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Skandha

Translations o f

skandha

English: aggregate, mass, heap

Pali: khandha

Sanskrit: (skandha)

Burmese:

(IPA: [[WP:IPA for Burmese|[[kd]]]])

Chinese:(T) /(S)

(pinyin: w yn)

Japanese:

Korean:

(RR: o-on)

Shan:

([khan2 thaa2])

From Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia

This article is about a term in Buddhist phenomenology. Forthe bodhisattva by a similar name, see

Skanda (Buddhism).

In Buddhistphenomenology and soteriology, the

skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pli, aggregates in

English) are any of five types of phenomena that serve as

objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self. [1] The

Buddha teaches that nothing among them is really "I" or

"mine".

In the Theravada tradition, suffering ariseswhen 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

nature of all aggregates as intrinsically empty ofindependent existence.

Consciousness contacts form and reproduces a greater

reality, but in general the uninstructed reproduction of

sensations, conceptions, and mental models becomes

painfully inadequate for the worldling. Outside of Buddhist

didactic contexts, "skandha" can mean mass, heap, pile,

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Tibetan:

(phung po lnga)

Thai:

Vietnamese: Ng un

Glossary of Buddhism

view talk edit

The Five Aggregates (paca khandha)

according to the Pali Canon.

bundle or tree trunk.[2]The five aggregates are fully defined

below.

Contents [hide]

1 Definition

1.1 Parts of a chariot

2 Theravada pers pectives

2.1 Suffering's ultimate referent

2.2 Future suffering's caus e

2.3 Release through aggregate-contemplation

3 Mahayanis t perspectives

3.1 The intrinsic emptiness of all things

3.2 Tangibility and transcendence

4 Vajrayana perspectives

4.1 The truth of our ins ubstantiality

4.2 Bardo deity manifestations

5 Relation to other Buddhis t concepts

6 References in Buddhis t literature

7 See also

8 Notes

9 Bibliography

10 External l inks

10.1 Theravada

10.2 Mahayana

10.3 Vajrayana

Definition

Buddhist doctrine describes five aggregates: [3]

1. "form" or "matter"[4] (Skt., Pli rpa; Tib. gzugs):

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form (rpa)

4 elements

(mahbhta)

contact

(phassa )

consciousness

(vina)

mental factors (cetasika)

feeling

(vedan)

perception

(saa)

formation(sakhra)

Form is derived f rom the Four Great Elements.

Consciousness arises f romother aggregates.

Mental Factors arise from the Contact of

Consciousness and other aggregates.

Source: MN 109 (Thanissaro, 2001) | diagram details

external and internal matter. Externally, rupa is the

physical world. Internally, rupa includes the material

body and the physical sense organs.[5]

2. "sensation" or "feeling" (Skt., Pli vedan; Tib.

tshor-ba):

sensing an object[6] as either pleasant or unpleasant

or neutral.[7][8]

3. "perception", "conception", "apperception",

"cognition", or "discrimination" (Skt. samj, Pli

sa, Tib. 'du-shes):

registers whether an object is recognized or not (for

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

4. "mental formations", "impulses", "volition", or

"compositional factors" (Skt. samskra, Pli

sakhra, Tib. 'du-byed) :all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions,

prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by

an object.[9]

5. "consciousness" or "discernment"[10] (Skt.

vijna, Pli via[11], Tib. rnam-par-shes-pa):

1. In the Nikayas/gamas: cognizance,[12][13]

that which discerns[14]

2. In theAbhidhamma: a series of rapidlychanging interconnected discrete acts of

cognizance.[15]

3. In some Mahayana sources: the base that

supports all experience.[16]

See Table 1 for examples of definitional references to the aggregates in Buddhist primary sources.

In the Pli Canon and the gamas, the majority of discourses focusing on the five aggregates discusses
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[edit]

them as a basis for understanding and achieving liberation from suffering, without describing relationships

between the aggregates themselves.[17] Nonetheless, from some canonical discourses, a causal

relationship between the five aggregates can be derived.[18] The following (illustrated in the figure to the right)

exemplify such relational attributes:[19]

Form (rpa) arises from experientially irreducible physical/physiological phenomena.[20]

Formin terms of an external object (such as a sound) and its associated internal sense organ (such

as the ear)gives rise to consciousness (via vija).[21]

The concurrence of an object, its sense organ and the related consciousness (via vija) is

called "contact" (phassa spara).[22][23][24]

From the contact of form and consciousness arise the three mental (nma) aggregates of feeling

(vedan), perception (sa saj) and mental formation (sakhra saskra).[25][26]

The mental aggregates can then in turn give rise to additional consciousness that leads to the arising of

additional mental aggregates.[27]

In this scheme, form, the mental aggregates,[28] and consciousness are mutually dependent.[29]

