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FIVE AGGREGATES ( PAÑCAKKHANDHĀ) IN BUDDHISM

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 FIVE AGGREGATES ( PAÑCAKKHANDHĀ) IN
BUDDHISM

By

Bodhinanda Ashin Pannasara

Ven. Phurpa Dorji
Ven. Phuntsog Dorjee
Ven. Thit Zana
Rev. Khemar Nandi

Subject: 000103 Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation

Lecture: Phramaha Hansa Dhammahaso. Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Phramaha Weerasak

International Buddhist Studies College

Mahachulalongkronrajavidyalaya University
Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand
 2

Matter Aggregate (Rūpakhandhā)

By

Ven. Pannasara (ID-6301106006)

Introduction

The term khandha (or its Sanskrit equivalent, skandha) was already used in
pre-Buddhist and pre-Upaniadic literature. One of the oldest Indian treatises on
semantics and etymology, the Nirukta, holds that the general meaning of skandha in
the Veda is restricted to "the branches of a tree since they are attached to the tree.1 It is
interesting to note that the word "trunk," which stands for the union of all the branches
of the tree, is one of the connotations of the Pāli term khandha as well.2 The word
khandha is also used. in Theravāda literature to refer to the concept of "division," in the
sense of a variety of constituent groups. The Dighanikaya, for example, alludes to four
khandha: morality (sila), concentration (samadhi), wisdom (panna) and release
(vimuttl). The same source mentions another association of three khandha which
corresponds to the previous grouping less release.3

The number of appearances of the term pancakkhandhti in the sutta and the
fact that the five aggregates are discussed in the first discourse of the Buddha-the
Dhammacakkappavattanasutta-would indicate their intrinsic Buddhist character. A
careful reading of the. Buddha's first discourse, however, casts some doubt on this
assumption. Before preaching his first sermon, the Buddha's doctrine was unfathomable
to people of that day and age. Yet he only briefly referred to the paftca- kkhandha in
that discourse. This implies that their intricate connotations were already understood by
those to whom the discourse was addressed. For example, in summarizing the various

1
Yaksa, The oldest Indian Treatise on Etymology, Philology and Semantics,
(Indian, Delhi: Molilal Banassidass, 1977), p. 18.
2
S. I, 207; D. II, 171-172.
3
D. I, 206.
 3

reasons for unhappiness, the Buddha conc1uded "in brief, the five clinging-aggregates
lead to suffering, without elaborating on the term paftcakkhandha any further. Neither
of the two texts that contain commentaries on the Dhammacakkappavattanasutta, the
Sāratthappakāsini or the Samantapasādika, shed light on this matter. Therefore, the
term Pañcupādānakkhandhā (basically endowed with the same connotation as
Pañcapādānakkhandhā. as we will soon see) seems to have been a term in current use.4

So far, the terms pañcakkhandhā and pañcupādānakkhandhā have been

used almost interchangeably. The only, but crucial, difference between these two forms
of aggregates is that the group of the pañcupādānakkhandha is potentially subject to
biases (āsava) and clinging (upādāna), while the other is not. With regard to clarifying
the meaning and the interrelation of the pañcakkhandhā by establishing a correlation
with the theory of dependent origination, only a study of the pañcupādānakkhandhti
would be relevant; those khandha not involved in the multiplication of misery and the
binding to the wheel of birth and rebirth are not related to the paticcasamuppāda. Yet
this study focusses on both the pancakkhandhti and the pañcupādānakkhandhā, for the
simple reason that our primary goal is to establish the function and clarify the
interrelation between each of the aggregates. Since the aggregates of one group function
in exactly the same manner as those of the other group-with the slight nuance that
aggregates of the pañcupādānakkhandhā group are still objects of clinging-this
comprehensive approach is the most appropriate to achieve our aim.5

The distinction, however, between the two sets of khandha ought to be

clarified. The Atthasālini explains the word adana (pañca + upa + ādāna + khandhā)
by suggesting that it means "to catch hold of strongly," and that its prefix upa merely
adds an emphasis, just as in the words despair (upāyasa) and denounced (upākkuttha).
The Khandhā-sutta of the Samyuttanikāya explicjtly defines these two sets of
aggregates.6

4
S. V, 421.
5
Mathiew Boisvert, The Five Aggregates: Understanding Theravāda
Psychology and Soteriology, (Canadian: Wilfrid Lourier University Press, 1995), p. 20.
6
Ibid., p. 21.
 4

1. Matter Aggregate (Rūpakhandhā)

Rūpa has been translated as ‘matter’, ‘corporeality’, ‘material’, ‘body’,

‘form’, etc., but none is exact. To judge from the various aspects of rūpa, matter is the
nearest equivalent. But rūpa comprises the characteristics of matter as well as those of
energy. Rūpa may change state, form and colour on account of heat and cold just as
matter does. Although form, shape and mass become apparent when a lot of rūpa has
accumulated, in the ultimate sense rūpa is formless, shapeless and massless just as
energy is. Scientists now know that matter and energy are interconvertible and identical
in the ultimate sense.7

But, unlike the law of conservation of mass and energy, which states that
matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed, we find in Abhidhamma that
rūpa arises and perishes incessantly at very short intervals measured by “small instant”
called small khana. Rūpa is incessantly produced from four main sources namely,
kamma, citta, utu (heat) and āhāra (nutriment). And rāpa is very short lived – it endures
only for 17 conscious moments. What is formed is almost instantly gone. It is very
probable that the rate of formation and the rate of dissolution of rūpa cancel each other
making the law of conservation of matter and energy to hold as aggregates. Besides
rūpa and nāma are interdependent. We shall understand rūpa better by studying the
various aspects of rūpa which are described below.8

In this matter (Rūpa), there are all types of matter that are the same with
regard to having the characteristic of transforming, but matter is basically classified into
two types: 1. Mahābhūda Rūpa (the great appearance), and 2. Upādāya Rūpa (the
derivative).

