ཕུང་པོ། | Glossary of Terms

The basic components out of which the world and the personal self are formed, usually listed as a set of five.

See “five aggregates.”

Lit. a “heap” or “pile.” The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

However, in this text, five pure or uncontaminated aggregates are also listed, namely: the aggregate of morality, the aggregate of meditative stabilization, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of knowledge and seeing of liberation.

Five “collections” that encompass all apparent physical and mental phenomena: form, feeling, perception, formation(s), and consciousness.

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the person are formed.

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

Literally a “heap” or “pile,” the term usually refers to the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The psycho-physical components of personal experience. The five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formative predispositions, and consciousness.

Five collections of similar dharmas, under which all compounded dharmas may be included; form, feeling, notions, factors, and consciousness.

Here, referring to the five collections of psycho-physical factors that constitute beings: form, feelings, perceptions, formations, and consciousness.

The five skandhas (pañcaskandha) are: forms (rūpa), sensation (vedanā), conception (saṃjñā), formations (saṃskāra), consciousness (vijñāna).

Five collections of similar phenomena, under which all compounded dharmas may be included: form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the level of an individual, the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The five aggregates of forms, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses.

The constituents that make up a being’s existence: form, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses.

Here referring to the five collections of psycho-physical factors that constitute beings: form, feelings, perceptions, formations, and consciousness.

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

See “five aggregates.”

The five psycho-physical components of personal experience: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

Five collections or “heaps” of impersonal mental and physical elements (dharma).

See “five aggregates for appropriation.”

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed: forms, feelings, perceptions, formative factors, and consciousness.

This translation of skandha is fairly well established, although some prefer the monosyllabic “group.” It is important to bear in mind that the original skandha has the sense of “pile,” or “heap,” which has the connotation of utter lack of internal structure, of a randomly collocated pile of things; thus “group” may convey a false connotation of structure and ordered arrangement. The five “compulsive” (upādāna) aggregates are of great importance as a schema for introspective meditation in the Abhidharma, wherein each is defined with the greatest subtlety and precision. In fact, the five terms rūpa, vedanā, samjñā, saṃskāra, and vijñāna have such a particular technical sense that many translators have preferred to leave them untranslated. Nevertheless, in the sūtra context, where the five are meant rather more simply to represent the relative living being (in the realm of desire), it seems preferable to give a translation‍—in spite of the drawbacks of each possible term‍—in order to convey the same sense of a total categorization of the psychophysical complex. Thus, for rūpa, “matter” is preferred to “form” because it more concretely connotes the physical and gross; for vedanā, “sensation” is adopted, as limited to the aesthetic; for samjñā, “intellect” is useful in conveying the sense of verbal, conceptual intelligence. For samskāra, which covers a number of mental functions as well as inanimate forces, “motivation” gives a general idea. And “consciousness” is so well established for vijñāna (although what we normally think of as consciousness is more like samjñā, i.e., conceptual and notional, and vijñāna is rather the “pure awareness” prior to concepts) as to be left unchallenged.

Five collections of similar phenomena, under which all compounded dharmas may be included: form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the individual self are formed.

The five psycho-physical components of personal experience: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The five psycho-physical constituents of an individual, which are collectively taken as a “self.”

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The five psycho-physical components of personal experience: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

Lit. a “heap” or “pile.” The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

Five collections of similar phenomena under which all compounded dharmas may be included: form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed.

The five aggregates (Skt. skandha) of form, feeling, perception, formative predispositions, and consciousness. On the individual level, the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected. They are referred to as the “bases for appropriation” (Skt. upādāna) insofar as all conceptual grasping arises based on these aggregates.

Five collections of similar dharmas, under which all compounded dharmas may be included: form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness.

The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formative predispositions, and consciousness. On the individual level, the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected. They are referred to as the “bases for appropriation” (Skt. upādāna) insofar as all conceptual grasping arises based on these aggregates.

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed.

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed.

See “five aggregates.”

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed.

The five constituents of a living entity: form, feeling, perception, karmic formation, and consciousness.

Five collections of phenomena under which all compounded phenomena may be included: form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness.

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level, the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected. They are referred to as the “bases for appropriation” (Skt. upādāna) insofar as all conceptual grasping arises on the basis of these aggregates.

The five aggregates, the bases upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected, are those of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

In Buddhist philosophy, the five basic constituents upon which persons are conventionally designated. They are material forms, sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness.

The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level, the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected. They are referred to as the “bases for appropriation” (Skt. upādāna), insofar as all conceptual grasping arises on the basis of these aggregates.

Lit. a “heap” or “pile.” The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

However, in this text, five pure or uncontaminated aggregates are also listed, namely: the aggregate of morality, the aggregate of meditative stabilization, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of knowledge and seeing of liberation.

Literally “heaps” or “aggregates.” These are the five aggregates of forms, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses.

Literally “heaps” or “aggregates.” These are the five aggregates of forms, sensations, identifications, formations, and consciousnesses.

Psychophysical constituents that make up the individual, divided into five group. See “five skandhas.”

The five “aggregates,” collections of similar phenomena in which all conditioned phenomena may be included: rūpa, vedanā, saṃjñā, saṃskāra, and vijñāna.

See “aggregates.”

The constituents that make up a being’s existence: forms, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses. Often translated “aggregate,” commonly in the context of the five aggregates. Along with dhātu and āyatana, one of the three major categories in the taxonomy of phenomena in the sūtra literature.

Also known as the “five appropriated aggregates.”

Literally, “heaps,” or “aggregates.” These are the five aggregates of forms, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses.