Robin Beck

Visualizing The Five Skandhas & Mindfulness {1}

Mindfulness & the Skandhas
Ki to Revitalization

Definitions

In the Pali Canon, the Buddha taught that there is no real ego, self, or soul; what we conceive of self is actually a temporary combination of the five skandhas. In Nichiren Buddhism, the Five Skandhas comprise one of the San Seken, or Three Fields. The San Seken combine with the Ten Worlds, and Ten Suchnessess, to form the theory of Ichinen Sanzen, a basic tenet of Tiantai and Nichiren Buddhism. Yet, this {the skandhas} is a topic, I rarely, if ever, see discussed in much detail in e-groups.

During thirty plus years of practice; I could never wrap my mind around this concept of Five Skandhas; so I pretty much ignored it. The various translations -- heaps, bundles, piles, components, formations, aggregates -- are not of much help. I have decided that translations of skandha are probably an impediment to understanding, we are better off just using the borrowed term, as with karma, Dharma, etcetera. Moreover, the only real way to understand the panca-skandha is to attempt to observe them directly. How did the Buddha arrive at this understanding? I suspect it was largely a product of observing himself and others. That said, translating the terms for the individual skandhas is useful; though while some terms translate smoothly, others are more difficult.

Rupa-Skandha: Rupa means form. There is also rupa-rupa; or gross physical form, and arupa-rupa; subtle or abstract form. For our present puposes of Mindfulness, I am taking rupa to mean Rupa- kaya -- our physical bodies.

Vedana-Skandha: Vedana is usually translated as sensation, which I prefer. I have seen it translated as either feeling or perception, both of which I think confuse the issue. Here, I am interested in reducing this to the five basic incoming sensations. Then we have autonomous non-conceptual mental perception; or recognition of physical phenomena, as a sixth. I am matching this up with mindfulness of sensation {vedana sait/smrti}.

Samjna-Skandha: I am convinced that this can not be translated. I like cognition, because it includes both the irrational or emotional; and the rational or conceptual. But it also includes perceptual recognition. I do not like perception as a translation of samnja at all, as that process is too concrete. I like conception, or even ideation, because these point to abstract cognition, but both could be taken to exclude emotion. Samnja could even be translated as the self directed or volitional mind, but that creates other issues, I am matching this with Mindfulness of Citta; but taking Citta in the limited context of self aware abstract mental processes, or apprehension of noumena. In my model of Consciousness, this is the function of the Seventh Consciousness; which is the cerebral part of mind that creates the False sense of Ego. I call this Manas or Mano-citta to differentiate from Mano-Vijnana {autonomous brain function} and Alaya/Amala. So samnja = conception / emotion or abstract cognition will do, sort of.

Samskara or Sankhara-Skandha: This is often translated as volition, which I use, but do not like it much, as I think this skandha is often non-volitional. Other translations include habits, compulsions, impulses, formations, and motives. I like all of those. I am linking this with mindfulness of little 'd' dharmas, translated as mental objects or qualities, in this context. This is tentative, but what I am looking at is what motivates us, whether is be intentional and self directed; or conditioned and impulsive. This might connect with with conditioned alaya consciousness, which hopefully, we as Buddhists wish to free; by de-conditioning it to its pure state, or Amala

Vijnana-Skandha: This is whatever level or state of mind from which we are observing; the autonomous mano-vijnana, the self directed mano-citta, the conditioned root consciousness or alaya, or amala.

I realize I might be redefining or expanding the definition of some technical terms. I also think we can that the five skandhas overlap, there are not tidy divisions. Put another way, they are processes in constant flux. The main thing is that this will be a practical exercise, sorting out terminology is secondary. Three year old Skylar calls oranges apples, they are still oranges, and not so pleasent to bite into un-peeled.