2. Mahābhūda Rūpas

Mahābhūda Rūpa means the great appearance. They are mentioned

sometimes as the elements (dhādū). The Mahābhūdas are classified into four: 1. Pathavi

7
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, Buddha Abhidhamma: Ultimate Science, (Yangon,
Myanmar: International Theravàda Buddha Missionary University, Yangon Adviser to the
Ministry of Religious Affairs, Union of Myanmar, 1995), p. 229.
8
Ibid., p. 230.
 5

dhādū (the element of extension), 2. Āpom dhādū (the element of cohesion), 3. Tejo
dhādū (the element of heat), and 4. Vāyo dhādū (the element of motion).9

3. Upādāya Rūpas

Upādāya-rūpa -Derivative or secondary material properties dependent on

the Great Essentials. Like the earth are the Essentials; the Derivatives are like trees that
spring therefrom. The remaining 24 rūpas are regarded as Derivatives.

Five Pasada Rupa (Five Physical Sense Organs)

The matter of sense-organ is described in pāli pasāda. The word pasāda

means to clarify the elements. These matters are sensitive and enumerated into five
types: eye, ear. nose, tongue and the body.

1. Cakkhupasāda (Sensitive matter of the eye)

2. Sotapasāda (Sensitive matter of ear)

3. Ghānapasāda (Sensitive matter of nose)

4. Jivhāpasāda (Sensitive matter of tongue)

5. Kāyapasāda (Sensitive matter of body)

Four Gocara-Rūpas

1. Rūpa-Visible

2. Sadda-Sound

3. Gandha- Smell

4. Rasa-Tasa

Two Bhāva-Rūpas

1. Itthibhāva-Femininity

2. Pumbhāva-Masculinity

9
Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivamsa, Fundamental Abhidhamma, (Myanmar,
Mandalay: Dhamma Sahāya Center, Institute for Dhamma Education, 2005), pp. 69-70.
 6

One Hadaya-Rūpa

Heart Base or Material base for mental phenome

One Jivita-Rūpa

Material quality of life

One Āhāra-Rūpa

Material quality of Nutrition

One Pariccheda-Rūpa

Material quality of limitation

Two Viññatti-Rūpa

1. Kāya-viññatti

2. Vacī-viññatti

Three Vikkāra-Rūpas

1. Rūpassa-lahutā (physical lightness)

2. Rūpassa-mudutā (physical softness)

3. Rūpassa-kammaññatā (physical adaptadility)

Four Lakkhana-Rūpas

1. Upacāya-Rūpa (initial appearance)

2. Santati-Rūpa (continuity)

3. Jaratā-Rūpa (decy)

4. Aniccata-Rūpa (impermanence)10

4. The Arising of Material Phenomena (Rūpa)

“Kammaṁ, cittaṁ, utu, āhāro cāti cattāri rūpasamuṭṭhānāni nāma”.

10
Ibid., pp. 74-78.
 7

Material phenomena originate in four ways, from kamma, consciousness,

temperature, and nutriment.

1. Kamma as a Mode of Origin

“Tattha kāmāvacaraṁ rūpāvacarañ cāti pañcavīsativisatividham

pikusalākusalakammam abhisankhataṁ ajjhattikasantāne kammasamuṭṭhānarūpaṁ
paṭisandhim upādāya khaṇe khaṇe samuṭṭhāpeti”.

Therein, the twenty-five kinds of wholesome and unwholesome kamma

pertaining to the sense sphere and the fine-material sphere produce in one’s internal
continuum, volitionally conditioned material phenomena originating from kamma,
moment by moment beginning with rebirth-linking.

2. Consciousness as a Mode of Origin

“Arūpavipāka-dvpañcaviññāṇa-vajjitaṃ pañcasattatividham picittaṃ

cittasamuṭṭhānarūpaṁ paṭhamabhavangam upādāya jāyantameva samuṭṭhāpeti”.

The seventy-five types of consciousness, excluding the immaterial-sphere

resultants and the two sets of fivefold sense consciousness, produce material
phenomena originating from consciousness beginning with the first moment of the life-
continuum, but they do so only (at the moment of) arising.

3. Temperature as a Mode of Origin

“Sītuṇhotu-samaññtā tejodhātu ṭhitipattā va utusamuṭṭhānarūpaṁajjhattañ

ca bahiddhā ca yathārahaṁ samuṭṭhāpeti”.

The fire element, which comprises both cold and heat, on reaching its stage
of presence, produces, according to circumstances, both internal and external material
phenomena originating from temperature.

4. Nutriment as a Mode of Origin

“Ojāsankhāto āhāro āhārasamuṭṭhānarūpaṁ ajjhoharaṇakāleṭhānappatto va

samuṭṭhāpeti”.
 8

Nutriment, known as nutritive essence, on reaching its stage of presence,

produce material phenomena originating from nutriment at the time it is awallowed.11

Conclusion

Rūpakhandhā refers to everything in our material world, our body and our
physical surroundings. Therefore, all types of rūpas are the same with regard to having
the characteristic of transforming, but matter is basically classified into two types:
Mahābhūda rūpas, and Upādāya rūpas including 28 types of rūpas. Otherwise, the
network of all instances of all types of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, physical sensations,
physical sensors, and forms of physical phenomena included only among the cognitive
stimulators that are all phenomena. Any of these can be part of any moment of
experience on someone's mental continuum.

Reference

Bhikkhu Bodhi, A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The

Abhdhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha, (Kandy, Srilanka: Buddhist
Publication Society, 1993-1999).

Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, Buddha Abhidhamma: Ultimate Science, (Yangon,

Myanmar: International Theravàda Buddha Missionary University, Yangon Adviser to
the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Union of Myanmar, 1995).

Mathiew Boisvert, The Five Aggregates: Understanding Theravāda

Psychology and Soteriology, (Canadian: Wilfrid Lourier University Press, 1995).

Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivamsa, Fundamental Abhidhamma,

(Myanmar, Mandalay: Dhamma Sahāya Center, Institute for Dhamma Education, 2005

Yaksa, The oldest Indian Treatise on Etymology, Philology and Semantics,

(Indian, Delhi: Molilal Banassidass, 1977).

11
Bhikkhu Bodhi, A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The
Abhdhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha, (Kandy, Srilanka: Buddhist Publication
Society, 1993-1999), pp. 246-247.
 9

Concept of the Feeling Aggregates

BY

Ven. Phurpa Dorji

Table of contents

2. Origin of Feeling 10
3. Category of Feeling 11
4. How the feeling is associated with mind 12
5. Conclusion 13
6. Bibliography 13
 10

Concept of the Feeling aggregates

1. Introduction

Feeling is very important for worldly Sentient-beings because Sentient-beings are

seeking day and night for pleasant feeling. In this cause, from Ants to the Scholars all
are doing hard works to avoid unpleasant feeling and try to enjoy with pleasant feeling.
For example, such a smallest animal like Ants, why are they going here and there for
whole day and night? I think ants are also going to looking for happiness for all the
time, because Ants don’t like a suffering. Just go to Ants and see, if we try to touch
them, instantly they run into their Ant-hill. Sometimes we can see they are taking foods
and going back to their Ant-hill with a lot of friends like a human being. Therefore, the
feeling is very important we have to study and analyze.

2. Origin of Feeling

According to abhidhamma origin of feeling is mental factors therefore explain about

the characteristic of mental factor, In the Theravāda abhidhamma, mental factors
(cetasika) are that arise and perish together with consciousness. Depend on
consciousness for arising and influence the mind to be bad, good or neutral as they
arise. Cetasika has four characteristic properties:
1, It arises together with citta,
2, It perishes together with citta,
3, It takes the same sense object which the citta takes,
4, It shares a common physical base with citta. 12
However, there are fifty-two mental factors and usually divided into three
classifications:
1, Thirteen neutral mental factors, (aññasamāna)
2, Fourteen unwholesome mental factors, (akusala).
3, Twenty-five beautiful mental factors, (sobhaṇa).

12
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, (Yangon: Published
U Wisara Housing Estate Dagon Township, 2015), p.61.
 11

Those three groups of mental factors are separated into ten subdivisions as follows:

1, Aññasamāna 1, Sabba-citta-
(13) sādhāraṇa (7)
2, Pakiṇṇaka (6)

2, Akusala (14) 1, Moha-catukka (4)

2, Lobha-tri (3)
Cetasika (52) 3, Dosa-catukka (3)
4, End-tri (3)

3, Sobbhaṇ (25) 1, Sobhaṇa sādhāraṇa

(19)
2, Virati (3)
3, Appamaññā (2)
4, Paññāindriya (1)

However, among those 52 mental factors feeling is belong to group of sabba-

citta-sādhāraṇa because it associates with all mental factors: Aññasamāna Cetasika,
Akusala Cetasika, and Sobbhaṇ Cetasika.

3. Category of Feeling
Feeling is classified in two ways.
A. Classification according to sense objects:

1 Sukha vedanà – pleasant feeling experienced when in contact with agreeable

objects.
2 Dukkha vedanà – painful feeling experienced when in contact with
disagreeable objects.
3 Upekkhà vedanà – Indifferent feeling or neutral feeling which is neither
pleasurable nor painful. It is expe-rienced when in contact with neither agreeable nor
disagreeable objects.
B. Classification according to Indriya (Faculty):

1 Somanassa vedanà – pleasant feeling in mind

2 Domanassa vedanà – painful feeling in mind
 12

3 Sukha vedanà – pleasant feeling in body

4 Dukkha vedanà – painful feeling in body
5 Upekkhà vedanà – indifferent or neutral feeling
In classification (A) sukha implies pleasant feeling either in mind or in body while
dukkha implies painful feeling either in mind or in body. In classification (B) sukha is
divided into somanassa and sukha whereas dukkha is divided into domanassa and
dukkha. So it should be noted that the feelings in the mind and the feelings in the body
are different and that a person can be happy even if his body is in pain.13

As well as Vasubandhu also declares feeling aggregate in his

Abhidharmakoshakarika, “Vedanaskandha is the threefold mode of feeling or
experiencing sensation which is painful, pleasant, neither-painful-nor-pleasant.”14

4. How the feeling is associated with mind

Feeling also associated with mind when it depends on situation as following:
1 Sukha vedanà is associated with only one citta – namely, ahetuka kusala-
vipàka sukha-sahagataü kàya-viàõa citta.
2 Dukkha vedanà is also associated with only one citta – namely, akusala-
vipàka dukkha-sahagataü kàya-viàõa citta.
3 Domanassa vedanà is associated with two dosa-måla cittas.
4 Somanassa vedanà is associated with 62 cittas – namely, 18 kàma-somanassa
cittas, 12 mahaggata somanassa cittas
and 32 lokuttara somanassa cittas.
5 Upekkhà vedanà is associated with 55 cittas – namely, 32 kàma-upekkhà
cittas, 15 mahaggata upekkhà cittas and 8 lokuttara upekkhà cittas.
Therefore, the above classification of cittas may be assumed to include the
classification of cetasikas according to feeling as well. The reason is that the cetasikas
that associate with the sukha- sahagataü citta will also be associated with sukha
vedanà, the cetasikas that associate with the dukkha-sahagataü citta will also be

13
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, (Yangon:
Published U Wisara Housing Estate Dagon Township, 2015), p. 94-95
14
Vansubandhu, Abhidharmakośabhāsyam, tr. Leo M. Pruden, Pruden,
(California: Jain Publishing, 2014), vol. I, p. 73.
 13

associated with dukkha vedanà, the cetasikas that associate with the domanassa citta
will also be associated with domanassa vedanà, and so on.

