The Five Aggregates Boiled Down to "It Exists"

[Michael Hawkins]

Having survived a lengthy Dark Night (in the form of marital strife that exposed deep unprocessed trauma), I've been blessed to live on my own for a couple of years, which has given me an opportunity to return to a rigorous daily contemplative life.  Along with deep meditation at least twice a day, and participation in this Sangha, I'm doing a lot of dhamma study.  Mostly I'm going back to the Suttas, where I'm revisiting the teachings with fresh eyes.

Something that I've always had difficulty with is the concept of the Five Aggregates.  I've resisted this format, because I thought it required too much memorization and mental gymnastics, to always be categorizing experiences that come up in meditation or moments of self-awareness.

When I recited the Satipatthana Sutta the other day, however, I got multiple "Aha!" moments that put this practice into a different, more manageable perspective for me.

As the Buddha laid out mindfulness of the breath, the body, the senses and so forth, he went into great detail - way more detail than I could be expected to memorize and use moment-to-moment throughout the day.  After going into all that detail, however, he would come to a point where he backed off and said (for instance), "Or one's awareness is established with, 'Sensation exists,' to the extent necessary just for knowledge and awareness, and one lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world."

Now THIS is something I can work with.  If it's form (the heater kicking on, a coyote howling, cars passing by), I just reflect, "That's form, it exists," and I let it go.  If I'm experiencing discomfort in my body, "That's perception, it exists," and it drifts away.  Mostly there are thoughts, so, "That's a mental construction, it exists," and it goes away.  Whatever it is - jealousy, longing, some attachment or other - the Buddha says I can just see how it exists, and this simple movement into objectivity (or witness awareness) takes the life out of it.

Meanwhile, signs of absorption are doing their thing, which provides a powerful context for "If not these things that exist, then what?"  Bliss, joy and ecstasy, that's what.  The various jhanas, that's what.  Ever-refining states of being, that's what.  Erosion of the fetters, that's what.

I guess what I'm saying is, in the past I have put too much pressure on myself with regard to the Buddha's voluminous and detailed teachings, thinking that there is no way on Earth that I'll ever be able to master all of the lists.  But in this Sutta especially, it seems to boil down to "It exists," and I find that my being knows how to proceed once this awareness is established.

Is this similar to what any of you have come to in your own contemplative practices?

[rougeleader115]

So I want to say first that I relate a lot to the mindset you have described here. I have struggled to make it through the suttas to gain a better context. Jefferey's translations from the main website help me a lot. And I have been able to investigate with deeper maturity and understanding as time goes on.   

Mostly there are thoughts, so, "That's a mental construction, it exists," and it goes away.  Whatever it is - jealousy, longing, some attachment or other - the Buddha says I can just see how it exists, and this simple movement into objectivity (or witness awareness) takes the life out of it.

Meanwhile, signs of absorption are doing their thing, which provides a powerful context for "If not these things that exist, then what?"  Bliss, joy and ecstasy, that's what.  The various jhanas, that's what.  Ever-refining states of being, that's what.  Erosion of the fetters, that's what.

Jeffrey will have better understanding and advice than me, but I want to say that this sounds like how I have been forming my Christian understanding. I have been dropped in infinite love once. Now everything I hold onto: my anxiety, my depression, my anger, my pains and my fears are the things that separate me from that. The more I am willing/capable to let go of those things being "mine", the larger vessel I become for that love and peace. Which is not always easy, and sometimes causes me unnecessary guilt and worry. But I also spread that love into the understanding that I am a human, and I am flawed. And I really am trying my best to understand and live the contemplative life. And I know that Love ultimately does not care that I am flawed. It just wants me to get closer and closer. Deepening my concentration and absorption while letting go.

Thank you for being vulnerable about your life experiences here for us, even the difficult stuff. It helps to see how you are dealing with a difficult and unexpected situation.

