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- Personality as an Aggregate of
Fivefold Factor
- (Pa~nca-kkhandha //
Pa~nca-skandha)
- Bhikkhu Thich Nhat Tu
According to the Buddha, personality is combined
by two factors, namely, the psycho-physical (naamaruupa). This psycho-physical
personality is further analyzed by the Buddha into fivefold personality factors or
fivefold aggregated combination or five aggregates or constituents of existence (pa~nca-kkhandha
// pa~nca-skandha). The fivefold personality factors are also called "fivefold
personality factors of grasping" or "fivefold personality factors as objects of
grasping" (pa~nca-upaadaanakkhandha // pa~ncopaadaanaskandha.h),for it is
these aggregates provide the basis for craving or desire (ta.nhaa // t.r.s.naa) or
for a person clings to his personality. PTS Pali English Dictionary gives
different range of meaning to "up d na" such as "taking up,"
"grasping" and then "feeding," "food," and "basis"
[PED. s.v. upaadaana: 149]. The difference between fivefold personality
factors (pa~ncakkhandha) and fivefold personality factors as objects of grasping (pa~nca-upaadaanakkhandha),
however, should be noted. Regarding the former, the Buddha defines:
What are fivefold personality factors (pa~ncakkhandha)? Body (ruupa),
. . . feeling (vedanaa), . . . perception (sa~n~naa), . . . disposition (sa"nkaara),
. . . and consciousness (vi~n~naa.na), whether in the past, future or present,
internal or external, gross or subtle, crude or refined, far or near, are altogether
called fivefold personality factors.
As to the latter, the Buddha continues explaning:
And, what are fivefold personality factors (pa~nca-upaadaanakkhandha)?
Here Body (ruupa), . . . feeling (vedanaa), . . . perception (sa~n~naa),
. . . disposition (sa"nkaara), . . . and consciousness (vi~n~naa.na),
whether in the past, future or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, crude or
refined, far or near, being with mental cankers (aasavaa), and subject
to grasping (upaadaaniya) are called fivefold personality factors as objects of
grasping. [S. III. 47. Emphasis mine].
According to this passage, fivefold personality factors are to be
considered as fivefold personality factors as objects of grasping, only when they are with
moral cankers (aasavaa) and subject to grasping (upaadaaniya), otherwise
not. Although having prevented himself from identifying fivefold personality factors with
fivefold personality factors as objects of grasping, the Buddha stresses that the former,
however, can cause attachment (upaadaana) [Vbh. 67, Dhs. 196, 246].
This idea is further stated by the Buddha: "These fivefold personality factors have
desire (chanda) as a root; and whatever is desire (chanda) and passion (raaga)
toward these fivefold personality factors is the attachment of them." [M. III.
16, also M. II. 265]. This is so because, though attachment (upaadaana) is
not the same as the fivefold personality factors, nor it is something apart from them [S.
III. 100-1]. The Buddha goes on stating that where there is desire or craving (chandaraaga),
there is attachment (upaadaana). Thus, attachment to these fivefold personality
factors is due to desire to attach or cling (chandaraaga) [S. III. 166]. In
another passage of the Sa"myutta Nikaaya, the emotional attitude of seeking
sensuous pleasure in, or welcoming the five kkhandhas is the ground for attachment
(upaadaana) to the latter. Such a sensuous attitude to five kkhandhas is the
arising of the whole mass of suffering, as it is explained in the formula of dependent
origination:
Those who seek sensuous pleasure in form . . . in feelings, . . . in
perceptions, . . . in disposition, . . . and in consciousness, welcome them and become
attached to them. The delight in respect of form, feelings, perceptions, disposition and
consciousness is attachment (upaadaana). For him, dependent on attachment there is
becoming. Dependent on becoming there is birth. Dependent on birth there is aging and
death. Due to this, grief, sorrow, lamentation, distress and suffering come into being
also. This is the arising of the whole mass of suffering [S. III.14; KS. III.
15. Cf. S. III. 94; M. I. 511].
Summing up this, we can conclude whenever fivefold personality factors
are object of attachment (upaadaaniya), and then product of attachment (upaadi.n.na)
they become dukkha, as stated by the Buddha: "In short, attachment to fivefold
personality factors is dukkha." [Vin. I. 10].