5. Conclusion
Feeling enjoys the taste of the sense-object. It is like a king who enjoys a
delicious dish. Feeling is very important to worldly people. People are struggling day
and night for the enjoyment of sensual pleasure which is nothing but pleasant feeling.
In the cause-effect relations of the Law of Dependent Origination (pañicca-
samuppada), contact is the condition for the arising of feelings, and feeling is the
condition for the arising of craving (taõhà). The whole group of feelings—past, present,
future, one’s own and external is designated as vedanakkhandha, one of the five groups
of existence.

6. Bibliography
1. Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, Yangon: Published U
Wisara Housing Estate Dagon Township, 2015.
2. Y.Karunadasa, The Theravada Abhidhamma, (Hong Kong: Published Center
of Buddhist studies, 2010)
3. Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakośabhāsyam, California: Jain Publishing, 2014
4. Narada Maha Thera , A Manual of Abhidhamma, Published By the Buddhist
Missionary Society, 123, off Jalan Berhala, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Publication of the Buddhist Missionary Society, Fourth revised edition 1979.

5. https://wokar.org/2015/04/25/མཆིམས་མཛོད།-སྟོད་སྨད་བར/

6. The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary, Oxford: Published by The Pali
Text Society, 2004.
7. Dr. Sanjib Kumar Das, Comprehensive Tri-Lingual Dictionary, Lhe-Ladakh:
Published by Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2014.
11. Sanskrit English Dictionary, New Delhi: AES Publication Pvt. Ltd, 2008.
 14

Perception Aggregates

By

Ven. Phuntsog Dorjee

Skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates,

collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of
clinging (Pañcupādānakkhandhā), the five material and mental factors that take part in
the rise of craving and clinging. They are also explained as the five factors that
constitute and explain a sentient being’s person and personality,
Perception (Skt. saṃjña; Tib. འ"་ཤེས་, dushé, Wyl. ‘du shes) is the third of the five
skandhas. In Abhidharma literature, it also appears in the list of fifty-one mental states,
Perception (sanna)—again, not “perception” as conveyed by ordinary English, but the
recognition or interpretation of sense objects followed by mental labeling. perception
is considered as anything that is perceived as being perception, whether past, present or
future, internal or external, subjective or objective, gross or refined, superior or inferior,
far or near. Samjna (Sanskrit: saṃjñā; Pali: sañña) is typically translated as
"perception" or "cognition." Alternate translations include: "conception",
"apperception" and "discrimination". Samjna can be defined as grasping at the
distinguishing features or characteristics.

It is also said that samjna registers whether an object is recognized or not

(for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).

StudyBuddhism describes samjna-skandha as follows:

The network of all instances of the [mental factor of samjna] that could be
part of any moment of experience on someone's mental continuum. Some translators
render the term as "aggregate of recognition."

It is of one kind in that all that its intrinsic nature or essence is perceiving.
It is threefold in that it is: good (profitable or moral) and associated with profitable
consciousness; bad (unprofitable or immoral) and associated with unprofitable
 15

consciousness; or indeterminate and associated with indeterminate consciousness.

Vedana is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the arising of craving
(tanha). Craving depends not only on the occurrence of sensation, but also on the
occurrence of a particular type of sanna. My aim in this chapter is twofold: first, to
circumscribe the meaning of the term sannakkhandha and second, to show how it
contributes to the emergence of craving within the framework of the chain of dependent
origination. Like vedana, sanna is usua)]y defined with respect to the six sense-doors
(ayatana) through which the faculty is applied. Thus, sanna is classified in terms of (1)
visible object (rupasanna), (2) sound (saddasanna), (3) smell (gandhasanna), (4) taste
(rasasanna), (5) touch (phor thabbasanna). and (6) mental object (dhammasanna)
Moreover, as with vedana.

The canonical definition of sanna does not shed much light on the meaning
of the term, since the verb used to define it (sanjanati) refers to the root from ,which the
term sanna is derived. Fortunately, the Sarhyuttanikiiya offers us a glimpse of what
sanna could mean by expanding on the former definition: "It is called 'recognition'
because it 'recognizes.' What does it 'recognize'? It 'recognizes' [regarding the organ of
sight] such things as blue, yellow, red, white, etc. Because it 'recognizes', it is therefore
called 'recognition.' ,, Words such as "to be conscious" and "consciousness, or "to
perceive" and "perception" are often used to translate the term sanna. However, my
translation is grounded in the belief that both "perception" and "consciousness" carry
misleading eon notation with regard to sanna. The word "recognition," on the other
hand, tends to imply that the subject imposes certain categories upon the percept in
order to classify it The term "recognition" can definitely not be mistakenly ascribed to
the concept of vinnti). To use our reference from the Samyuttanikaya as a supporting
example for this decision, we may say that the words "to perceive" and "to be conscious
of' would suggest that the blueness, yellowness or redness of the object is inherent in
the object itself, whereas saying "to recognize" implies that the color (which may not
be exactly blue, yellow or red, if such pristine colors indeed exist) is "categorized" by
linked to previous labeling. In fact, the word blue names nothing but a concept, and
different people form different concepts to describe the same sensation. For example,
one person may call two colors with different tones blue, while another may recognize
 16

these colors as indigo and aquamarine. Both have an extremely similar sensory
experience, yet their recognition differs.

