The Philosophy of Five Khandas (Aggregates) in the Theravāda Buddhism

Abstract

The present Article links the condi­tioned and conditioning disposition of the khandhas to a comprehension of depend­ent origination, a comprehension which in the Mahāhatthipadopama Sutta leads on to an un­derstand­ing of the fourfold noble truth. From a practical perspective, to contemplate the conditioned and conditioning disposition of the fivefold khandha can be assumed by becoming aware of how any bodily or mental experi­ence de­pends on, and is affected by, a set of conditions. Since these conditions are not amena­ble to full personal control, one evidently does not have power over the very foundation of one’s own subjective experience. “I” and “mine” turn out to be utterly dependent on what is “other”, a predicament which reveals the characteristic of anattā. Actually, one who differently understands the nature of anattā of the fivefold khandha can realize empty of “I” and “mine”, similarly, that one who comprehends the natural disposition of empty of “I” and “mine” and so on can, absolutely, attain the Nibbāna (bliss).