With this in mind, we are now turning to the analysis of fivefold
personality factors (pa~mcakkhandha). As a further analysis of n mar‰ pa,
pa~ncakkhandha is divided into two broad groups, namely, naama and ruupa.
Naama is a collective term for four psychological or mental aggregates, viz., feeling
(P=S vedanaa, perception (sa~n~naa // sa"mj~naa), disposition (sa"nkhaara
// sa"mskaara) and consciousness (vi~n~naa.na // vij~naana), while ruupa (P=S) denoting the body combined of
four elements and their derivative form, as discussed above. This further analysis is
described as bellows:
1. Material-Form
Personality Factors (ruupakkhandha // ruupaskandha). It comprises of four primary elements (P=S mahaabhuuta-ruupa)
constituting one’s own physical body, and of other derived physical form (upaadaa
// upaadaaya-ruupa), which are eleven in number [S. III. 62, 3, 4]. The four
great primary elements (P=S mahaabhuuta) are earth (pa.t.thavi // p.rthivii),
water (aapa // aap), fire (teja // tejas) and air (vaaya // vaau),
providing and representing gross conglomerations of atoms manifesting a predominance of
the characters (S. lak.sa.na) or activities (S. v.rtti), such as solidity
(S. khakkhaæ atva), liquidity or fluidity (S. dravatva),
heat or temperature (S. u.s.nataa) and motion (S. iira.nakarman) or mobility
(S. laghusamudiira.natva). The derivatives of the four great elements (upaadaaya-ruupa)
consists of the first five sense-organs (indriya), viz., eye (cakkhu//cak.sur),
ear (sota // 'srotra), nose (ghaana // ghraa.na), tongue (jivhaa //
jihvaa), body (P=S kaaya), and five correspondent objects in the external
world, viz., visible form (P=S ruupa), sound (sadda // 'sabda), smell (P=S gandha),
taste (P=S rasa), tangible (pho.t.thabba // spra.s.tavya), and some physical
components of the body. According to the Dhammasa"nga.nii [Dhs. pp.
125ff] and the Vibha"nga [Vbh. pp. 1-3], the category of the secondary
matter (upaadaa-ruupa) consists of twenty-three items, namely, the first five sense
organs: (1) organ of sight (cakkhu), (2) of hearing (sota), (3) of smell (ghaana),
(4) of taste (jivhaa), (5) of touch (kaaya); the first four sense objects,
(6) the visible (ruupa), (7) sound (sadda), (8) smell (gandha), (9)
taste (rasa); the three faculties, (10) faculty of femininity (itthindriya),
(11) of masculinity (purisindriya), (12) material faculty of life (ruupa-jiivitindriya);
two modes of self-expression, (13) bodily expression (kaayavi~n~natti), (14) vocal
expression (vaciivi~n~natti); three characteristics of matter, (15) lightness (lahutaa),
(16) plasticity (mudutaa), (17) wieldiness (kamma~n~nataa); four phases of
matter, (18) integration (upacaya), (19) continuity (santati), (20) decay (jarataa),
(21) impermanence (aniccataa); (22) space element (aakaasa-dhaatu), and (23)
nutrition (kabaliikaara-aahaara). Thus the ruupakkhandha covering four
primary matters (mahaabhuuta) plus twenty-three secondary matter (upaadaa-ruupa)
consists of twenty-seven items in number. According to the Buddha, the form-personality
factors are made from these physical elements, produced by mother and father, continually
renewed by all kinds of nutrition, subject to erasion (ukkhaadana), abrasion (parimaddana),
dissolution and disintegration [D. I. 76]. They are further discussed in terms of
experiences in a way in which a person is affected (ruppatiiti kho ruupaaµ ), such as soft or rough, liquid or solid, cold or
warm, and fast or slow, etc. In other words, in absence of these experiences it is
meaningless to speak of material form or elements [S. III. 86-7]. One thing should
be kept in mind is that the Buddha’s analysis of material aggregate, in no way, means
he admits it as a substantial entity, but rather he denies such a conception, in
advocating the functionalist theory of matter in dependently causal relation with mental
activities (naama-kkhandha), which are discussed as below.