The classic dialogue between King Milinda and Nagasena on the definition
of a chariot further exemplifies this point. Milinda is unable to define the chariot
without referring to all its constituent parts. The chariot is a mere category, a mental
conceptualization used by the sanna to order, to classify the various sensory experiences
resulting from contact with the external object that we normally term chariot. This
faculty of recognition leads to the formation of concepts, usually rendered in Pali by
the expression pannatti. The Anguttaranikaya supports the analogy by elaborating on
the result of sanna, saying that "sanna always results in a 'concept' [vohara~ expression
of worldly usage]: whatever is conceptualized has previously been 'saiiiianized.' .. This
is very similar to the Sanskrit equivalent of the term sanna (samjna) which usually
means "name," "technical term" or "notion.,, The Vibhanga classifies iiinna: mto three
categories: wholesome (kusala), unwholesome (akusala) and neutral (aryakata). Neither
canonical nor commentarial literature sheds much· light on these classifications.
However, before establishing a correlation between saiiiia and the paticcasamupada.

Perception is actually a very subtle one to watch, because you can get an
idea of it intellectually, but only until you see it will you see what's going on. While
this does require a strong background in mindfulness or awareness of the sequence of
rapid mental events, complete beginners can do this with the focus just on perception.
Here's what to look for.

Read Investigate the Feeling Aggregate or other similar works on the

subject. Feeling and perceptions are very closely linked.

Select a comfortable meditation posture. You can do this in day to day

circumstances, but this one is harder to see as its usually buried under all the other
feelings and senses.

Examine whatever feelings arise. Try to see the process of "recognition" or

"awareness" or any words that mean knowing that a feeling has happened.

Study the recognition of those feelings - how, where, when and why. The
aim of the game is to see the micro-processes in action. Think about this. Feeling
 17

requires contact of the body (nerve endings etc.) and the sense object (such as tension,
body chemicals, sound, sight, taste etc.), if there is no perception of the contact or
feeling, the mind doesn't recognize either and feeling just doesn't register.

Look for the distinction or separation as well as the link connection between
feelings and what happens afterwards in the mind. That distinction & link is perception.

Consider the accuracy of it, is it 100% accurate and perceives everything?

Understand the order that it arises:

First materiality - the body, physical objects and their characteristics, then
feeling, then perception, then mental fabrications, activities, constructions, formations,
responses or any word that works for you. After that comes the conscious states or
any words that describes the mental states that support and dominate the others.

Try to see it happen in action. Trying to understand does not make

understanding happen, although exploring the ideas can start the process.

Try to consider why there is only 5 of these aggregates and explore things
that happen. You might find everything slots into these 5.

Consider these 3 similes. They are more for the serious investigator of this
subject, but make sense when you test them.

Materiality is like the sick room and the patient, feeling is the affliction of
the sickness, perception is the provoking of the illness (because it makes you want it to
go away), formations is the wanting of it to go away and the consciousness is like an
incurable illness because it isn't ever free of feeling.

Materiality is the prison, feeling is the punishment, perception is the crime,

mental formations are the punisher and the consciousness the punished.

Materiality is like a lump of atomic foam, feeling like a bubble on the water
(because it doesn't last), perception is a mirage because it makes illusions (perception
of the "me, mine" etc.), mental formations like a banana or plantain trunk, because while
it grows it doesn't have a core of solid heartwood. Consciousness is like a stage illusion.
It isn't ever how it seems.
 18

Finally consider the "un-manageability" or the "auto-pilot" nature of

perception. Its not something we can turn on or off. When someone who studies
perceptions with the angle of testing ownership, self or entity, they can make a
breakthrough this way as they'll see the starting blocks of new thoughts, feelings and
mental processes and that they are empty of any entity. Then illusions are broken and
there are no mysteries left.
 19

The Five Aggregate

Mental Formation (saṅkhārakkhadhā)

By

Ven. Thit Zana

Introduction

As long as these human bodies are alive and their senses are operating, we
have to be constantly on our guard, alert and mindful, because the force of habit to grasp
the sensual world as a self is so strong. This is very strong conditioning in all of us. So,
the Buddha taught is the way of mindfulness and wise reflection. Rather than making
metaphysical statements about our true natures or ultimate reality,
the Buddha’s teaching points to the nature of five aggregate and the four noble true. We
don’t go out looking at the contemplating nature and observing nature as it operates
through this personal formation.

The Meaning of Khandha

The first thing that done in this topic is looking for the definitions and
exploring what the Pāli word khandha means. In the Tipitaka, the term Pāli word
“khandha” which means aggregate, group or categories of clinging’s objects.15 Here
the word “aggregate” is going to be used for the Pāli word khandha throughout this
topic for it is the most accepted and commonly used as an equivalent by most Pāli and
Buddhist scholars.

The word khandha is the Pāli equivalent of the Sanskrit skandha, and their
meanings are identical. The Pāli word “khandha” has both a simple and a technical
meaning, and both usages are found in the texts. The simple meaning of khandha as
given in the Pāli-English Dictionary is “mass, bulk, (gross) substance.” This usage is

15
Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary Manual of Buddhist Terms &
Doctrines, (Kanday: Buddhist Publication Society, 1988), p. 159.
 20

used in the canon to refer to the bulk of an elephant, for instance. The word is also used
specifically for a man’s shoulders. Used in a more technical sense, khandha refers to
various aggregated collections.

The Buddha used the word “khandha” in many of his teachings and suttas.
Among them where we hear the first usage of expounding khandha is in the
Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. The sutta is the first sermon in Theravāda Budhism. The
usages of the word of Khandha may be in the Khandha Samyuttu and many suttas are
mostly related to the realization aggregates. The five aggregates are the object of
meditation. How is the five khandhas to be the object of meditation is minutely given
in the Majjima Nikaya, Mahāsatipatthana Sutta in Theravāda Budd

The Main Purpose of Buddhism

The main purpose of Buddhism is to purify the mind with the practice of
samatha and vipassana meditation till one realizes the true nature of mind and matter
concentrating on the three characteristics of anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering)
and anatta (non-self) by dividing a being to maximum five groups or five aggregates.

