Contemplating the Five Aggregates and Eliminating the View of Self (Part I) (Second Edition)

Chapter One  Introduction to Basic Concepts

Section One  The Concepts of the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms

I. The Composition of the Self of Sentient Beings

The so-called self of sentient beings refers to the totality of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms. In fact, it is the manas that takes the five aggregates and the eighteen realms as the self and what belongs to the self. The self still refers to the manas; it is the manas that possesses the mind of self, the nature of self, the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), and self-grasping. The eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) means eradicating the manas's mind of self, nature of self, view of self, and self-grasping.

The five aggregates: the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness. The twelve sense bases: the six faculties and the six sense objects. The eighteen realms: the six faculties, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses. The six faculties: the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, and manas, which are the faculties upon which the six consciousnesses depend. The first five faculties are material faculties composed of the four great elements, visible to the naked eye, located on the surface of the body, and are called the manifestly coarse faculties. The manas is not a material faculty; it is a formless, non-material faculty. He is both a faculty and a conscious mind, and cannot be seen by the naked eye. The six sense objects: form objects, sound objects, smell objects, taste objects, touch objects, and dharma objects, corresponding respectively to the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, and manas. The six consciousnesses: eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness.

II. How Does the Discriminative Nature of the Six Consciousnesses Arise?

When the eye faculty contacts form objects, the eighth consciousness produces eye consciousness; when eye consciousness then contacts the form objects, it can discriminate form objects, and sentient beings see forms. When the ear faculty contacts sound objects, the eighth consciousness produces ear consciousness; when ear consciousness then contacts the sound objects, it can discriminate sounds, and sentient beings can hear sounds. When the nose faculty contacts smell objects, the eighth consciousness produces nose consciousness; when nose consciousness then contacts the smell objects, it can discriminate smell objects, and sentient beings smell scents. When the tongue faculty contacts taste objects, the eighth consciousness produces tongue consciousness; when tongue consciousness then contacts the taste objects, it can discriminate taste objects, and sentient beings taste flavors. When the body faculty contacts touch objects, the eighth consciousness produces body consciousness; when body consciousness then contacts the touch objects, it can discriminate touch objects, and sentient beings discriminate touch objects and have various tactile sensations. When the manas contacts dharma objects, the eighth consciousness produces mind consciousness; when mind consciousness then contacts the dharma objects, it can discriminate dharma objects, and sentient beings have feelings and experiences.

III. The Inner and Outer Faculties and Sense Objects

As for the five faculties, the first five faculties are divided into outer faculties and inner faculties. The outer faculties are the manifestly coarse faculties, located on the surface of the body; the inner faculties are called the supreme faculties (indriya), located at the back of the head. The outer faculties are connected to the inner faculties through the conducting nerves. The inner faculties cannot be seen by the naked eye because they are wrapped by the scalp. It is here that the eighth consciousness produces the six consciousnesses.

The six sense objects are divided into outer six sense objects and inner six sense objects. We cannot contact the outer six sense objects; it is the eighth consciousness that contacts the outer six sense objects, and through the conducting nerves transmits the particles of the four great elements on the six sense objects to the location of the supreme faculties at the back of the head, transforming them into the inner six sense objects. When the inner five faculties together with the manas contact the inner six sense objects, the eighth consciousness produces the six consciousnesses to discriminate the inner six sense objects. The inner six sense objects are manifested as if images appearing like shadows; they are not the relatively real outer six sense objects, but they are almost exactly the same as the outer six sense objects. Therefore sentient beings think themselves to be very real, but in fact they are not—all are illusory and transformed. Just as the World-Honored One said: All marks are false and illusory.

IV. The Composition of the Five Aggregates

The five aggregates: the material body together with the conscious mind constitutes the five aggregates; material form and mental dharmas combine to form the five aggregates. The five aggregates are the activities of the conscious mind upon the material body; without the conscious mind, the five aggregates would be a corpse. The five aggregates are a combined entity; what is combined is not real, and what undergoes arising, ceasing, and change is not real.

