According to the Teaching of the Buddha, a human being is composed of Five Skandhas or Aggregates. These are form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.
The component parts of the skandhas work together so seamlessly that they create the sense of a single Self or an I.
But the Buddha taught there is no Self occupying the skandhas.
Understanding the skandhas is helpful in seeing through the illusion of Self.
The word 'skandha', a Sanskrit word, may be translated as 'a mass', 'a heap', 'a pile', 'a bundle', or even 'a tree trunk'.
THE SKANDHAS
Form or Matter: Matter. The body. The physical world. The sense organs. The nervous system.
Feelings or Sensations: Experiencing something as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
Perception, Conception, Appreciation, Cognition, or Discrimination: Registers whether a thing is recognized or not.
Mental Formations, Impulses, Volition, or Compositional Factors: All types of memory, mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by sensual contact with a thing.
Consciousness or Discernment: The base of everything that we are and the ground of our mental formations.
The skandhas are not linear, they are each supported by the others.
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