The Five Skandhas: The Components and Development of Ego

Buddhists teachers present various ways of categorizing the teachings. (And note, in passing here, that Taoists generally do not go into categories to the extent that Buddhists do - and some Taoists seem to eschew them altogether.) We have, for example, the Three Yanas (sometimes condensed into two), the Stages of the Path, the Sutras and Shastras, the Three Turnings of the Wheel, and The Tripitika (the Three Baskets).

In this latter categorization, which includes only teachings by the Buddha, we find the Vinaya, the Sutras, and the Abhidharma. The Vinaya presents monastic rules and regulations, but also rules for social living. "Vinaya" translates as "taming." The rules of the Vinaya help us to tame ourselves in our interactions with others.

The Sutra-pitaka includes teachings on spiritual training: teachings on the stages of the path, on compassion, on meditation, and so forth. The term "sutra" means "brief discourse."

The Abhidharma-pitaka presents the psychological background. These teachings help us to increase our prajna, our insight and wisdom - what translator Herbert Guenther used to translate as "discriminating insight born from wisdom." The term abhidharma translates as "the way things are." These teachings help us to see the world accurately; they help us to see, as the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche puts it, that "the root of samsara is the false imputation of a truly existent self."

The Five Skandhas, part of the abhidharma teachings, describe what we might call the component parts of this imputation. Some teachers say that the skandhas also describe the process by which ego develops. We might certainly say that the skandhas describe the way we perpetuate our own suffering and claustrophobia. Hopefully, by seeing more clearly what we do to ourselves and what we use to get that doing done, we can stop doing it and experience a bit more spaciousness.

In this week's column, we will take our first look at the Five Skandhas.