Sentient beings in the desire realm have the five aggregates participating in every moment of activity. Walking, eating, working—all kinds of activities are activities of the five aggregates. The Buddha said these are the five aggregates of grasping with feeling. The aggregate of consciousness refers to the recognizing and discriminating functions of the six conscious minds: eye consciousness is responsible for seeing forms, ear consciousness for hearing sounds, nose consciousness for smelling scents, tongue consciousness for tasting flavors, body consciousness for feeling touches, and mind consciousness for discriminating dharma objects. The activity of the aggregate of consciousness is a series of activities of the five aggregates. All activities of the aggregate of form are directed by the conscious mind, so the five aggregates operate through the mutual cooperation of body and mind. The aggregate of consciousness is directed by the manas; the manas is the commander-in-chief. When He decides what to do, the six consciousnesses must comply and execute, and the bodily, verbal, and mental actions will then be set in motion according to the manas.

When the six faculties contact the six sense objects, if the manas wishes to act, the six consciousnesses are produced. After the six consciousnesses contact the six faculties and six sense objects, they have the nature of discrimination. The feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness that arise when discriminating the six sense objects constitute the aggregate of feeling. The aggregate of perception is the taking of marks upon the six consciousness minds, the grasping nature toward the six sense objects, the knowing and discriminating of the realms of the six sense objects, and then a series of mental activities such as thoughts and deliberation appear. The aggregate of volitional formations means movement, motion, flowing, change, and alteration; it is the continuous existence and functioning of the six consciousnesses, but within it there are also the functions of the manas and the eighth consciousness; it is the result of the combined operation of the eight consciousnesses.

Upon the aggregate of form there is the aggregate of consciousness; upon the aggregate of feeling there is the aggregate of consciousness; upon the aggregate of perception there is the aggregate of consciousness; upon the aggregate of volitional formations there is the aggregate of consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness is the function of the six consciousnesses, and is also called the consciousness aggregate of grasping with feeling. These functions of the aggregate of consciousness have boundaries and limits; each has its own function, and none can substitute for another. For example, eye consciousness discriminates the coarse aspects of form objects and discriminates visible colors; it cannot substitute for mind consciousness in discriminating shapes, cannot discriminate expressive colors, cannot discriminate non-expressive colors and other dharma objects. Eye consciousness cannot hear sounds, cannot smell scents, and cannot transcend the boundary of seeing forms. The same applies to the other consciousnesses.

V. Feeling, Perception, Volitional Formations, and Consciousness Arise at the Contact Points of the Six Faculties

The six bodies of feeling: feeling arising from eye contact, feeling arising from ear contact, feeling arising from nose contact, feeling arising from tongue contact, feeling arising from body contact, and feeling arising from mental contact; the objects of contact are the realms of the six sense objects. The six bodies of perception: perception arising from eye contact, perception arising from ear contact, perception arising from nose contact, perception arising from tongue contact, perception arising from body contact, and perception arising from mental contact. Perception is knowing, is discriminating; taking a mark upon the mind is perception. The six bodies of volition: volition arising from eye contact, volition arising from ear contact, volition arising from nose contact, volition arising from tongue contact, volition arising from body contact, and volition arising from mental contact. Volition refers to the aggregate of volitional formations; it is movement, it is the deciding mind, it is the actions of the six consciousnesses, the choices and movements of the six consciousnesses. The six bodies of consciousness: consciousness arising from eye contact, consciousness arising from ear contact, consciousness arising from nose contact, consciousness arising from tongue contact, consciousness arising from body contact, and consciousness arising from mental contact.