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.[30]

Parts of a chariot

In the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha is recorded as saying "A 'chariot' exists on the basis of the

aggregation of parts, even so the concept of 'being' exists when the five aggregates are available." [31] Thus

just as the concept of "chariot" is a reification, so too is the concept of "being." The same analysis is

applicable to the parts of the chariot; they too are unsubstantial in that they are causally produced, just likethe chariot as a whole.[32] The most explicit denial of the substantiality of the components of the being in

the early texts is one that was quoted by later prominent Mahayana thinkers:

All form is comparable to foam; all feelings to bubbles; all sensations are mirage-like;

dispositions are like the plantain trunk; consciousness is but an illusion: so did the Buddha

illustrate [the nature of the aggregates].[33]
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Part of a series on

Buddhism

Outline Portal

History

Timeline Councils

Gautama Buddha

Later Buddhists

Nagarjuna used ideas of this kind in the agamas to refute the Sarvastivada conception of reality.[32] The

simultaneous non-reification of the self and reification of the skandhas has been viewed by some Buddhist

thinkers as highly problematic.[34]

In the early texts, the scheme of the five aggregates is not meant to be an exhaustive classification of the

human being: rather it describes various aspects of the way an individual manifests. [35] The chariot

metaphor is not an exercise in ontology, but rather a caution against ontological theorizing and conceptual

realism.[36]

Part of the Buddha's general approach to language was to point towards its conventional nature,and to undermine the misleading character of nouns as substance-words.[37]

The skandha analysis of the early texts is not applicable to arahants. A tathgata has abandoned that

clinging to the personality factors that render the mind a bounded, measurable entity, and is instead "freed

from being reckoned by" all or any of them, even in life. The skandhas have been seen to be a burden, and

an enlightened individual is one with "burden dropped".[38]

See also: Tathagata#Inscrutable

Theravada perspectives

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:

1. 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 forunderstanding the Four Noble Truths as a whole."

2. Future Suffering's Cause: The five aggregates are the substrata for

clinging and thus "contribute to the causal origination of future suffering."

3. Release: Clinging to the five aggregates must be removed in order to

achieve release.

Below, excerpts from the Pli literature will bear out Bhikkhu Bodhi's
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Dharmaor concepts

Four Noble Truths

Five Aggregates

Impermanence

Suffering Non-self

Dependent Origination

Middle Way Emptiness

Karma RebirthSamsara Cosmology

Practices

Three Jewels

Noble Eightfold Path

Morality Perfections

Meditation Mindfulness

Wisdom Compassion

Aids to EnlightenmentMonasticism Laity

Nirva

Four Stages Arahant

Buddha Bodhisattva

Traditions Canons

Theravda Pali

Mahyna HinayanaChinese

Vajrayna Tibetan

V T E

assessment.[39]

Suffering's ultimate referent

In the Buddha's first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, he provides

a classic elaboration on the first of his Four Noble Truths, "The Truth of Suffering"

(Dukkhasacca):[40]

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 sufferingin brief the five aggregates

subject to grasping are suffering.

According to Thanissaro:[41]

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 thetrunk 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.

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

suttas below.In the early texts, the skandhas explain what suffering is. According to Noa

Ronkin

What emerges from the texts... is a wider signification of the khandhas

than merely the aggregates constituting the person. Sue Hamilton has

provided a detailed study of the khandhas. Her conclusion is that the associating of the five

khandhas as a whole with dukkha indicates that experience is a combination of a
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straightforward cognitive process together with the psychological orientation that colours it in

terms of unsatisfactoriness. Experience is thus both cognitive and affective, and cannot be

separated from perception. As one's perception changes, so one's experience is different: we

each have our own particular cognitions, perceptions and volitional activities in our own

particular way and degree, and our own way of responding to and interpreting our experience

is our very experience. In harmony with this line of thought, Gethin observes that the

khandhas are presented as five aspects of the nature of conditioned existence from the point

of view of the experiencing subject; five aspects of one's experience. Hence each khandharepresents 'a complex class of phenomena that is continuously arising and falling away in

response to processes of consciousness based on the six spheres of sense. They thus

become the five updnakhandhas, encompassing both grasping and all that is grasped.'

Early Buddhist Metaphysics: the Making of a Philosophical Tradition[42]

Future suffering's cause

The Samyutta Nikaya contains the Khandhavagga ("The Book of Aggregates"), a book compiling over ahundred suttas related to the five aggregates. Typical of these is the Upadaparitassana Sutta ("Agitation

through Clinging Discourse," SN 22:7), which states:

...[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.)

