence….”

The central idea of The Perfection of Wisdom is complete release from the world of existence. The Perfection of Wisdom goes beyond earlier Buddhist teaching that focused on the rise and fall of the phenomena of the five skandhas to state that there is no such rise and fall — because all phenomena are essentially void. The earlierTheravada perception had been that reality is composed of a multiplicity of things. The Perfection of Wisdom states that there is no multiplicity: all is one. Even existence (samsara) and nirvana are essentially the same, and both are ultimately void. The view of The Perfection of Wisdom is that words and analysis have a practical application in that they are necessary for us to function in this world but, ultimately, nothing can be predicated about anything.

Within this context of voidness, The Heart Sutra (Perfection of Wisdom) offers a way to enlightenment. It represents the formal introduction to Buddhist thought of a practical ideal — the ideal of a bodhisattva. Unlike an arhat or pratyekabuddha, beings who achieve enlightenment but cannot pass on the means of enlightenment to others, a bodhisattva should and does teach. A bodhisattva must practice the six perfections: giving, morality, patience, vigour, contemplation and wisdom. Wisdom is the most important of these because it dispels the darkness of sensory delusion and allows things to be seen as they really are."--R.C. Jamieson : The Perfection of Wisdom (New York : Penguin Viking, 2000. ISBN 0-670-88934-2 pp. 8–9)

Whereas Theravada typically instructs one to apprehend the aggregates without clinging or self-identification,the later Mahayana teaches one to apprehend the five aggregates as having no intrinsic reality.[37]

In the Heart Sutra's second verse, after rising from his aggregate meditation, Avalokiteshvara 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."[38]

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."

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.

Tangibility and transcendence

Commenting on the Heart Sutra, D.T. Suzuki notes:

"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."

However, the tathagatagarbha sutras, on occasion, speak of the ineffable skandhas of the Buddha (beyond the nature of worldly skandhas and beyond worldly understanding), and in the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra the Buddha tells of how the Buddha's skandhas are in fact eternal and unchanging. The Buddha's skandhas are said to be incomprehensible to unawakened vision.

Vajrayana perspectives

The Vajrayana tradition further develops the aggregates in terms of mahamudra epistemology and tantric reifications.

The truth of our insubstantiality

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 ignorance (Skt., avidya), allowing one to have the illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spacious wisdom (Skt. vidya), and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."

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”, (i.e. the fact that our egos, or personality, don’t exist) while "the practice of meditation is to see the transparency of this shield”. (psychological self-deception) (ibid, p.23)

Bardo deity manifestations

Trungpa Rinpoche writes (2001, p. 38):

"[S]ome of the details of 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 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)

Relation to other Buddhist conceptsOther fundamental Buddhist concepts associated with the five skandhas include:

Samsara:It is through the five skandhas that the world (samsara) is experienced, and nothing is experienced apart from the five skandhas.

Three Characteristics:It is through the five skandhas that impermanence (anicca) is experienced, that suffering (duhkha) arises, and that "non-self" (anatta or anatman) can be realized.