The Visualization

Chanting Daimoku, while gazing at a Gohonzon arrangement called the 'One Buddha and Four Attendants,' {see Five Skandhas and the imagery of Isson Shiji} helped me begin to get a grasp of the concept of the five skandhas. For those not familiar with this style of Gohonzon; visualize a statue or painting of Shakyamuni Buddha in the center. This can be one of two traditional forms, seated in meditation with his hands in the Dhyani-Mudra, or the standing / walking / teaching Buddha. Even better, would be either sitting or standing Shakyamuni, with his hands in the Gassho Mudra, though the latter are rarely seen. On the Buddha's left {your right} we see Anryugyo {outside] and Jyogyo {inside]. On the Buddha's right {our left} are Jogyo {inside} and Muhengyo {outside}.

I do not know that the exact order is that important, so long as the Buddha is central. Also, rather than a straight line, I prefer to visualize them in kind of a circle, similar to the way the Five Dhyani Buddhas are usually depicted. So Jyogyo & Jogyo are above and bit to the inside of Anryugyo & Muhengyo. By the way, I initially did this to challenge my superstitions about chanting to anthropomorphic forms of the Lotus Sutra Honzon, in other words, those using statues or paintings, as opposed tp the Calligraphy Mandala. I was not expecting any insights.

As I was chanting to this imagery, I started to visualize it this way: Each of the five became a circle. The circle in the center is labeled Consciousness. The circles to the left facing are labeled Sensation and Body. The circles to the right facing are labeled Motives and Cognition. I began to ponder -- are the four attendant Bodhisattvas somehow connected with the first four skandhas? I also began to wonder how other sets of four might be tied in, such as the four qualities of Nirvana described in the Nirvana Sutra? Perhaps, the four 'foundations' of mindfulness meditation are connected? Or the set of Four Provisional Bodhisattvas? How about the three or four qualities of conditioned phenomena - impurity, dukkha, anicca, & anatta?

I started to get excited, and bounced these thoughts off of others at various news groups. While some ambiguity remains, my suspicions were pretty much confirmed. Another question arose in my mind -- how does the concept of five skandhas relate to the theory of eight or nine consciousnesses? While I did not get much, if any, agreement on that, I came up with a workable model.

I may change my mind, but I think I shall stick with exploring this topic fior a while. The reason is, applying these concepts to my practice has helped make some huge strides in overcoming chronic health issues. The preliminary results of a recent stress test were quite encouraging. My cardiologist was very impressed with my demeanor, posture, bearing, composure, etcetera. He asked if I was being trained in Yoga or Islamic Prayer. I replied 'Satipatthana' -- Buddhism, {I noted that Sati is the Pali for smrti} and his eyes lit up. He told me to keep doing what I am doing.

Mindfulness in Perspective
One more thing; the Buddha taught two, or really three, general kinds of meditation. Together, these cover the Training of Meditation. The first is access concentration, which I see is a prerequisite to the other two For more on this see "Twenty Minutes to Samadhi through Mantra Chanting & Mandala Visualization" -- The Five Hindrances Revisited and -- Focus the Senses; the Mind Follows. This corresponds to Right Effort.

The second kind is the concentration-absorption-attainment meditation. This corresponds to Right Concentration. I have not discussed samadhi-dhyana and samapatti much, if at all. Thee are useful to cultivate concentration and abstract reasoning skills. The relaxing bliss of the lower level dhyanas is also healing. These are also helpful to alleviate the disturbing angst that mindfulness practices can trigger. However, they can also be a trap of employed as an end, to enjoy the ecstasy & bliss that arises.

The third general kind is mindfulness-insight meditation. This corresponds to Right Mindfulness and is where we are going with Mindfulness & the Skandhas. This can take various forms, which lead one one to the third Training of Right Wisdom. In fact, I an nor sure a clear distinction between Right Mindfulness
and Right Insight/Wisdom. Vipassana, to me, is not so much a separate meditation as the result of Mindfulness, the arising of Wisdom.

By the way, I already tentatively jumped ahead into this with -- Mind as a 6th Sense? -- Eighteen Sensory Realms, Dharma Dhatu, Juhachi Kai -- and Six Sense Purification; 6 Beat Mantra Powered Visualization. These would be an application of Mindfulness of Sensation {Sati vedana}.

Posted by rbeck at November 27, 2007 11:44 AM