2. Feeling-Personality
Factors or Bundle of Feeling or Sensation (vedanaakkhandha // vedanaaskandha). The first of four non-material aggregates is bundle of feeling or
sensation or emotion (vedanaakkhandha // vedanaaskandha) or "affection"
in Freud’s term. It, having experienced or enjoyed the taste of objects as its main
function and characteristic [Expo. (1958): 145; Vism. XXII. 460], accounts
for affective responses or experiences of mental or psychological activities, or
"emotions which are an inalienable part of a living person." [Kalupahana (1987):
18]. The paradigm function of experiencing the objects of vedan is further compared, in the Expositor (Atthasaalinii)
[Asl. 109f], with that of a King, who alone enjoys the flavor of the food prepared
by his attendants. It is in this sense, Lama Govinda has rightly attributed it as covering
"only the hedonic aspect of feeling and emotion" [Govinda (1991): 117]. Thus, vedanaa
represents the function of judging or evaluating the hedonic object for setting up a
subjective criterion of acceptance (like, desirable, favorable or pleasant), rejection
(dislike, undesirable, unfavorable or unpleasant) or indifference (neutral response) [For
further, see H. V. Guenther (1991): 37f.; R.E.A. Johansson (1985): 87 ff]. There are a
variety of kinds of feeling discussed by the Buddha, such as twofold, threefold, fivefold,
sixfold, eighteenfold, thirty-sixfold, one-hundred-and-eightfold, etc. [S. IV.
232]. The twofold is classified with regard to the body and mind, viz., bodily feeling (kaayikaa
vedanaa) and mental feeling (cetasikaa vedanaa). The threefold category of
feeling or emotion is the pleasant (P=S sukhavedanaa), the unpleasant (dukkhavedanaa
// du.hkhavedanaa) and the neutral or indifferent or neither pleasant nor unpleasant (adukkhamasukhavedanaa
// asukhaadu.hkhavedanaa). The fivefold as classified with regard to modes (indriiyaani)
of pleasure (sukhindriyaa), pain (dukkhindriyaa), joy (somanassindriyaa),
grief (domanassindriyaa) and indifference (upekkhindriyaa). This
classification is popular known as (i) bodily favorable feeling (kaayikaa sukhaa
vedanaa), (ii) bodily unfavorable feeling (kaayikaa dukkhaa vedanaa), (iii)
mentally favorable feeling (cetasikaa sukhaa vedanaa or somanassa), (iv)
mentally unfavorable feeling (cetasikaa dukkhaa vedanaa or domanassa), (v)
indifferent or neutral feeling (adukkhamasukhaa vedanaa or upekkhaa). The
sixfold [S. III. 60] as classified with regard to the six senses is (i) visual
feeling arisen from or produced through eye-contact with visible form (cakkhu-samphassajaa);
(ii) auditory feeling through ear-contact with sound (sota-samphassajaa); (iii)
olfactory feeling through nose-contact with smell (ghaana-samphassajaa); (iv)
gustatory feeling through tongue-contact with taste (jivhaa-samphassajaa); (v)
tactile feeling through body-contact with tangible (kaaya-samphassajaa); and (vi)
mental feeling through mind-contact with concepts (mano-samphassajaa) [S. II.
