Skandha - Five Aggregates

In the Buddhist view, by contemplating on the characteristics of the skandhas, we can overcome self-grasping. Self-grasping is attachment to a concept of self that is unique, independent, and permanent. 

 In the Buddhist view, it is this attachment to this distorted view of the self that is the root cause of suffering. Therefore, by letting go of this attachment, we can liberate ourselves from suffering.

 Five skandhas (S. pañca skandha; P. pañca khandha; T. phung po lnga), or five heaps or five aggregates, are five psycho-physical aggregates, which according to Buddhist philosophy are the basis for self-grasping.

 The five aggregates or heaps are: 
  1. rupa-skandha - aggregate of form (material image, impression, our body & our physical surroundings)
  2. vedana-skandha - aggregate of sensations (feelings, received from form)
  3. saṃjñā-skandha - aggregate of recognition, labels or ideas (perceptions, cognitions)
  4. saṃskāra-skandha - aggregate of volitional formations (desires, wishes and tendencies, thoughts, idea, mental habits, prejudice, compulsion triggered by an object)
  5. vijñāna-skandha - aggregate of consciousness
            There are six types of vijnana (consciousness) within vijnana-skandha:
    • eye-consciousness (Skt. cakṣur-vijñana)
    • ear-consciousness (Skt. śrotra-vijñana)
    • nose-consciousness (Skt. ghrāṇa-vijñana)
    • tongue-consciousness (Skt. jihva-vijñana)
    • body-consciousness (Skt. kāya-vijñana)
    • mind-consciousness (Skt. mano-vijñana)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tea meditation - Plum Village

Image
  This cup of tea in my two hands,  mindfulness is held perfectly.          My mind and body dwell in the very here and now.  Wherever you are drinking your tea, whether at work or in a café or at home, it is wonderful to allow enough time to appreciate it. If the weather is cold, you can feel the warmth of the cup in your hands. Breathe in and recite the first line; breathe out and recite the second. The next inhalation is for the third line, and the next exhalation is for the fourth line. Breathing mindfully in this way, we recuperate ourselves and the cup of tea reclaims its highest place. If we’re not mindful, it’s not tea that we’re drinking but our own illusions and afflictions. If the tea becomes real, we become real. When we are able to truly meet the tea, at that very moment we are truly alive. There is no way to home. Home is the way. There is no way to happiness Happiness is the way to us. A day to return to ourselves, to take care of ourselves to contemplate what's goin
Read more

Mindfulness of Breathing

Image
16 stages/ approaches to mindful breathing  https://www.mindfulnessbell.org/archive/tag/16+exercises+for+mindful+breathing Day 1 Basics of mindfulness meditation. breathing is one of the core practices of Buddhist meditation practice. Two ways street - as the world around us changes (mood, intention, mind), our breathing changes, as breathing changes, our relationship to the world changes.  As we got trapped in our thoughts, our breathing changes.  As we relax our body, our breathing changes. Breathing sitting in the crossroad of all aspects of our life.  Fight/flight mode, breathing changes. When we change our breathing and relax, fight/flight response changes. Sitting there in breathing and watches the world goes on. Easy breath - be in touch with the breathing.  how your breathing changes is related to how your mood/ mind is changing. Area of control - the front part of the body.  focus on the back of the body is easier. not to be concern of a controlled breath. just be very content
Read more

5 Daily Recollections (2) - Sickness

The body is subject to sickness.  we are not immune.  no one is immune.  Suffering stress is part of the human condition, specifically the sickness. Setting in the body with the breath with the body.  how to have a sense of freedom in the midst of sickness.   Dropping in the contemplation into the body, a more stable available ready space. Let it vertebrate.  Later will drop in the body the reflections as if the pebble in the water.  Making space for emotions, or planting seeds for you to be with the reflection throughout the day. I am subject to aging, I am of nature to age.  Aging is inevitable. All the practice we do, with sitting, with meditation, consider all the waves in the ocean, the waves will always be there, better and better with bigger waves. For today/s practice, my invitation is as if there is any sickness and working the sickness and befriending this body's nature.  noticing the narratives with mindfulness befriending them because seeing them is really the first ste
Read more