Put another way, if we were to self-identify with an

aggregate, we would cling (upadana)[43] to it; and, given

that all aggregates are impermanent (anicca), it would

then be likely that at some level we would experience

agitation (paritassati), loss, grief, stress, or suffering (see

dukkha). Therefore, if we want to be free of suffering, it is

Example of Aggregate-Clinging

To give a simplistic example, if one believes

"this body is mine" or "I exist within this

body," then as one's body ages, becomes ill,
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wise to experience the aggregates clearly, without

clinging or craving (tanha), 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 (assutav puthujjana)

1. regards: form as self; self aspossessingform; form as in self; self as in form.[44]

2. lives obsessedby the notions: I am form;

form is mine

3. this form changes

4. with the changes of form, there arises

dukkha

2. An instructed noble disciple (sutav ariyasvaka)

does notregard form as self and so on, and thus

when form changes, dukkha does not arise. (Note:

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.)

and approaches death, one 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[45]).

On the other hand, one with a disciplinedmind who is able to see this body as a set of

aggregates will be free of such fear,

frustration and time-consuming escapism.[46]

But how does one become aware of and then let go of one's identification with or clinging to the aggregates?

Below is an excerpt from the classic Satipatthana Sutta that shows how traditional mindfulness practicescan awaken understanding, release and wisdom. [47]

Release through aggregate-contemplation

In the classic Theravada meditation reference, the "Satipahna 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
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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; andthus 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."[48]

...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. [49]

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,
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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.)

As seen below, the Mahayana tradition continues this use of the aggregates to achieve self-liberation.

Mahayanist perspectives

In one of Mahayana Buddhism's most famous declarations, the aggregates are referenced:

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.[50]

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 Mahayana literature? These questions areaddressed below.

The intrinsic emptiness of all things

The Sanskrit version[51] of the classic "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" ("Heart Sutra") begins:

The noble AvalokiteshvaraBodhisattva, Arya avalokiteshvaro bodhisattvo

while practicing the deep practice of Prajnaparamita gambhiran prajna-paramita caryan caramano

looked upon the Five Skandhas, vyaavalokayati sma panca skandhas

...seeing they were empty of self-existence....[52] tansh ... svabhava shunyan pashyati sma....[53]

Svabhava

In the Theravada canon,[54] when "emptiness of self" is mentioned, the English word "self" is a

translation of the Pali word "atta"(Sanskrit, "atman"); in the Sanskrit-version of the Heart Sutra,[55] the

English word "self-existence" is a translation of the Sanskrit word "sva-bhava".[56]

In other words, whereas the Sutta Pitaka typically instructs one to apprehend the aggregates without

clinging orself-identification, Prajnaparamita leads one to apprehend the aggregates themselves as being
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dependently originated (i.e. empty).[57]

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.[50]

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.[58]

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 aredelusions. 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. [59]

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.[60]

That is, from the Mahayana perspective, the aggregates convey the relative (or conventional) experience of

the world by an individual, although Absolute truth is realized through them.

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
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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. 1012; and, Trungpa, 2002,

pp. 124, 133-4) identifies the form aggregate as the "solidification" of ignorance (Pali, avijja; Skt., avidya),

allowing one to have the illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spaciouswisdom (Pali, vijja; Skt. vidya),

and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."[61]

According to Trungpa Rinpoche (1976, pp. 2022), 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)

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:
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The blue light of the skandha of consciousness in its basic purity, the wisdom of the

dharmadhtu, 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 Amitbha 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 concepts

Other fundamental Buddhist concepts associated with the five skandhas include:

Samsara

It is through the five skandhas that the world (sasra) is experienced, and nothing is experienced apart

from the five skandhas.
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aggregateexternal

sense base

internal

sense base

ultimate

reality

form

visible form,

sound, smell,

taste, touch

eye,

ear, nose,

tongue, body

28

material

phenomena

mental

objects

(dhamma)

sensation

52

mental

factors

perception

formation

Nibbna

conscious-

ness

(vinnana)

mind

(mana)

conscious-

ness

(citta)

Three Characteristics

It is through the five skandhas that impermanence (anicca anitya) is experienced, that suffering

(dukkha dukha) arises, and that "non-self" (anatt antman) can be realized.