VI. The Meaning of "Not Different from Self" and "Not Present Within"

The World-Honored One, in the Saṃyukta Āgama Sūtra, taught his disciples that when contemplating the aggregate of form as not-self, one should contemplate that the past aggregate of form is not-self, not different from self, and not present within; contemplate that the present aggregate of form is not-self, not different from self, and not present within; and further contemplate that the future aggregate of form is also not-self, not different from self, and not present within. Even the good aggregate of form, the bad aggregate of form, the coarse aggregate of form, the fine aggregate of form, as well as inner form and outer form, are all not-self, not different from self, and not present within. Only in this way can one contemplate the aggregate of form comprehensively and thoroughly, and completely eradicate the wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) of taking the aggregate of form as self. So what do "not different from self" and "not present within" mean?

"Not different from self" means: from the perspective of the Hīnayāna teaching, sentient beings sometimes take the aggregate of form as the self and take the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as what belongs to the self; at other times they take the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as the self and take the aggregate of form as what belongs to the self—that is, taking one aggregate as the self and the remaining aggregates as what belongs to the self, with the self being different from what belongs to the self. In fact, although the aggregate of form and the other five aggregates are not the self, they are also not a "what belongs to the self" that is different from the self. The five aggregates are neither self nor what belongs to the self; both the self and what belongs to the self are not self. From the perspective of the Mahāyāna teaching, the aggregate of form is not different from the eighth consciousness, the true self. The aggregate of form is produced by the eighth consciousness, comes entirely from the eighth consciousness, and has a relationship with the eighth consciousness that is neither one nor different. It is not that there is a separate aggregate of form apart from the eighth consciousness, nor that there are the functions of the aggregate of form apart from the eighth consciousness. Therefore the aggregate of form is not different from self, and the same applies to the remaining four aggregates.

"Not present within" means: from the perspective of the Hīnayāna teaching, the self of the aggregate of form and the "what belongs to the self" of the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness do not exist within each other. The aggregate of form is not within the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, and the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are not within the aggregate of form; the self is not within what belongs to the self, and what belongs to the self is not within the self. Sometimes the manas takes the aggregate of form as the self and takes the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as what belongs to the self, and believes that the self and what belongs to the self are fused together. Sometimes the manas takes the aggregate of feeling as the self and takes the remaining aggregates as what belongs to the self, believing that the aggregate of feeling is fused together with the other aggregates. But in fact, the aggregate of form is not the self, and the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, which are taken as what belongs to the self, are also not what belongs to the self. Both are unrelated to the self and must both be eradicated, not accepting these functions as real and imperishable. Taking the five aggregates as the self is a wrong view; taking them as what belongs to the self is likewise a wrong view, and both should be broken through. Only by establishing the correct view that the five aggregates have no self and no "what belongs to the self" can one gradually liberate oneself from birth and death.

From the perspective of the Mahāyāna teaching, the aggregate of form is not within the eighth consciousness, and the eighth consciousness is not within the aggregate of form. Because the eighth consciousness is formless and without marks, is empty, and has no notion of inside or outside—the eighth consciousness is an empty mind-body of emptiness (śūnyatā) that is not material form—therefore it cannot contain the aggregate of form. And the eighth consciousness is also not within the aggregate of form. First, because the eighth consciousness is formless and without marks, it cannot be inside, outside, or in the middle of the aggregate of form; second, because the aggregate of form and the eighth consciousness are not dharmas of the same kind, they cannot contain each other, cannot overlap, and cannot touch each other, yet the two are closely connected. If the eighth consciousness were within the aggregate of form, then cutting open the aggregate of form should reveal the eighth consciousness; one should be able to see the eighth consciousness come out of the aggregate of form, but it cannot be found, nor can the eighth consciousness be seen coming out. Therefore the aggregate of form and the eighth consciousness do not exist within each other, yet they are closely connected and inseparable. By the same reasoning, it can be proven that the five aggregates and the eighteen realms are all not different from the eighth consciousness and yet not present within it.

The above are the basic concepts and contents of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms. After understanding these terms, one must then realize the not-self nature of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms. To realize this, one must engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā); contemplative practice means deeply and minutely deliberating, within meditative concentration (samādhi), on the principle that the five aggregates are not-self.