In these five khandhas, the first one is matter (rūpa) and the remaining four
are mind (nāma). Whatever a being, man or deva or dog is just the composition of the
five khandhas or combination of mind and matter. Human beings are a combination of
mind (nāma) and matter (rūpa). Mind consists of the combination of sensations,
perceptions, volitional activities and consciousness. Also, matter consists of the
combination of the four elements of solidity, fluidity, motion and heat.

Likewise, human beings are a combination of five aggregates (khandhas),

namely body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness16

Mental Formations

The Pāli word “saṅkhārakkhadhā” which means aggregate of mental

formations or thought process. This aggregate includes all mental factors except feeling

16
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, Yangon: Published
U Wisara Housing Estate Dagon Township, 2015), p. 45.
 21

and perception, which are two of the possible fifty-two mental factors noted in
Buddhism. These factors are volitional, no action produces change or karma, unless
there is intention, volition and action. Contact through the senses brings about the
necessity of choosing an action and the action we choose depends upon our thought
process, which is the result of our experiences and our individual evolution.

Sankhara means mental formations. Mental formations refer to all those

processes or qualities that arise concomitant with consciousness, such as cognitive
thought, volition, and so forth. (The Abhidhamma gives a list of fifty sankhara.). There
are perceptions of the mind (sañña) and we operate from them (sankhara). So the
assumptions we have about yourself - from childhood, parents, teachers, friends,
relatives and all that; whether we perceive our-self as good and positive or in a negative.
It’s all the sañña and sankhara khandhas.

All these five khandhas are anicca (impermanent). When we chant: “rupam
aniccam, vedana anicca, sañña anicca, sankhara anicca, viññānam aniccam, this is very
profound”.

The term Pāli words “sabbe saṅkhāra anicca”. Sankhara means all
conditioned phenomena, all sensory experience - the sense organs, the objects of the
sense organs, the consciousness that arises on contact - all this is saṅkhāra and is anicca.
So, saṅkhāra includes the other four: rupa, vedana, sañña, viññana.17

With this we have a perspective from which the conditioned world is

infinitely variable and complex. But where do we separate saññā from saṅkhāra and
saṅkhāra from viññāna and all that? It’s best not to try to get precise divisions between
these five aggregates, they’re just convenient means for looking at things, helping us to
meditate on mental states, the physical world and the sensory world.

We are not trying to fix anything so this is permanently saṅkhāra and that is
definitely saññā, but were just using these labels to observe that the sensory world -
from the physical to the mental, from coarse to refined - is conditioned, and all
conditioned phenomena are impermanent. Then we have a way of seeing the totality of

17
Narada Maha Thera , A Manual of Abhidhamma, Published By the Buddhist
Missionary Society, 123, off Jalan Berhala, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Publication of the
Buddhist Missionary Society, Fourth revised edition 1979), pp. 67-68.
 22

the conditioned world as impermanent, rather than getting involved in it all. In this
practice of insight meditation were not trying to analyse the conditioned world, but to
detach from it, to see it in a perspective. This is when we really begin to comprehend
anicca; we insightfully know “sabbe saṅkhāra aniccā”.

So any thoughts and beliefs we have are just conditions. But I,m not saying
that we shouldn’t believe in anything, I’m just pointing out a way to see things in
perspective so we are not deluded by them. We won’t grasp the experience of emptiness
or the unconditioned and the deathless. We have been grasping that one as a kind of
personal attainment. I know emptiness. I’ve realized emptiness - patting our-selves on
the back. That’s not “sabbe dhammā anattā” - that’s grasping the unconditioned,
making it into a condition. When we start thinking of our-self as having realised
emptiness, we can see that also as a condition of the mind.18

The term Pāli word “sabbe dhammā anattā”: all things are not self, not a
person, not a permanent soul, not a self of any sort. That’s very important to
contemplate also, because sabbe dhammā includes all things, the conditioned
phenomena of the sensory world and the unconditioned, the Deathless.

Keep that formula all conditions are impermanent; all things are not self for
reflection. And then in our life as our live it, whatever happens we can see “sabbe
sankhara anicca, sabbe dhamma anatta”. It keeps us from being deluded by miraculous
phenomena that might happen to us, and it is a way of understanding other religious
conventions.

Sometimes on these retreats when we get calm, we can have a very peaceful
mind. So, then we meditate in order to attain that blissful state. But insight meditation
means looking into the nature of things, of the five khandhas, seeing them as anicca -
impermanent; as dukkha - unsatisfactory. These khandhas have the ability to give you
any kind of permanent satisfaction. Their very nature is unsatisfactory and anatta.

Start to investigate and wisely consider sabbe saṅkhāra anicca, sabbe

dhammā anattā rather than think we have attained something or that we have got to hold
on to that attainment and start to resent anybody that gets in the way. When our mind

18
Ibid., p. 70.
 23

is really concentrated, let go of it. Rather than just indulging in that peaceful feeling,
attach to something.

In the practice, as we begin to understand and experience letting go, we

begin to realise what Buddha teaches: “sabbe saṅkhāra aniccā, sabbe dhammā anattā”.
Insight is different from conceptual knowledge. But now we are penetrating, going deep
into this, breaking through the illusion of self as being anything at all; or nothing - if
we believe that we don’t have a self - that’s another belief. I believe I don’t have a self.
We believe in no self. We see that the Buddha pointed to the way between those two
extremes: of believing we have a self and believing that we don’t have a self. We cannot
find anything in the five khandhas which is a permanent self or soul: things arise out of
the unconditioned, they go back to the unconditioned. Therefore, it is through letting
go rather than through adapting any other attitude, that we no longer seek to attach to
mortal conditions.19

Conclusion

In short, these aggregates of attachment are Dukkha “saṁkhittena

pancupādānakkhandhā dukkhā”.