[Michael Hawkins]

So I want to say first that I relate a lot to the mindset you have described here. I have struggled to make it through the suttas to gain a better context. Jefferey's translations from the main website help me a lot. And I have been able to investigate with deeper maturity and understanding as time goes on.

I also turn to Jeffrey's translations of the Phala Nikaya for better clarity, especially when it comes to aspects of attainment.  I have Bhikkhu Sujato's full set of Suttas on my Kindle, and I'm always getting hung up on his word choices whenever he gets to the juicy stuff - but at least it's free, lol.  I never really stopped reading the teachings, but without a structured daily meditation practice I felt cut off from the experience of what I was reading.  It's nice to find my stride again, and to connect the dots from a fresh perspective of having lived a lot of years.

https://suttacentral.net/pitaka/sutta?lang=en

Jeffrey will have better understanding and advice than me, but I want to say that this sounds like how I have been forming my Christian understanding. I have been dropped in infinite love once. Now everything I hold onto: my anxiety, my depression, my anger, my pains and my fears are the things that separate me from that. The more I am willing/capable to let go of those things being "mine", the larger vessel I become for that love and peace. Which is not always easy, and sometimes causes me unnecessary guilt and worry. But I also spread that love into the understanding that I am a human, and I am flawed. And I really am trying my best to understand and live the contemplative life. And I know that Love ultimately does not care that I am flawed. It just wants me to get closer and closer. Deepening my concentration and absorption while letting go.

I have also made the connection between infinite Love and the self-arising bliss, joy and ecstasy found in Samma-Samadhi.  Being a preacher's kid, I always knew that Jesus was a mystic who exemplified the ultimate Union - and when we would talk about Agape Love, I could feel how it meant much more than "unconditional."  It's the love of God, which implies total surrender and merging with That.  It also implies that all of our conditioning, our unprocessed trauma, our fearfulness and basic human frailty, are not only accepted and forgiven, but healed completely by the Loving touch.  I can only think of what happens when we become saturated in self-arising bliss, joy and ecstasy, with regular absorption in the deeper states - how this infinite Love goes to the root of our suffering and slowly eradicates the ties that bind.

It wasn't until I found Eastern ecstatic/mystical traditions, however, that I could understand what Jesus was pointing toward in the Gospels.  Yogananda and a few other Indian gurus made the discovery more accessible.  It took much longer for me to get into the writings of the Christian Mystics, most likely because of all the religious trauma I picked up from my church upbringing - but it's such an amazing thing to see how they knew exactly what the Buddha teaches about the stages of meditative absorption.

Thank you for being vulnerable about your life experiences here for us, even the difficult stuff. It helps to see how you are dealing with a difficult and unexpected situation.

This is my Sangha and I feel blessed by fellow contemplatives, even if we are few in number.  Thanks for your compassion and understanding.

[Jhanananda]

Thanks, Michael, for starting this thread and for your mature take on the contemplative arts and the Dhamma. And, thank you, rougeleader115, for posting your insightful comments to this thread. I agree, Michael, too often Buddhist commentary tends to subscribe to an all too cognitive approach to meditation and the contemplative arts, so I am glad that you pointed out this problem, because thinking and noting can just get in the way of a still mind, and a still mind is the second jhana and the doorway to much greater and deeper bliss, joy, and ecstasy.

[Michael Hawkins]

thinking and noting can just get in the way of a still mind, and a still mind is the second jhana and the doorway to much greater and deeper bliss, joy, and ecstasy.

Therein lies the rub, as they say.  It seems that so much of the teaching (Dhamma) is intended to clear the deck for a stilled mind that sets the stage for "much greater and deeper bliss, joy and ecstasy."  Awareness of how the Aggregates manifest, where they come from, what trauma or other clinging they are associated with, etc. - all good insights, all good things to know, all a part of emotional healing... but laser-focusing on the onion-layers of conditioning, attachment and desire is no way to spend our entire time on the cushion, especially when deeper states of absorption await.  I don't want to invalidate the value of self-awareness around our core issues (fetters), but it seems that journaling, therapy, plant-medicine and other such practices are tailor-made for that process.  Skillful meditation is a different animal.

