Teachings on Living Beings and the Five Aggregates
Teachings on Living Beings and the Five Aggregates
A series of teachings that the Buddha shared on living beings and the five aggregates. The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitions (choices) and consciousness, when fully understood, lead to freedom from strong feelings, to wisdom, to liberation.
At Sāvatthī.
“Mendicants, I will teach you the five aggregates and the five grasping aggregates. Listen …
And what are the five aggregates?
Any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or fine; inferior or superior; far or near: this is called the aggregate of form.
Any kind of feeling at all …
Any kind of perception at all …
Any kind of choices at all …
Any kind of consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or fine; inferior or superior; far or near: this is called the aggregate of consciousness.
These are called the five aggregates.
And what are the five grasping aggregates?
Any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or fine; inferior or superior; far or near, which is accompanied by defilements and is prone to being grasped: this is called the aggregate of form connected with grasping.
Any kind of feeling at all …
Any kind of perception at all …
Any kind of choices at all …
Any kind of consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or fine; inferior or superior; far or near, which is accompanied by defilements and is prone to being grasped: this is called the aggregate of consciousness connected with grasping.
These are called the five grasping aggregates.”
(From SN 22.48)
Elsewhere, the Buddha shares how this grasping takes place. It starts in excitement, delight, and craving.
‘Venerable Sir, it is said, ‘a being, a being’. In what way, Venerable Sir, is one called a being?’
One is stuck, Rādha, tightly stuck, in desire, longing, excitement, and craving for form; therefore one is called ‘a being’.
One is stuck, tightly stuck, in desire, longing, excitement, and craving for feelings; therefore one is called ‘a being’.
One is stuck, tightly stuck, in desire, longing, excitement, and craving for perceptions; therefore one is called ‘a being’.
One is stuck, tightly stuck, in desire, longing, excitement, and craving for volitional formations (choices/decisions); therefore one is called ‘a being’.
One is stuck, tightly stuck, in desire, longing, excitement, craving for consciousness: therefore one is called ‘a being’.
(From SA 122)
In these teachings, the Buddha is sharing an understanding of the five aggregates as:
- Form: This refers to the physical aspect of existence, including the body and physical sensations.
- Feeling: This encompasses all forms of feeling, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
- Perceptions: This is the mental process of recognizing and labeling experiences.
- Choices (volitions): These are the various mental habits, thoughts, ideas, and predispositions that influence our actions and reactions.
- Consciousness: This is the subjective awareness of or the knowing of an object. Elsewhere, the Buddha describes consciousness aggregate by the six-classes of consciousness. they are:
- eye-consciousness: consciousness arising on the meeting of the eye and a form
- ear-consciousness: consciousness arising on the meeting of the ear and a sound
- nose-consciousness: consciousness arising on the meeting of the nose and odor
- tongue-consciousness: ....
- body-consciousness: ....
- mind-consciousness: consciousness arising on the meeting of the mind and an idea
A living being would have all these five aggregates and some amount of grasping present at one or more of the aggregates. Something that doesn't have all the five aggregates isn't considered a living being. Two good examples here to understand this further:
- Plants and trees: Plants and trees have visible form, they respond to stimuli. They do not make individual choices or decisions, and don't have a free will. So although the touch me not plant responds to a touch and their environment, this is based on a set process.
- Artificial intelligence: Although AI systems have form (software or hardware based), perceptions (they think, i.e. compute), and take different sensory inputs, they certainly don't have a free will, ability to act on their own. Now, there is a class of AI software called agents that are programmed to also have a "free-will" in the sense of being able to construct new objectives. Although this doesn't meet the threshold of independently being able to act, one could argue that a future version of such agents may sufficiently demonstrate this. However, it doesn't have the consciousness aggregate and so far, we don't know how consciousness comes to be. So, AI or AGI or ASI will not be a living being. This is described as the "hard problem of consciousness" in philosophy. Perhaps, more on this in a different post.
Only a living being is bound by kamma and experiences rebirth as a result of their grasping of the aggregates.
"Beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions, they originate from their actions, are bound to their actions, have their actions as their refuge. It is action that distinguishes beings as inferior and superior."
It is also only a living being that can eliminate discontentment by fully understanding the five aggregates as they are, and by eliminating the grasping at the five aggregates.
The Buddha also elsewhere describes the five aggregates through a clubbing of them into mentality-materiality (nama-rupa): the form and the mentality (the remaining aggregates). And he precisely describes the challenges that an uninstructed worldling might face in understanding "mind", "mentality" and "consciousness" as not-self:
“Bhikkhus, the uninstructed worldling might experience revulsion towards this body composed of the four great elements; he might become dispassionate towards it and be liberated from it. For what reason? Because growth and decline is seen in this body composed of the four great elements, it is seen being taken up and laid aside. Therefore the uninstructed worldling might experience revulsion towards this body composed of the four great elements; he might become dispassionate towards it and be liberated from it.
“But, bhikkhus, as to that which is called ‘mind’ and ‘mentality’ and ‘consciousness’ —the uninstructed worldling is unable to experience revulsion towards it, unable to become dispassionate towards it and be liberated from it. For what reason? Because for a long time this has been held to by him, appropriated, and grasped thus: ‘This is mine, this I am, this is my self.’ Therefore the uninstructed worldling is unable to experience revulsion towards it, unable to become dispassionate towards it and be liberated from it.
“It would be better, bhikkhus, for the uninstructed worldling to take as self this body composed of the four great elements rather than the mind. For what reason? Because this body composed of the four great elements is seen standing for one year, for two years, for three, four, five, or ten years, for twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years, for a hundred years, or even longer. But that which is called ‘mind’ and ‘mentality’ and ‘consciousness’ arises as one thing and ceases as another by day and by night. Just as a monkey roaming through a forest grabs hold of one branch, lets that go and grabs another, then lets that go and grabs still another, so too that which is called ‘mind’ and ‘mentality’ and ‘consciousness’ arises as one thing and ceases as another by day and by night.
“Therein, bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple attends closely and carefully to dependent origination itself thus: ‘When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases. That is, with ignorance as condition, volitional formations come to be; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness…. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.
“Seeing thus, bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple experiences revulsion towards form, revulsion towards feeling, revulsion towards perception, revulsion towards volitional formations, revulsion towards consciousness. Experiencing revulsion, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion his mind is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.’”
(From SN 12.61)
You can read further on this treatise of the four noble truths and verifying in here and now on the truth of the cessation of discontentment.