Five Aggregates Explained: 5 Elements That Make Up A Person | Buddhist Lectures #buddhism

Have you ever wondered how humans are really structured? Often we think of humans as just a combination of body and spirit. But did you know that, according to Buddhist concepts, humans are not that simple? According to the Buddhist perspective, humans are formed from five elements, aggregate of form, aggregate of feeling, aggregate of perception, aggregate of actions, aggregate of consciousness, also known as the five aggregates. This is not an abstract perspective, but a profound insight into human nature, and the way we interact with the world. Behind our simple appearance lies a complex and profound picture, of how the elements of the five aggregates work together, to carry out our words and actions every day. Imagine, every step we take, every happy and sad emotion, every thought, is subtly regulated and coordinated by different elements in these five aggregates. Let's learn more about each element in the five aggregates, and how they work together to form a complete human being. The first is the aggregate of form. The aggregates of form are the physical elements, that make up our bodies, including the physical parts that we can see or touch, such as hands, feet, eyes, and nose. And internal organs such as heart, liver, lungs and cells. These material elements are formed from the four basic elements of matter, earth, water, fire, and wind, also known as the four elements. The important characteristics of the aggregate of form, are the nature of non-self, and impermanence. Selflessness implies that, the form aggregate has no self, but is formed and exists under the contrast, and interaction of different elements, based on the law of dependent origination. At the same time, the impermanence of the aggregate of form reflects its instability, and continuous change in space and time. Every moment, millions of cells in our body are created and destroyed, clearly demonstrating the impermanence of the aggregate of form. Understanding the aggregate of form, and its non-self and impermanent nature, is an important part of liberation from craving and suffering. By realizing that the form aggregate is selfless and impermanent, we can cut our attachment to it, helping us find freedom and peace of mind. The second is the aggregate of feeling. The aggregate of feeling means feeling, it arises due to contact between the six senses and objects. The eyes come into contact with forms, the ears with sounds, the nose with smells, the tongue with tastes, the body with hard and soft objects, and the mind with objects of mind. There are three types of feeling, feeling of suffering, feeling of joy, feeling of neither suffering nor joy. The feeling of suffering is a type of unpleasant feeling, that appears when we come into contact with an unwanted object, accompanied by negative psychological chains, such as discomfort and dissatisfaction. For example, when we eat a food that we do not like, feeling uncomfortable and not wanting to eat it, is a feeling of suffering. On the contrary, the feeling of joy is a pleasant, exciting feeling when exposed to an object we love, creating joy and happiness. For example, when enjoying a favorite piece of music, the feeling of happiness and excitement is a feeling of joy. Finally, neutral feelings do not bring about feelings of pain or pleasure, but are just ordinary awareness that does not create any liking or disliking. For example, seeing a river does not cause feelings of suffering or joy, just a normal kind of feeling. The Buddha taught that all types of sensations, from physical sensations to psychological sensations, are included in the feeling aggregate. They create a complex river of feelings that dominate our consciousness, making us attached to them and thereby causing suffering. Thus, understanding the nature of the aggregate of feelings helps us experience the sensations of the senses without being attached to them, thereby avoiding suffering and achieving peace in life. Third is the aggregate of perception. The aggregate of perception is the group of perceptions that has the ability to recognize what an object is. This is the ability to experience the six senses and the six sense objects. Object recognition has two types. One is recognizing external objects such as seeing an image of a rose with the eyes and recognizing that it is a rose, and hearing a sound recognizing a piece of music. Second is the ability to recognize internal objects, that is, psychological objects such as concepts, remember memories of the past. So, simply understood, the aggregate of perception is our perception of things, such as people, things, or events. The presence of perception depends on past experience. When we see a rose and recognize it as a rose, this is based on previous experiences of roses, already stored in the mind. Therefore, perception is easily deceived by experience, because reality is impermanent and always changing, so attachment to experience makes perception easily become delusion. Fourth is the aggregate of actions. The aggregate of actions means the reactions of the mind. Aggregates of action include two types, action aggregates of cause and action aggregates of effect. Action aggregates of cause means that the reactions of the mind act as the cause of action, or simply the will that motivates us to act. For example, when you walk, your mind will have the urge to walk, then your feet will move. In this case, the desire to walk is action aggregates of cause. Action aggregates of effect means that the reactions of the mind act as the results of actions. For example, when you are angry, worried, jealous, that is action aggregates of effect. In short, the aggregate of actions are all the reactions of our mind. For example, anger is a reaction of the mind, anxiety is a reaction of the mind, regret is a reaction of the mind, jealousy is a reaction of the mind. So you will wonder, how many reactions of our mind are there in aggregate of actions? The answer is that there are 50 reactions of the mind. Anger, worry, regret, jealousy that I just gave an example are only 4 reactions of the mind, we still have 46 reactions of the mind like that. That's a lot, isn't it? Perhaps we only know a few more common mental reactions such as selfishness, pride, shame, hatred. There are many reactions of the mind that take place that we do not know how to name or do not realize their existence. But only an enlightened person like Buddha, who has seen through all the truths of the world, can see and teach them to us. Fifth is the aggregate of consciousness. Consciousness aggregate is the awareness of the presence of an object through the senses. When the six senses come into contact with six objects, six consciousnesses are born, eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness and consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness is simply aware of the presence of an object, and knowing what that object is is the role of the aggregate of perception. For example, when the eyes see a rose, eye consciousness arises to recognize the existence of a flower and the aggregate of perception will recognize that it is a rose. When the aggregate of consciousness arises in combination with the four aggregates of form, feeling, perception, and action, we misunderstand that we have a self, meaning I'm seeing, I'm hearing, I'm feeling pain, I'm feeling worried. From there, we believe that a soul exists within us, containing all the things that belong to us such as experience, knowledge, and memories. However, Buddhism does not accept that there is any self or soul, but it is all just the process of arising and passing away of the five aggregates. We can summarize the process as follows. When you see a rose, first you use your eyes to see the flower, the eyes are the aggregate of form. You are aware that there is an existence of a flower which is the aggregate of consciousness, the awareness that this is a rose is the aggregate of perception. When you see this flower, you find it beautiful and feel happy, that is the aggregate of feeling. You start wanting to get closer to smell its scent, then the desire to go to the flower is the aggregate of actions and then the action of walking. Just like that, you will realize that our body and mind are just the constant process of birth and death of the five aggregates. Therefore, the purpose of analyzing the five aggregates is not to create a philosophical system about humans but to clearly see the truth about human existence and interaction with the surrounding world to end ignorance. Because ignorance is the inability to clearly see the nature of life that makes us accept the existence of a self and get attached to it to create suffering. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis is to help people recognize and overcome ignorance, thereby achieving wisdom and liberation. Thank you for watching the video and wish you happiness and peace.