73f]. The eighteenfold is the six ways of giving attention or thought (upavicaaraa)
to pleasure, pain and indifference. The thirty-sixfold consists of twelve forms of
pleasure, twelve forms of grief, and twelve forms of indifference equally six each
concerned with the worldly life and giving up (nekkhamma). The
one-hundred-and-eightfold comprises of thirty-six feelings of the past, thirty-six
feelings of the future and thirty-six feelings of the present [S. IV. 232]. Of
these, the threefold classification is the most popular [S. III. 86f]. According to
the Buddha [S. IV. 223-8], beings in hell (niraya), animal birth (tiracchaanayoni)
and hungry ghosts (pettivisaya) belonging to the plane of misery (apaaya-bhuumi)
suffer mostly from unpleasant feelings. Human beings, the heaven of the four great kings (caatummahaaraajika),
the heaven of thirty-three gods (taavati"msa), Tusita-bhuumi,
nimmaanaratii-bhuumi, and Paranimmitavasavattii bhuumi belonging to the plane
of happiness associated with desires (Kaamasugati-bhuumi) enjoy and suffer from
both pleasant and unpleasant feelings. Beings in plane of form (ruupavacara bhuumi)
are different in feelings: beings in the first pa.thama-jhaana consisting of five
jhanic factors, viz., thought (vitakka), reasoning (vicaara), joyfulness (piiti),
pleasant (sukha) and one-pointedness of mind (ekaggataa); in the second dutiya
jhaana, of three, viz., p ti, sukha and ekaggataa;
in the third tatiya jhaana, of two, viz., sukha and ekaggataa; and in
the fourth catuttha jhaana, of two, viz., equanimity of the mind (upekkhaa)
and ekaggataa. Beings in aruupa-jhaana belonging the plane of formless (aruupaavacara
bhuumi) consisting of the realm of infinity of space (aakaasaana~ncaayatana),
the realm of infinity of consciousness (Vi~n~naa.na~ncaayatana), the realm of
nothingness of consciousness (aaki~nca~n~naayatana) and the realm of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception (Nevasa~n~naanaasa~n~naayatana) enjoy and
experience supreme pleasure and happiness. The first aruupa-jhaana experience the
pleasant feeling more excellent than that of fours stages of rupa jhaana. More
excellent and exquisite than the first aruupa-jhaana is the second, then the third,
and the fourth aruupa-jhaana is far excellent among these [S. IV. 228].
Thus, according to the Buddha, among various kinds of feeling, the state "cessation
of perception and feeling" (sa~n~naavedayitanirodha) is the highest which one
can experiences only in jhaana [M. I. 398 ff]. These feelings in fact amount
to all kinds of impressions or sensations occurred by contact (phassa // spar'sa)
with the external world through the five sense-organs (indriya) and the mind (mano).
It is in this context that they are divided into six kinds of feeling as mentioned above.
In other words, feeling is conditioned by contact for both its arising (phassapaccayaa
vedanaa) [S. II. 2] and its cessation (phassanirodhaa vedanaanirodho) [S.
II. 2, 81; M. I. 261ff]. One thing worthy of notice here is that all feelings,
whether pleasant, unpleasant or indifferent are suffering. The pleasant feeling, in
absence of wise consideration (yoniso manasikaara), leads to attachment; unpleasant
feeling, to repugnance, while neutral feeling, to ignorance. This truth is declared by the
Buddha in a passage, where it runs: "whatsoever is felt or experienced, whether
pleasant, unpleasant or indifferent, is associated with suffering (dukkha), uttered
concerning with the perishable, transient nature of compounded things, of their nature to
fade away and to cease." [S. IV. 217. Cf. A. I. 175].
3. Ideation-Personality
Factors or Aggregate of Perception (sa~n~naakkhandha // sa"mj~naaskandha). As its name indicates, the main characteristic or function of
perception (sa~n~naa //sa"mj~naa) is the perceiving or recognizing
something (sa~njaanaatiiti sa~n~naa) as its object [M. I. 293]. It is to
perceive or cognize the state of having perceived or cognized which on that occasion is
born of contact with the appropriate element of representative intellection [BMPE.:
7]. It consists in discernment, recognition and assimilation of sensations [BMPE.:
6-7 n. 4] or in the apprehension of characteristics, manners, attributes and natures (Such
as colour, shape, species and sex etc) of the object perceived or cognized. Due to its
characteristic of awareness of distinctive features of an object, sa~n~naa enables
one o cognize the object previously perceived. In other words, it plays the basic
psychological function of sensation transmitting to consciousness the perceived image of
an object [H. V. Guenther (1991): 39]. Having both the external and the internal or
intentionality as its cognized objects, sa~n~na cognizes the marks or attributes of
the object (i.e. the external), the imaginative and intellectual activities (i.e. the
internal). It includes in mental representations of all the sense-modalities [R.E.A.
Johansson (1985): 93]. In brief, sa~n~na is simply perception which discerns,
recognizes and gives class-reference to (upa.t.thita-visaya) the impressions of
sense by the way of a mark or sign [BMPE.: 7 n]. There are six kinds of ideation or
perception classified with regard to six sense-organs, namely, perception of forms (ruupa-sa~n~naa),
perception of sounds (sadda- sa~n~naa), perception of smells (gandha-sa~n~naa),
perception of tastes (rasa-sa~n~naa), perception of touches (pho.t.thabba-sa~n~naa)
and perception of mental images (dhamma-sa~n~naa) [S. III. 60. Cf. D. II.