Four Paramatthas

The Abhidhamma and post-canonical Pali

texts create a meta-scheme for the Sutta

Pitaka's conceptions of aggregates, sensebases and elements.[62] This meta-scheme is

known as the fourparamatthas or four ultimate

realities:

consciousness

mental factors

material phenomena

Nibbna

The mapping between the aggregates, thesense bases (see below) and the ultimate

realities is represented in the chart to the

right.[63]

Twelve Sense Bases

The first five externalsense bases (that is, the sense objects of visible form, sound, smell, taste and

touch) are part of the form aggregate and the mental sense object (that is, mental objects) overlap

the first four aggregates (form, feeling, perception and formation).The first five internalsense bases (that is, the sense organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue and body) are

also part of the form aggregate and the mental sense organ (mind) is comparable to the aggregate of

consciousness. While the benefit of meditating on the aggregates is overcoming wrong views of the

self (since the self is typically identified with one or more of the aggregates), the benefit of meditation

on the six sense bases is to overcome craving (through restraint and insight into sense objects that

lead to contact, feeling and subsequent craving). [64]

Twelve Nidanas / Dependent Origination
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Twelve Nidanas / Dependent Origination

The Twelve Nidanas describe twelve phenomenal links by which suffering is perpetuated between and

within lives. Embedded within this model, four of the five aggregates are explicitly mentioned in the

following sequence: mental formations (sakhra saskra) condition consciousness (via

vijna) which conditions name-and-form (nma-rpa)[28] which conditions the precursors (sayatana,

phassa spara) to sensations (vedan) which in turn condition craving (tah t) and clinging

(updna) which ultimately lead to the "entire mass of suffering" (kevalassa dukkhakkhandha).[65]

Overlaying this chain of conditioning on top of "The Five Aggregates" diagram at the top of this article,the interplay between the five-aggregates model of immediate causation and the twelve-nidana model of

requisite conditioning becomes evident, for instance, underlining the seminal role that mental formations

have in both the origination and cessation of suffering. [66][67]

Eighteen Dhtus[68]

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:[69]

The first five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) are derivates 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 are the basis for consciousness.

The Eighteen Dhtus
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The dhtus grouped according to skandha

The Eighteen Dhtus

Six External

Bases

(bhya-

yatana)

Six Internal

Bases

(adhytma-

yatana)

Six

Consciousnesses

(vijna)

(1) Visual

Objects(rpa-

yatana)

(2) Eye

Faculty

(cakur-

indriya-

yatana)

(3) Visual

Consciousness

(cakur-vijna

(4) Auditory

Objects

(abda-

yatana)

(5) Ear

Faculty

(rota-indriya-

yatana)

(6) Aural

Consciousness

(rota-vijna)

(7) Olfactory

Objects

(gandha-

yatana)

(8) NoseFaculty

(ghra-

indriya-

yatana)

(9) Olfactory

Consciousness

(ghra-vijna)

(10)

Gustatory

Objects

(rasa-

yatana)

(11) Tongue

Faculty

(jihv-indriya-yatana)

(12) Gustatory

Consciousness

(jihv-vijna)

(13) Tactile

Objects

(spraavya-

yatana)

(14) Body

Faculty

(kaya-indriya-

yatana)

(15) Touch

Consciousness

(kaya-vijna)

(17) Mental
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[edit]

(16) Mental

Objects

(dharma-

yatana)

(17) Mental

Faculty

(mana-

indriya-

yatana)

(18) Mental

Consciousness

(mano-vijna)

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.

Some references to the aggregates in Buddhist primary sources[70]

(Abbreviations: MN = Majjhima Nikaya; SN = Samyutta Nikaya; Vism = Visuddhimagga.)

aggregate description source

rpa(Form)It is the four Great Elements (mahbhta) -- earth, water, fire, windand

their derivatives.

SN

22.56[71]

It is afflicted with cold, heat, hunger, thirst, flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun,

reptiles.[72]SN

22.79[73]

The cause, the condition and the delineation are the four Great Elements.[74]MN

109[75]

There are 24 kinds of "derived" forms (updya rpam).[76]Vism

XIV.36ff

vedan(Feeling)

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
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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

sa

(Perception)

It is perception of form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental

phenomena. SN 22.56

It perceives blue, yellow, red, white. SN 22.79


Functions to make a "sign" for perceiving in the future that "this is the

same."

Vism

XIV.130

sakhra

(Formation)It is volition regarding form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation, mental

phenomena.SN 22.56

It constructs constructedforms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formation,

consciousness.SN 22.79


Characterized by "forming," functions to "accumulate," manifests as

"intervening."

Vism

XIV.132

via

(Consciousness)

It is eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, mind-consciousness. SN 22.56

It cognizes what is sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, sharp, mild, salty, bland. [77] SN 22.79

The cause, the condition and the delineation are name-and-form

(nmarpa) [78]
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[edit]

[edit]

(nmarpa).[ ]

There are 89 kinds of consciousness.[79]Vism

XIV.82ff

See also

Anatta

Atman (Buddhism)Nagarjuna

Pratitya-samutpada

Samsara

Sankhra

Schools of Buddhism

Shunyata

Tathagatagarbha doctrineTi-lakkhana

Virodhi Himsa Adhyatma

Notes

1. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Handful of Leaves Volume 2, 2nd edition 2006, page 309.