And also, the Buddha preaches “sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā’ ti, yadā paññāya
passati.” Atha nibbindati dukkhe, esa maggo visuddhiyā. Transient are all conditioned
things: when this, with wisdom, one diserns, then is one disqusted with ill; this is the
path to purity.

“sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā’ ti, yadā paññāya passati.” Atha nibbindati dukkhe,
esa maggo visuddhiyā. Sorrowful are all conditioned things: when this, with wisdom,
one diserns, then is one disqusted with ill; this is the path to purity.

19
Narada Thera, The Dhammapada: Pāli Text and Translation with Stories in
Brief and Notes, (Taipei, Taiwan: The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation,
1993), pp. 222 – 224.
 24

“sabbe dhammā anattā’ ti, yadā paññāya passati.” Atha nibbindati dukkhe,
esa maggo visuddhiyā. All Dhammas are without a soul: when this, with wisdom, one
diserns, then is one disqusted with ill; this is the path to purity.
 25

The consciousness aggregate (vinnana khandha)

By
Rev. Khemar Nandi

The fifth and the final aggregate is called consciousness because its function
is to cognize. Consciousness is the process of cognizing or knowing an object.
However, it is just the bare awareness, awareness of the presence of a sensory object
received through a sense organ. It is unable to recognize or identify the object or its
distinguishing characteristics which is done by perception (saññā).

The bare awareness of a sense object becomes one’s personal experience

only through the action of the other three mental aggregates of feeling, perception and
mental formation. In Buddhist teaching, the proximate cause of consciousness has been
described as mind and matter (nāma-rūpa).

In the Nalakalapiyo Sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya, Ven. Sāriputta, one of

the two chief Disciples of the Buddha, has described the reciprocal relationship between
consciousness (viññāna) and mind and matter (nāma-rūpa); consciousness arising with
mind and matter as the requisite condition and, mind and matter arising with
consciousness as the requisite condition.

In the same Sutta Ven. Sāriputta has likened consciousness and mind and
matter to two sheaves of reeds leaning against one another supporting each other. If one
of the two sheaves of reeds is pulled away the other will also fall and in the same way,
if consciousness ceases mind and matter will cease, and if mind and matter ceases
consciousness will cease.

Consciousness is always named in relation to the sense organ and the sense
object that acted as its pre-conditions. For example, when consciousness arises
dependent on the eye and visual object it is eye consciousness. So, there are six types
of consciousness based on the six sense organs;
1. Eye consciousness (cakkhu viññānā)
 26

2. Ear consciousness (sota viññānā )

3. Nose consciousness (ghāna viññānā)
4. Tongue consciousness ( Jivhā viññānā)
5. Body consciousness (kāya viññānā)
6. Mind consciousness (mano viññānā)

Consciousness is impermanent and subject to change, constantly arising and

passing away dependent upon the six sense organs and their respective sense objects.
Consciousness arises and passes away at an extremely rapid rate and what is normally
considered as consciousness is, in actuality, a series of rapidly occurring moments of
consciousness. In the Assutava Sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya, the Buddha has likened
consciousness to a monkey. Just like a monkey who, roaming through the forest and
mountain side takes hold of one branch, let go of it and grabs another branch,
consciousness arises as one and ceases as another like night and day .

Whatever kind of consciousness there is, whether past, present or future,

internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, that is connected
with mental defilement and subject to clinging has been collectively described as the
consciousness aggregate of clinging. The Buddha has likened consciousness to a
magician’s magic show. If a man with good eye sight is to watch carefully and examine
a magic trick, he will discover it to be empty, hollow and with no substance. Similarly,
a meditator who sees, observes and examines consciousness appropriately will discover
it to be empty and hollow with no substance or self.

Practical aspects of the five aggregates of clinging in the process of

liberation

According to Buddhist teaching, any Buddhist disciple who wants to

understand the true nature of the five aggregates of clinging in order to eradicate the
mental defilements need to develop proficiency in reflecting on seven aspects of each
aggregate;

True nature of the aggregate

Origin of the aggregate

 27

Cessation of the aggregate

Practice (Noble Eightfold Path) leading to the cessation of the aggregate

Pleasure and joy (satisfaction) arising dependent on the aggregate

Instability and unsatisfactoriness (danger) of the aggregate

Abandonment of desire and lust for the aggregate

The origin and the cessation of the aggregates have been described as
follows;

From the origination of nutriment (ahāra) comes the origination of form

(rūpa), from the cessation of nutriment comes the cessation of form

From the origination of contact (phassa) comes the origination of feeling

(vedanā), from the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling

From the origination of contact comes the origination of perception (sañña),

from the cessation of contact comes the cessation of perception

From the origination of contact comes the origination of mental formation

(sankhāra), from the cessation of contact comes the cessation of mental formation

From the origination of name and form (nāma-rūpa) comes the origination
of consciousness (viññāna), from the cessation of nāma-rūpa comes the cessation of
consciousness

In the Silavant Sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya, Ven. Sāriputta has described
how a virtuous monk should attend to the five aggregates of clinging appropriately as
inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a
dissolution, an emptiness and non-self.

Through such appropriate attention to the five aggregates of clinging, a

virtuous monk will be able to attain the Noble stages of Stream Entry (Sotapañña),
Once Returner (Sakadāgāmi), Non Returner (Anāgami) and Arahat. When the practice
of attending appropriately to the aggregates as above is developed and pursued by an
Arahat who has already attained full liberation, it will lead both to a pleasant abiding in
the here and now, and mindfulness and alertness.
 28

In the Maha-punnama Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya (Collection of the

Buddha’s Middle Length Discourse) the Buddha has stated that the five aggregates of
clinging are rooted in desire and that whenever there is passion and delight, clinging is
there which is neither the same as the five aggregates of clinging nor separate from
them. One needs to see the five aggregates of clinging as they truly are with wisdom as
“this is not mine, this is not my self, and this is not what I am”.