309]. As a psychological function to receive, evaluate and to judge the object and
environment, sa~n~na is utilized as a way of contemplation for getting free from
sickness and bondage [A. V. 108-17]. The Pali scriptures, in this regard, introduce
the method of sevenfold perception [D. III. 252], namely, perception of
impermanence, of insubstantiality, of ugliness, of evil in this world, of elimination, of
passionlessness and of cessation. This method of sevenfold perception is further extended
to ninefold [D. III. 289-90] with minor change in order, namely, perception of
ugliness, of death, revulsion from nutriment (physical, sensory, mental), of disaffection
with everything worldly, of impermanence, of suffering in impermanence, of no-soul in that
which suffers, of elimination and of passionlessness. The detailed tenfold perception as
contemplation [A. V. 108-17] is taught by the Buddha to Aananda, who in turn
recited to ven. Girimaananda, who was seriously sick being recovered after listening to it
and perceiving it mindfully. They are perception of impermanence, of insubstantiality, of
the ugliness, of the disadvantage, of abandoning, of revulsion, of fading, of elimination,
of concentration on in-breathing and out-breathing. These perception as contemplation, if
developed and expanded, wear out all desire for enjoyment, all desire for form, all desire
for becoming, all ignorance, all ego-pride [S. III. 155].
4.
Disposition-Personality Factors or Aggregate of Mental Formation (sa"nkhaarakkhandha
// sa"mskaaraskandha). The main function
or characteristic of sankh r is of dispositioning (abhisa"nkharot ti . . . sa"nkhaaro) [S. III. 87]. Covering
one’s acceptance (like), rejection (dislike), indifference (neutral), propensities
and behaviour, sa"nkhaara is responsible for relating all the functions of the
rest of the four aggregates to one another and giving them one’s personal color. In
fact it is a collective term for numerous conative aspects of mental activities which in
addition to feeling and perception are present in a single moment of consciousness,
responsible for determining one’s distinct personality, both physical and mental, in
the past, present and future. Our behaviors (kamma), tendency (kiianusayo),
birth, decay, and death are dominated by our dispositions. It is the master, the architect
of our life. It is probably in this sense sa"nkhaara is identical with sa~ncetanaa
or cetanaa, intentional force or motive [S. III. 60; A. I. 32; A.
II. 230; M. I. 391, 398]. As cetanaa, sa"nkhaara is a
collective term for intentions associated with the objects of the sense-organs determining
the form and quality of the other aggregates, namely, ruupa, vedanaa, sa~n~na and vi~n~n.na
[EB. s.v. cetan : III. 87-8]. There
are two main classifications of sa"nkhaara, viz., threefold and sixfold. The
threefold classification of sa"nkhaara includes in meritorious (pu~n~naa),
demeritorious (apu~n~naa) and neutral (aane~njaa) [D. III. 217]. The
sixfold classification consists of the disposition or will for sounds, for smells, for
tastes, for touches and for mental images. Apart from these classifications, sa"nkhaara
as psychological compositions covers all ethical attributes or mental concomitants (cetasika-dhamma),
which consist of fifty-two in number. It is only in the sense of the threefold
classification, sa"nkhaara is interchangeably used as kamma, the
ethical act performed from good or bad motive. Bodily action is used as kaayasankhaaraa.
This holds true with action of thought (cittasankhaara) and action of speech (vaciisankhaara)
[M. I. 391; A. I. 32; A. II. 230. Cf. M. I. 301; A. II.
158]. As the second chain (nidaanaa) of dependent origination (pa.ticcasamuppaada),
sa"nkhaara is conductive to suffering and rebirth [S. V. 449]. It is
conditioned (pa.ticcasamuppana) by ignorance (avijjaa) for its arising and
cessation: "in dependence on ignorance arise sa"nkhaaraa" (avijjaapaccayaa
sankhaaraa) [S. II, 2] and "from the ceasing of ignorance is the ceasing of sa"nkhaaraa"
(avijjaaya tveva asesaviraaganirodhaa sankhaaranirodho) [S. II, 2. Also see M.