2. ^ Thaniss aro (2002). Also s ee, for example, Thanissaro (2005) where khandha is translated as "mas s" in

the phrase dukkhakkhandha (which Thanissaro translates as "mass of stress") and Thaniss aro (1998)

where khandha is trans lated as "aggregate" but in terms of bundling the Noble Eightfold Path into thecategories of virtue (silakkhandha), concentration (samadhikkhandha) and wisdom (pannakkhandha).

3. ^ Contemporary writers (such as Tripitaka Master ShramanaHsuan Hua, Trungpa Rinpoche and Red Pine)

som etimes 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.

4. ^ In Rawson (1991: p.11), the first skandha is defined as: "name and form (Sans krit nma-rpa, Tibetan

gzugs)...". In the Pali li terature, nma-rpa traditionally refers to the first four aggregates, as opposed to the

fifth aggregate, consciousness.
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gg g

5. ^ External and internal manifestations of rupa are described, for instance, in Bodhi (2000b), p. 48.

6. ^ In these definitions, "object" refers to either a cognized form (what Western epis temologists might refer to

as "sense data") or a mental expression, such as a cognized memory.

7. ^ The Pali canon universally identifies that vedana involves the sensing or feeling of something as pleasant

or unpleas ant or neutral (see, for instance, SN 22). When contemporary authors e laborate 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 s tates that the "strategies or impluses"

of "indifference, pass ion and aggress ion" are "part of the third stage [aggregate]," "guided by perception."(This s ection of Trungpa, 1976, is anthologized in Trungpa, 1999, pp. 55-58.)

8. ^ Generally, vedan is considered to notinclude "emotions." For example, Bodhi (2000a), p. 80, writes:

"The Pali word vedan 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] consis ts 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 s ay, 'He hurt my feelings.' This kind of feeling that we take so serious lybelongs to the fourth and fifth skandhas of concept and conscious ness ."

9. ^ The Theravada Abhidhamma divides sakhra into fifty mental factors (Bodhi, 2000a, p. 26). Trungpa

(2001), pp. 47ff, following the Sarvastivada Abhidharma studied in Mahayana Buddhis m, s tates that there

are fifty-one "general types" of samskara.

10. ^ Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press 1995, page 143-146.

11. ^ According to the Visuddhimagga XIV.82, the Pali terms via, citta and mano are synonymous

(Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 453). However, Trungpa (2001, p. 73) distinguishes between via and citta,

stating that via (consciousness) is "articulated and intelligent" while citta (mind) is a "simple instinctive

function .... very direct, sim ple and s ubtle at the same time."12. ^ See, for instance, SN 22.79, "Being Devoured" (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 915).

13. ^ In commenting on the use of "consciousness " in SN 22.3 [1] , Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1046-7, n. 18, states:

"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
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entity but a sequence of dependently arisen occas ions of cognizing; see MN I 256-60."

14. ^ Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press 1995, page 143-146. Harvey writes, "This is in contrast to

sa, which knows by grouping things together, labeling them. This contrast can be seen in terms of the

typical ob jects o f these states: colours for sa (S.III.87), but tastes (S.III.87) or feelings (M.I.292) for

via. While colours usual ly be immediately identified, tastes and feelings often need careful

consideration to properly identify them: discernment and analysis are needed."

15. ^ This conception of consciousness is found in the Theravada Abhidhamma (Bodhi, 2000a, p. 29).16. ^ While not necessari ly 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 conscious ness "is the finally developed s tate of being that contains all the previous elem ents....

[C]onsciousness constitutes an immediately available source of occupation for the momentum of the

skandhas to feed on."

17. ^ See, for instance, in the Samyutta Nikaya's Khandha-sayutta 's discourses SN 22.1 through 22.55

(Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 853-94).

18. ^ This is in reference to discourses particularly focusing on the five aggregates, as in the Khandha-sayutta (SN, ch. 22). Individual aggregates are provided an overlapping but somewhat different

relationship in terms of "dependent origination" (Pali:paticca-samuppda) and other canonical frameworks;

for related information, see the "Relation to other Buddhist concepts" section below.

19. ^ See, for instance, MN 109 "The Great Full-moon Night Discourse" (Thanissaro, 2001b), SN 22.56

"Phases of the Clinging Aggregates" (Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 895-97) and SN 35.93, "The Dyad (2)" (Bodhi,

2000b, pp. 1172-3).

20. ^ For instance, see MN 109: "Monk, the four great exis tents (earth, water, fire, and wind) are the caus e, the

four great existents the condition, for the delineation of the aggregate of form" (Thanissaro, 2001b). Alsosee SN 22.56: "The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements: this is cal led

form" (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 895). For more information regarding "the four great elements," see the

"Mahbhta".

21. ^ See, for instance, SN 35.93: "In dependence on the eye and forms there arises eye-conscious ness ...."