By seeing their true reality, a Buddhist disciple will become disenchanted

and dispassionate with the five aggregates and thus become fully released with the
knowledge that one is “fully released, birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task
done and there is nothing further for this world” .

Five Aggregates of Clinging and the Four Noble Truths

The five aggregates are impermanent and unsatisfactory (dukkha) – (The

first Noble Truth of suffering)

Attachment to the five aggregates as self and craving for existence – (The
second Noble Truth of the origin of suffering)

Liberation from the five aggregates – (The third Noble Truth of cessation of
suffering)

The Noble Eightfold Path leading to the cessation of the aggregates – (The
fourth Noble Truth of the Path leading to the cessation of suffering).

Five Aggregates of Clinging and Satipatthana Sutta

In the Satipatthāna Sutta, Satipatthana meaning foundations of mindfulness,

the Buddha stated the four foundations of mindfulness as the direct way to; purification
from all the defilements, overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, destruction of all the
suffering and mental grief, entry into the Noble Path and finally realisation of Nibbana.
The four foundations of mindfulness are;

Contemplation of body as body (kayānupassanā)

Contemplation of feelings as feelings (vedanānupassanā)

 29

Contemplation of mind as mind (cittanupassanā)

Contemplation of mind objects as mind objects (dhammānupassanā).

In contemplation of mind objects, the Buddha has included the group of five
aggregates of clinging to be contemplated on each aggregate separately as follows;

Such is form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness

Such is the arising of form, feeling, perception, mental formation and

consciousness

Such is the disappearance of form, feeling, perception, mental formation and

consciousness

Additionally, there is also a relationship between the four foundations of

mindfulness and each of the five aggregates of clinging;

Contemplation of body is concerned with the aggregate of form

(rupakkhandhā)

Contemplation of feelings is concerned with the aggregate of feeling

(vedanakkhandhā)

Contemplation of mind is concerned with the aggregate of consciousness

(vinnanakkhandhā)

Contemplation of mental objects is concerned with the aggregates of

perception and mental formation (saññā and sankhāra-kkhandhā)

Five Aggregates of Clinging and Dependent Origination

The Buddhist theory of Dependent Origination (paticca samuppāda)

consisting of twelve conditioning factors shows how the physical and mental
phenomena in the universe arise due to the presence of other causes and conditions and
cease to exist when those causes and conditions change or cease to exist. It explains the
mechanism of the cycle of birth and death (samsāra) and the arising of suffering in its
forward chain while the reverse chain explains the cessation of suffering.
The forward chain of Dependent Origination is as follows;
 30

“Avijjapaccaya sankhara : Conditioned by ignorance arise mental

formations

Sankharapaccaya vinnanam : Conditioned by mental formations arises

consciousness

Vinnanapaccaya namarupam : Conditioned by consciousness arise mind

and matter

Namarupapaccaya salayatanam : Conditioned by mind and matter arise six

sense bases

Salayatanapaccaya phasso : Conditioned by six sense bases arise contact

Phassapaccaya vedana : Conditioned by contact arise feeling

Vedanapaccaya tanha : Conditioned by feeling arise craving

Tanhapaccaya upadanam : Conditioned by craving arise clinging

Upadanapaccaya bhavo : Conditioned by clinging arise becoming

Bhavapaccaya jati : Conditioned by becoming arise birth

Jatipaccaya jaramarana-soka-parideva-dukkha-domanassa-upayasa
: Conditioned by birth arise ageing-death-sorrow-lamentation-pain-grief and despair”

The five aggregates of clinging are represented among the 12 links of

Dependent Origination as follows:

Aggregate of form or matter (rūpa) is the material aspect of mind and matter
(nāma-rūpa) and the five physical sense organs in the link of the six sense organs
(salāyathana). It is also present as the five physical sense organs and sense objects in
the link of contact (phassa) which is the combination of a sense organ, a sense object
and a corresponding sense consciousness

Aggregate of feeling (vedanā) is present as the link of feeling (vedanā)

within Dependent Origination while it is also present within the mind aspect (nāma) in
the link of mind and matter (nāma-rūpa)

Aggregate of perception (saññā) is present within the mind aspect (nāma)

of mind and matter (nāma-rūpa). Perception has not been described as a separate link
 31

within Dependent Origination but, its position should be between feeling (vedanā) and
craving (tanhā)

Aggregate of mental formation (sankhāra) is present as the second link of

mental formations (sankhāra) as well as in the two links of craving (tanhā)and clinging
(upadāna) which are also mental formations involving volition or intention

Aggregate of Consciousness (viññāna) is present as the third link of the

forward chain of Dependent Origination. It is conditioned by mental formations and is
the conditioning factor for the arising of mind and matter (nāma-rūpa). Consciousness
is also present in the link of contact (phassa) which is the combination of a sense organ,
a sense object and a sense consciousness. We have seen that vinna~akkhandha is
variously translated. Some scholars hold that it means bare sensation, some, pure
consciousness, and others, the cognition of something pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
Since the viMa~akkhandha is responsible for the cognition of all of these, however,
none of these suppositions is totally accurate. Consequently, the term was defined as
"mere consciousness," whether that consciousness be of rapa, veaaffa or sanna. The
differerice betwee the mental organ and vilinii1J(l itself was also examined. Both are
necessary for perception of phenomena (dhamma), but only the latter is necessary for
the apprehensiort of stimuli from any of the other sense- organs. A correlation between
the third link of the palicca- samuppada-vinliiilJanidana-and the vinnalJakkhandha
was final1y established.
 32

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