Samyutta Nikaya: Khandhavagga Introduction
I.
Five Aggregates
A. Primary
scheme of categories the Buddha draws upon to analyze sentient existence.
B. Thus
aggregates teaching concentrates on birth-death continuum rather than the
larger cycle of life -> life.
C. Four
reasons for their critical role
1. Khandhas
are ultimate referent of the First Noble Truth, and all four truths revolve
around suffering—so understanding the aggregates is essential to understanding
the truths.
2. Khandhas
are the objective domain of clinging and contribute to the causes of future
suffering.
3. Removal
of clinging is necessary—and clinging must be removed from its objects.
4. Removal
of clinging is achieved through wisdom—clear insight into the real nature of
the aggregates.
D. Analysis
of the khandhas is not psychological; comparisons between buddhist analysis and
that of modern science can easily lead to spurious conclusions.
E. For
the Buddha, investigation into the nature of personal existence always remains
subordinate to the liberative thrust of the Dhamma.
II.
About the Khandhas
A. Called
‘heap’ or ‘aggregate’ because each unites under one label a multiplicity of
phenomena that share the same defining characteristic.
B. Suttas
of this vagga spell out the constituents of each khandha.
C. The
explanations are generally phrased in terms of functions rather than fixed
essences.
III.
The Khandhas are Dukkha
A. 22:59
they tend to affliction and cannot be made to conform with our desires
B. 22:1
attachment to khandhas leads to sorrow and despair
C. 22:7
their change induces fear, distress, anxiety
D. 22:15
they are already suffering simply because they are impermanent
E. 22:26
while they give pleasure and joy—that’s the gratification in them—eventually
they must change and pass away, and this instability is the danger perpetually
concealed within them.
F. 22:79
we assume that we control them, while in reality they are consuming us.
IV.
The Khandhas are Objective Domain of Defilements
A. Asavas
(taintas) and upadana (clinging) in particular
B. One
clings to only the khandhas
C. Clinging
as a link in the ‘suffering’ chain of paticcasamuppada
1. 22:5
splices aggregates into the chain
2. 22:54
consciousness grows and thrives from life to life due to lust
D. Two
modes of clinging to the khandhas
1. Appropriation:
one grasps with desire and assumes possion of them
2. Identification:
one identifies with them, taking them as basis for views on self
E. “This
is mine, this I am, this is my self.”
1. ‘This
is mine’: appropriation
2. ‘This
I am’: identification expressive of conceit
3. ‘This
is my self’: identification expressive of views
V.
Identity View (Sakkayaditthi)
A. Basis
of all affirmation of selfhood
B. All
views of self are in reference to khandhas, individually or collectively
C. Twenty
types of identity view—four for each of the five khandhas
1. Identical
with it
2. Possessing
it
3. Containing
it
4. Contained
within it
D. The
aggregates are selfless nature, not bound up with self
VI.
Ignorance and the Khandhas
A. Ignorance
tends to sustain clinging to the khandhas
B. Three
delusions that nurture this clinging
1. The
khandhas are permanent
2. The
khandhas are a true source of happiness
3. The
khandhas are a self, or the accessories of a self
C. Wisdom
reveals that
1. They
are impermanent
2. They
are suffering
3. They
are non-self
D. These
are of course the Dharma Seals
E. “This
is not mind, this I am not, this is not my self”: no point in appropriating or
identifying with anything, because the subject of this appropriation and
identification “self”, is merely a fabrication of conceptual thought woven in
the darkness of ignorance.