[Tad]

Something that I've always had difficulty with is the concept of the Five Aggregates.  I've resisted this format, because I thought it required too much memorization and mental gymnastics, to always be categorizing experiences that come up in meditation or moments of self-awareness.

When I recited the Satipatthana Sutta the other day, however, I got multiple "Aha!" moments that put this practice into a different, more manageable perspective for me.

As the Buddha laid out mindfulness of the breath, the body, the senses and so forth, he went into great detail - way more detail than I could be expected to memorize and use moment-to-moment throughout the day.  After going into all that detail, however, he would come to a point where he backed off and said (for instance), "Or one's awareness is established with, 'Sensation exists,' to the extent necessary just for knowledge and awareness, and one lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world."

Now THIS is something I can work with.  If it's form (the heater kicking on, a coyote howling, cars passing by), I just reflect, "That's form, it exists," and I let it go.  If I'm experiencing discomfort in my body, "That's perception, it exists," and it drifts away.  Mostly there are thoughts, so, "That's a mental construction, it exists," and it goes away. 

Michael,

That's an interesting analysis. I have to admit that I also struggle with the long technical suttas explaining 5 aggregates. They seem to induce too much itellectual activity in my mind from which I already suffer too much. I personally come to the conclusion that understanding of 5 aggregates is just one of the many tools for developing dispassion toward material world. I guess understanding of 5 aggregates can help one realize that our experience is just a bunch of processes, rather than viewing them as existance of self. So I think you are making a good point. At the end of the day, we just need to work on observing things as they come and go instead of trying to identify with them.

[Jhanananda]

Therein lies the rub, as they say.  It seems that so much of the teaching (Dhamma) is intended to clear the deck for a stilled mind that sets the stage for "much greater and deeper bliss, joy and ecstasy."  Awareness of how the Aggregates manifest, where they come from, what trauma or other clinging they are associated with, etc. - all good insights, all good things to know, all a part of emotional healing... but laser-focusing on the onion-layers of conditioning, attachment and desire is no way to spend our entire time on the cushion, especially when deeper states of absorption await.  I don't want to invalidate the value of self-awareness around our core issues (fetters), but it seems that journaling, therapy, plant-medicine and other such practices are tailor-made for that process.  Skillful meditation is a different animal.

That's an interesting analysis. I have to admit that I also struggle with the long technical suttas explaining 5 aggregates. They seem to induce too much itellectual activity in my mind from which I already suffer too much. I personally come to the conclusion that understanding of 5 aggregates is just one of the many tools for developing dispassion toward material world. I guess understanding of 5 aggregates can help one realize that our experience is just a bunch of processes, rather than viewing them as existance of self. So I think you are making a good point. At the end of the day, we just need to work on observing things as they come and go instead of trying to identify with them.

I couldn't agree more with both of you. Thank you.

[Michael Hawkins]

At the end of the day, we just need to work on observing things as they come and go instead of trying to identify with them.

I think this is basically the answer.  In meditation, when "Form, Feeling, Perception, Thoughts and Consciousness" inevitably arise, we are also following self-arising bliss, joy and ecstasy as they replace the breath - which automatically stills the mind.  Can't completely ignore the diversionary impact of the Aggregates, but we can wait for them to subside in absorption.  A deeper, more formal examination of the Aggregates is something I do for mindfulness practice throughout the day, or when I'm journaling - it can be helpful for being present and clear with myself.

[Jhanananda]

Good advice, Michael. For me, the five aggregates are just part of mindful self awareness in between the charisms arising and replacing the material world, and our cognitive functions.

[Michael Hawkins]

Good advice, Michael. For me, the five aggregates are just part of mindful self awareness in between the charisms arising and replacing the material world, and our cognitive functions.

Very well said, thank you.