I. 261ff]. It is also conditioned by contact: from the arising of contact comes the
arising of the sa"nkhaaraa; from the ceasing of contact comes the ceasing of
the sa"nkhaaraa [S. III. 60]. Craving (ta"nhaa) and
ignorance (avijjaa) are powerfully input forces for formation of sa"nkhaara
[S. III. 96]. When ignorance and craving are eliminated, there is no sa"nkhaaraa
remained [Dhp. 154]. If "all beings are constituted through sankhaaraa,"
[D. III. 211: sabbe sattaa sankhaara.t.thitikaa], the destruction of sa"nkhaaraa
means the reaching of nibbaana, the unmade, the unconditioned or uncreated (aktaµ asankhataa) [Dhp. 383]. The destruction of sa"nkhaaraa
is possible through the practice of meditation (sam
dhi). The process of destruction of sa"nkhaaraa is clearly mentioned in
the Saò yutta Nik
ya [S. IV. 217], of which a brief account is discussed as follows.
In the first meditation (jhaana), the sa"nkhaaraa of
speech ceases. In the second jhaana, the sa"nkhaaraa of thought (vitakka)
and reasoning (vicaara) ceases. In the third jh
na, the sankhaaraa of zest (piiti) will cease. In the fourth jhaana,
the sa"nkhaaraa of in-breathing and out-breathing ceases. In the realm of
infinite space, the sa"nkhaaraa of perception of object (ruupasa~n~naa)
ceases. In the realm of infinite consciousness, the sa"nkhaaraa of perception
of the realm of infinite space ceases. In the realm of nothingness, the sa"nkhaaraa
of the realm of infinite consciousness ceases. In the realm of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception, the sa"nkhaaraa of the realm of
nothingness ceases. And on the level of "the cessation of perception and
feeling" (sa~n~naavedayitanirodha), perception (sa~n~naa) and feeling (vedanaa),
the two sa"nkhaaraa of the mind also ceases. All the sa"nkhaaraa
will be entirely ceased when all the moral defilements (aasavaa) are extinguished.
At this stage nibbaana is attained. This is ethical implication of sa"nkhaaraa.
5.
Consciousness-Personality Factors or Aggregate of Consciousness (vi~n~naa .nakkhandha // vij~naanaskandha). Consciousness is not a substantial entity or ego but an act of being
conscious or noting or aware (vijaanaatiiti . . . vi~n~naa.naa) [S. III.
87]. Its paradigm function is the awareness or discrimination or discriminative awareness
(vij n ti)
of sensations through the six sense organs, i.e. the five senses and the mind. Its main
scope of discrimination is threefold, namely, pleasure (sukha), pain (dukkha)
and neutral feelings [M. I. 292]. There are six kinds of consciousness, namely,
seeing or visual consciousness (cakkhu-vi~n~naa.naa), hearing or auditory
consciousness (sota-vi~n~naa.naa), smelling or olfactory consciousness (ghaana-vi~n~naa.naa),
tasting or gustatory consciousness (jivhaa-vi~n~naa.naa), physically touching or
bodily consciousness (kaaya-vi~n~naa.naa) and mentally touching or mental
consciousness (mano-vi~n~naa.naa) [S. III. 60]. In other words,
consciousness is named according to the way and conditions through which it arises: on
account of the eye and visible forms arises a consciousness called visual consciousness;
of the ear and sounds, auditory consciousness; of the nose and smells, olfactory
consciousness; of the tongue and tastes, gustatory consciousness; of the body and tangible
objects, tactile consciousness; and of the mind and mind-objects (e.g. ideas and thought
etc.), mental consciousness [M. I. 259-60]. So far as its moral evaluation is
concerned, consciousness is of three kinds, namely, moral, immoral and neutral. By the way
of planes, consciousness is of fourfold, namely, the realm of sense, the realm of form,
the realm of the formless and the transcendental.
