What Am I According to the Buddhists

¶ … Aggregates in Buddhism What Am I according to the Buddhists? Dr. Peter Santina's Fundamentals of Buddhism discusses the main concepts and teachings relevant to the study of Buddhism as one of the world's religions. Ultimately, Buddhism is a religious philosophy that aims to promote a life of self-denial, such as denying one's self with material wealth found here on earth. This lifestyle will lead to the greater end that Buddhists want to achieve -- the state of "nirvana," a state of consciousness wherein enlightenment occurs.

However, this state is not defined concretely, since this is an abstract concept experienced and felt by Buddhists. The achievement of this higher state of consciousness is achieved through a variety of factors, and one of these is through the process of introspection, or "the analysis of personal experience or personality" -- the five aggregates of Buddhism. The five aggregates of Buddhism are the components that make up human individuality.

According to the Buddhists, there exists five aggregates within humans: rupa (aggregate of matter); vijnana (consciousness); vedana (aggregate of feeling and sensation); samjna (aggregate of perception); and samskara (aggregate of mental form and volition). Rupa is perhaps the most basic and tangible aggregate in Buddhism. This aggregate represents the physical manifestation of the human being's existence here on earth. Santina categorizes rupa as not only composed of the human being's body, "but also the material objects that surround us" (126).

Specifically, rupa is best represented by the five sense organs of the human body. The inclusion of the sense organs of the body illustrate how the concept of rupa is not only perceived as a physical manifestation, but also the coordination of the elements composed within and outside the human body. Rupa also seeks to unite the individual with nature, as his/her human body becomes part of nature's elements.

In effect, the rupa is the natural order of things on earth that is physically manifested and tangible to the human senses. However, rupa cannot exist without the presence of vijnana, or consciousness, defined as "an indispensable element in the production of experience" (127). This concept is synonymously associated with the concept of the "soul," wherein meanings are constructed/created within the human psyche as s/he experiences realities in the society and with nature. While rupa is the form of the individual being, vijnana is its substance or content.

Simply put, rupa cannot exist without vijnana, for it takes physical manifestation to experience a reality, while it takes higher forms of meanings to create significance for all the realities experienced by the human body. In this sense, uniting rupa and vijnana shows how the first two aggregates in Buddhism are concepts popularly known in Western religions as "body and soul." One cannot exist without the other; however, vijnana is considered a greater aggregate than rupa, since it takes the concept of consciousness to a higher level of human understanding.

Looking further into the concept of vijnana or consciousness, it is evident that it is further composed into smaller, yet essential aggregates that comprises the necessary factors to produce consciousness. These aggregates are the following: vedana, samjna, and samskara. Vijnana or consciousness cannot be realized full without the presence of the aggregate of feeling and sensation, also called vedana. This concept is the "emotional" dimension of human consciousness, wherein vedana can be identified as either "pleasant," unpleasant," or "indifferent" (128).

Vedana determines what is desired or not desired by the self, which may involve bodily (rupa) or psychological (vijnana) needs. Samjna, or the aggregate of perception, which, once again, illustrates the concepts of rupa and vijnana, where perception becomes the end-product of realities experienced by the physical and psychological beings of the self. Once perceived by the physical self, vijnana creates meanings that give significance to this experience. However, it is through the aggregate of perception that the process of experiencing realities is fully developed.

After perceptions are developed, new meanings are created, which then becomes part of vijnana, or the individual's consciousness about the realities s/he experiences in life. The last component is the samskara,.