Overview
(Note: While occasionally grouped or referenced by specific analytical categories, the orthodox Mahāvihāra tradition strictly maintains the Five Aggregates of Clinging as the complete breakdown of a sentient being. They represent the conditioned phenomena that unenlightened beings mistakenly take to be a “self”.)
The List
- Rūpāpādānakkhandha - The Clinging-Aggregate of Form: All physical materiality, including the four great elements and the physical sense organs.
- Vedanāpādānakkhandha - The Clinging-Aggregate of Feeling: The affective tones of pleasant, painful, and neutral sensations.
- Saññāpādānakkhandha - The Clinging-Aggregate of Perception: The mental act of recognizing and labeling objects.
- Saṅkhārāpādānakkhandha - The Clinging-Aggregate of Volitional Formations: All mental responses and kamma-generating intentions.
- Viññāṇāpādānakkhandha - The Clinging-Aggregate of Consciousness: The bare cognitive awareness of objects.
Textual References
- Canonical: Khandha Saṃyutta (SN 22.48) – The definitive text separating the bare aggregates from the aggregates accompanied by clinging.