(Bodhi, 2000b, p. 1172); and, MN 148: "Bhikkhus, dependent on the eye and forms , eye-consciousnes s

arises..." (amoli & Bodhi, 2001, p. 1134, para. 28).

22. ^ See, for instance, SN 35.93: "The m eeting, the encounter, the concurrence of these three things [eye, form

and eye-consciousness] is called eye-contact...." (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 1172).
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23. ^ In addition to referring to the five form-derived s ense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body), their

associated objects and consciousness ,phassa also pertains to these aspects of mentality (nama): mind,

mind objects and m ind-consciousness. In the Abhidhamma (e.g., see Bodhi, 2000a, p. 78),phassa is a

mental factor, the means by which consciousness "touches" an object.

24. ^ Traditional Buddhist texts do not directly address Western philosophy's s o-called mind-body problem

since in Buddhism the exploration of the aggregates is not primarily to ascertain ultimate empirical reali ty

but to obtain ultimate release from suffering.

25. ^ See, for instance, MN 109: "Contact is the cause, contact the condition, for the delineation of the aggregateof feeling. Contact is the caus e, contact the condition, for the delineation of the aggregate of perception.

Contact is the caus e, contact the condition, for the delineation of the aggregate of fabrications" (Thanissaro,

2001b). Also see SN 22.56: "With the arising of contact there is the aris ing of feeling.... With the arising of

contact there is the aris ing of perception.... With the aris ing of contact there is the aris ing of volitional

formations...." (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 896).

26. ^ A mental aggregate arises e ither from cons cious contact with form or from another mental aggregate

(Bodhi, 2000a, pp. 78ff).

27. ^ See, for instance, SN 35.93: "In dependence on the mind and mental phenom ena there arises mind-consciousnes s" (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 1172). More broadly, see, for instance, SN 22.56: "With the aris ing of

name-and-form [nmarpa] there is the arising of consciousness " (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 897); and, MN 109:

"Name-&-form is the cause, name-&-form the condition, for the delineation of the aggregate of

consciousness" (Thanissaro, 2001b). In the Canon, nmarpa often refers to the four aggregates other

than consciousness (e.g., cf. the relationship between consciousness and nmarpa in DN 15

[Thanissaro, 1997a ] and MN 38).

28. ^ ab Form and the mental aggregates together are technically referred to as nmarpa, which is variously

defined as "name-and-form," "materiali ty-mentality" and "matter-mind." Bodhi (2000b), pp. 47-48, mentions

that amoli translated nmarpa as "mentality-materiality," which Bodhi assesses to be "[i]n somerespects ... doctrinally more accurate, but it is also unwieldy...." Bodhi goes on to note that, "in the Nikyas,

nmarpa does not include consciousness (via)."

29. ^ According to Bodhi (2000b), p. 48, based on suttas in SN 14, conscious ness "can operate only in

dependenece on a physical body (rpa) and in conjunction with its constellation of concomitants (nma);

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, 1997b) , where the Buddha in part states: "[F]rom name-&-form

as a requisite condition comes consciousness , from consciousness as a requisite condition comes
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name-&-form."

30. ^ For an example of this unidirectional, linear caus al model, see Trungpa (2001), pp. 36-37, where, in part,

he s tates: "The first flash is the form and the next, feeling. As you flash further and further, the content

becomes m ore and more involved. When you flash perception, that contains feeling and form; when you

flash consciousness that contains all the other four."

31. ^ Kalupahana (1975), page 78. The pass age is found at S 1.135, and also in the agamas.

32. ^ ab Kalupahana (1975), page 78.

33. ^ Kalupahana (1975), page 85. The quote is from S 3.142, and also occurs in the agamas.

34. ^ Jinpa 2002 , page 112.

35. ^ Damein Keown quoting Sue Ham ilton: [2] .

36. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, [3] .

37. ^ Noa Ronkin, Early Buddhist Metaphysics. Routledge 2005, page 245.

38. ^ Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press 1995, page 229.

39. ^ In regards to how Theravada practitioners view the aggregates, Bodhi (2000b, p. 840) cautions :

[T]he analysis into the aggregates undertaken in the Nikayas is not pursued with the aim of

reaching an objective, scientific understanding of the human being along the lines pursuedby physio logy and ps ychology.... For the Buddha, investigation into the nature of personal

exis tence always rem ains subordinate to the liberative thrust of the Dhamma....

Likewise, Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2002) underlines:

The [Pli] canon depicts the Buddha as saying that he taught only two topics: suffering and

the end of suffering (SN 22.86 [4] ). 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 abs olute

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 s uffering or to our

own liberation.

40. ^ Piyadassi Thera, trans. Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta ("The Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth

Discourse", Samyutta Nikaya 56:11). Access to Insight. 1999.

41. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Five Piles of Bricks: The Khandas as Burden and Path . Access to Insight. 2002.

42. ^ Noa Ronkin, Early Buddhist Metaphysics: the Making of a Philosophical Tradition Routledge, 2005, page
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43.

43. ^ Note that, in Buddhism , one clings to (or guards) something one possess es (or believes one

possesses ) whereas one craves (searches) for something one lacks. (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, ins tead, one desires such, it is technically craving, not clinging.

44. ^ In the Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka, there are four types of clinging: (1) clinging to sensual

pleasure; (2) clinging to wrong views ; (3) clinging to rites and ceremonies ; and, (4) clinging to a doctrine of

sel f. (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 poss ible identity views (sakkayaditthi). The twenty

identity views are beliefs in:

form is self, is possessed byself, is in self; contains self.

sensation is self, is possessed byself, is in self; contains self.

perception is self, is possessed byself, is in self; contains self.

mental formation is self, is possessed byself, is in self; contains self.

consciousness is self, is possessed byself, 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."

45. ^ On-line transla tions of the Sallatha Sutta ("The Arrow" or "The Dart," SN 36.6) include Thanissaro

(1997e) and Nyanaponika (1998) .

46. ^ For a more body-specific meditation method for developing detachment from bodily forms , see

Patikulamanasikara.

47. ^ Unlike the Satipatthana Sutta, the class ic Anapanas ati Sutta ("Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse," MN

118) does not directlyreference the aggregates. However, the Pali literature includes works that interpret

the Anapanasati Sutta in light of the aggregates . In the Patisambhidmagga: The Khuddaka Nikaya's book,the Patisambhidmagga ("The Path of Analysis"), includes an analysis of the following meditative

instruction (firs t tetrad, third instruction) from the Anapanasati Sutta:

He trains hims elf, "I will breathe in sensi tive to the entire body." He trains him sel f, "I will

breathe out sensi tive to the entire body." (Thaniss aro, trans., 2006.)

Regarding this instruction, the Patisambhidmagga (am oli, 1998, p. 75) analyzes the word "body"

(kaya) as follows :

Body: There are two bodiesthe mentality-body and the materiality body.
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Feeling, perception, volition, sens e-impress ion, attentionmentality and the mentality of the

bodyand those (things) which are called the mental formationsthis is the mentality body.

The four great primaries and the materiality derived from the four great primariesin-breath

and out-breath and the sign for the binding (of mindfulness )and those (things) which are

called the bodily formationsthis is the materiality body.

In other words, the Patisambhidmagga frames the practice of the Anapanasati Sutta's third s tep as a

contemplation o f the five aggregates.

The Visuddhimagga's analysis of the Anapanas atti Sutta includes an analysis of the following m editative

instruction (fourth tetrad, first instruction) from the Anapanasati Sutta:

He trains hims elf, "I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy." He trains hims elf, "I will breathe

out focusing on inconstancy." (Thanissaro, trans., 2006.)

In regards to this instruction, the Visuddhimagga (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 282-3; see also amoli,

1998, p. 40) advises one to apprehend "inconstancy" (or "impermanence") as meaning the following:

Herein, the five aggregates are "the impermanent". Why? Because their es sence is ris e andfall and change. "Impermanence" is the rise and fall and change in those same aggregates,

or it is their non-existence after having been....

Impermanence (anicca) is a characteristic common to all aggregates. This im permanence 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.

48. ^ Bodhi (2000b, pp. 743, n. 58) points out that this formula for aggregate-contemplation can als o be found

in SN 12.21, 12.23, 22.78, 22.89 and 22.101, as well as MN 122.

49. ^ That meditation creates a s pace between the aggregates (including clinging) is a readily accessiblemeditation experience. For a published authoritative s tatement regarding this experience, see, for example,

Trungpa (2001), pp. 85-86, where in response to a s tudent'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."

50. ^ ab Nhat Hanh (1988), p.1. Again, also see Red Pine (2004), p. 2, and Suzuki (1960), p. 26.

51. ^ According to Nattier (1992), the Heart Sutra was originally composed in Chinese and later back-translated

into Sanskrit. Thereafter, it became popular in India and later Tibet. As indicated in an endnote further

below elements in this translation are not present in Chinese versions of this sutra
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below, elements in this translation are not present in Chinese versions of this sutra.

52. ^ Red Pine (2005), p.2. See also Nhat Hanh (1988), p. 1, and Suzuki (1960), p. 26. Nhat Hanh (1988) adds

to this firs t verse the sentence: "After this penetration, he overcame all pa in." Suzuki (1960), p. 29, notes that

this additional sentence is unique to Hsuan-chuang's translation and is omitted in other versions of the

Heart Sutra.