All personality-factors (kkhandha // skandha) are nothing but
conditioned processes (sa"nkhaaraa) [M. I. 191]. They are just like the
mountain river, flowing constantly taking everything along with it. It will never stop for
a moment, going on flowing and continuing. Thus human personality likes a stream or a
flowing river in continuous flux and impermanence. There is nothing like unchangeable
substance or an eternal self (aatman) in fivefold human personality. Neither
physical body, nor feeling, nor perception, nor disposition, nor consciousness can be
considered as a substantial self/ soul/ spirit/ I. The so-called "I" and the
idea of the self (sakkaaya-di.t.thi) is just a conventional name in Buddhism for
physio-psychological combination (naama-ruupa). In the light of anicca-dukkha-anattaa
formula, each of the fivefold personality factors should be seen by wisdom as it
really is: ""this is not mine (netaa mama), this I am not (neso aham
asmi), and this is not myself (nam eso attaa)" [M. III. 241-4], or
more clearly: "Form, feeling, perception, disposition and consciousness are
altogether impermanent. They are, similarly, insubstantial. All sa"nkhaaraa
are impermanent. All dhammaa are insubstantial." [M. I. 228. Cf. S. I.
135; S. III. 96]. It is this vision of anattaa and non-attachment that
distinguishes the noble hearer (ariya saavaka) from the ignorant ordinary man (assutavant
puthujjana) [S. III. 18-9]. Thus the Buddha’s analysis of human
personality into five aggregates aims at refuting the metaphysic or psychic or eternalist
theory of self (atta // aatman). He further extends this aggregate analysis in
terms of six element (cha-dhaatu), twelve bases (aayatana) and eighteen
elements (dhaatu), which are discussed briefly as below.
ABBREVIATIONS AND
REFERENCES
I. Texts
A. = A"nguttara-Nikaaya, I-V,
ed. R. Morris, E. Hardy, C. A. F. Rhys Davids. (London: PTS, 1885-1900)
Asl. = A.t.thasaalaanii ed. F. Muller. (London: PTS,
1979), The Expositor, tr. P. Maung Tin and Mrs. Rhys Davids. (London: PTS, 1920-1)
BMPE. = A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, (Dhamma-sangaÏ i), tr. by C.A.F. Rhys Davids. Oxford: PTS, 1993, 1st
Ed. 1900.
D. = Diighanikaaya, I-III, ed. T. W. Rhys David and J. E.
Carpenter, (London: PTS, 1889-1910)
Dhp. = Dhammapada, ed. K. R. Norman and O. von Hinuber. (London:
PTS, 1931)
Dhs. = Dhammasa"mnga.nii, ed. E. Muller. (London: PTS,
1885)
Expo. = The Expositor, tr. P. Maung Tin and Mrs. Rhys Davids.
(London: PTS, 1920-1)
It. = Itivuttaka, ed. E. Windisch. (London: PTS, 1890)
Khp. = Khuddakapaa.tha, ed. Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. (London:
PTS, 1931)
M. = Majjhimanikaaya, I-IV, ed. V. Trenckner, R. Chalmers, Mrs.
Rhys Davids. (London: PTS, 1888-1902)
PED. = Pali English Dictionary, ed. T. W. Rhys Davids and W.
Stede. (London: PTS, 1921-25)
PTS. = Pali Text Society
S. = Sa"myuttanikaaya, I-V, ed. L. Feer and Mrs. Rhys
Davids. (London: PTS, 1884-1898)
Sn. = Suttanipaata, ed. D. Andersen and H. Smith. (London: PTS,
1913)
Ud. = Udaana, ed. P. Steinthal. (London: PTS, 1885)
Vbh. = Vibha"nga, ed. and tr. by S. K. Mukhopadhyaya.
(Santiniketan: 1950)
Vin. = Vinayapi.taka, I-V, ed. H. Oldenberg. (London: PTS,
1879-83)
Vism. Visuddhdimagga, ed. H. C. Warren and D. Kosambi. HOS.41.
(1950)
II. Studies
Govinda, Lama Anagarika. (1991) The
Psychological Attitude of Early Buddhist Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1st
ed. 1961.
Guenther, Herbert V. (1974). Philosophy and
Psychology in the Abhidharma. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Johansson, Rune. E. A. (1969). The Psychology
of Nirvana. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Johansson, Rune. E. A. (1985). The Dynamic
Psychology of Early Buddhism. London: Curzon Press, 1st Ed. 1979.
Kalupahana, D. J, & Weeraratne, W. G. (1987).
Buddhist Philosophy and Culture, Essays in honour of N. A. Jayawickrema. Sri Lanka:
Na Yayawickrema Felicitation Volume Committee.
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