53. ^ Sanskrit text based on Red Pine (2005), pp. 41, 50, 56, 67.

54. ^ Regarding the term sabhva (Pali; Skt: svabhva) in the Pali Canon, Gal (2003), p. 7, writes:

To judge from the suttas, the term sabhva was never employed by the Buddha and it is rarein the Pali Canon in general. Only in the post-canonical period does it become a standard

concept, when it is extensively used in the comm entarial descriptions of the dhammas

[conditioned mental and physical processes] and in the sub-commentarial exegesis. The

term sabhva, though, does occur on various occasions in five canonical or para-canonical

texts: the Paisambhidmagga, the Peakopadesa, the Nettippakaraa, the Milindapaha and

the Buddhavasa.

Gal (p. 10) specula tes that the use of the term sabhva in the Paisambhidmagga might be the earliest

occurrence in Pali li terature and quotes (p. 7, esply. n. 28) from this text (Pais. II 178) the application of thephrase sabhvena sua (Pali for "empty of sabhva") to each of the aggregates at least superficially

sim ilar to an application of svabhva in the Prajnaparam ita Hridaya Sutra ("Heart Sutra") cited in this article.

55. ^ Note that Chinese versions of the Heart Sutra do notcontain the notion of svabhava.

56. ^"Svabhava"has a lso been translated as "self-nature" (Suzuki, 1960, p. 26), "separate self" (Nhat Hanh,

1988, p. 16) and "self-exis tence" (Red Pine, 2004, p. 67).

57. ^ While Red Pine (2004) contextualizes the Prajnaparamita texts as a his torical reaction to some early

Buddhist Abhidhammas, some interpretations of the Theravada Abhidhamma are consistentwith the

prajnaparamita notion of "emptiness."58. ^ Nhat Hanh (1988), p. 15.

59. ^ Red Pine (2004), pp. 75, 77.

60. ^ Suzuki (1960), p. 29, n. 4.

61. ^ This type of analysis of the aggregates (where ignorance conditions the five aggregates) m ight be akin to

that described by the Twelve Nidanas.

62. ^ Bodhi (2000a), p. 6.

63. ^ Chart is based on Bodhi (2000a), p. 288.

64. ^ Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1125-26; and, Bodhi (2005b). Bodhi conceptuatlizes the s ix sense bases as providing

" ti l" i f i hil th t id "h i t l" (t l) i ( B dhi
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a "vertical" view of experience while the aggregates provide a "horizontal" (temporal) view (e.g., see Bodhi,

2000b, pp. 1122-23).

65. ^ Put another way, it is through the five skandhas that clinging occurs . See, for instance, the Samadhi Sutta

(SN 22:5) (Thanissaro, 2006b).

66. ^ The apparent distinctions between the nidana model and the khandha model are reduced when, instead

of using the twelve-nidana model of the Samyutta Nikaya, chapter 12 (e.g., Thanissaro, 1997d) , one

compares the nine-nidana model of the Maha-nidana Sutta (DN 15) (Thanissaro, 1997a) where

consciousness conditions nam e-and-form and name-and-form conditions consciousness .

67. ^ 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 l ived

immediacy in the continuum from birth to death." Perhaps in a s imilar vein, Bodhi (2000b, pp. 762-3, n. 132)

notes els ewhere that, according to the Samyutta Nikaya's subcomm entary: "There are two kinds of origin,

momentary origin (khanika-samudaya) and origin through conditions (paccaya-samudaya). A bhikkhu who

sees one sees the other."

68. ^ The Pli word dhtu is us ed in multiple contexts in the Pli canon: For instance, Bodhi (2000b), pp. 527-8,identifies four different ways that dhtu is used including in terms of the "eighteen elements" and in terms of

"the four primary elements" (catudhtu).

69. ^ Bodhi (2000a), pp. 287-8.

70. ^ Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 841, 914-5; Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 443-64; Thanissaro, 1997c, 2001a & 2001b.

71. ^ Available on-line a t Thanissaro (1997c) .

72. ^ Bodhi (2000b, p. 1070, n. 110) points out and Thanis saro (2001a, nn. 1 and 2) sugges ts that this

definition is a t least in part "word play" related to the homophonic (non-etymological) correspondence

between the Pli words for "form" (rpa) and "afflicted" (ruppati).

73. ^ Available on-line a t Thanissaro (2001a) .

74. ^ 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 SN 22.5 , are "collective dis tal" or "diachronic" conditions.

75. ^ Available on-line a t Thanissaro (2001b) .

76. ^ The Visuddhimagga XIV.36-72 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 443-450; also s ee Bodhi, 2000a, p. 236) defines

the 24 derived forms as:

eye, ear, nose, tongue, body

i ibl thi d d t t
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