Mahayana Treatise on the Five Aggregates, One Scroll
Composed by Bodhisattva Vasubandhu
Tripitaka Master Xuanzang's Imperial Translation
The Blessed One briefly explained the Five Aggregates: first, the aggregate of form; second, the aggregate of feeling; third, the aggregate of perception; fourth, the aggregate of mental formations; and fifth, the aggregate of consciousness.
What is the aggregate of form (Rupa)? It refers to the four great elements and all forms derived from these four great elements.
What are the four great elements? They are the earth element, water element, fire element, and wind element. What is the earth element? It is solidity. What is the water element? It is fluidity and cohesion. What is the fire element? It is heat and dryness. What is the wind element? It is lightness and movement.
What are the forms produced by the Four Great Elements? They are: the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty; visible forms, sounds, smells, tastes, a portion of tangible objects, and unmanifest form.
What is the eye faculty? It is the subtle physical basis that takes form (visible objects) as its object. What is the ear faculty? It is the subtle physical basis that takes sound as its object. What is the nose faculty? It is the subtle physical basis that takes smell as its object. What is the tongue faculty? It is the subtle physical basis that takes taste as its object. What is the body faculty? It is the subtle physical basis that takes touch as its object.
What is "form"? It refers to what is seen by the eyes: visible appearances, colors and shapes, and expressive forms, etc.
What is "sound"? It refers to what is heard by the ears: sounds produced by living matter, sounds produced by non-living matter, and sounds produced by a combination of both.
What is "smell"? It refers to what is smelled by the nose: pleasant smells, unpleasant smells, and neutral smells.
What is "taste"? It refers to what is tasted by the tongue: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, and bland flavors.
What is "the tangible" (partially)? It refers to what is felt by the body: tactile sensations derived from the four primary elements—smoothness, roughness, heaviness, lightness, cold, hunger, thirst, and so on.
What is called "non-physical form"? It refers to forms produced by intentional actions or meditation concentration—they are invisible and intangible.
What is the aggregate of feeling? It consists of three types of experience: suffering, pleasure, and neutral feeling. Pleasure is the desire for harmony when it fades; suffering is the desire for escape when it arises; neither suffering nor pleasure is the absence of both desires.
What is the aggregate of perception? It refers to the grasping of various characteristics and appearances in relation to objects.
What is the formation aggregate? It refers to all remaining mental factors and conditioned phenomena not associated with the mind, aside from feeling and perception.
What are the other mental factors? These are the phenomena that arise together with the mind. And what are they? They are: contact, attention, feeling, perception, intention; desire, conviction, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom; faith, a sense of shame, a sense of respect, non-greed (the root of goodness), non-anger (the root of goodness), non-ignorance (the root of goodness), diligence, calmness, conscientiousness, equanimity, non-harmfulness. And then there are the unwholesome factors: greed, anger, pride, ignorance, wrong views, doubt; anger, resentment, deceit, spite, jealousy, miserliness, fraud, flattery, arrogance, harmfulness, lack of shame, lack of respect. Also: drowsiness, restlessness, lack of faith, laziness, carelessness, forgetfulness, distractibility, lack of clear comprehension; regret, sleepiness, directed thought, evaluation.
As for these mental factors: five are universal, five are specific, eleven are wholesome, six are afflictions, the remaining are secondary afflictions, and four are indeterminate.
What is contact? It is the nature of discrimination arising from the coming together of the three factors (sense organ, sense object, and consciousness).
What is intention (manasikāra)? It is the quality that awakens and activates the mind.
What is volition? It is that which impels the mind toward what is beneficial or harmful, or toward what is neither. Its nature is the activity of the mind's intention.
What is desire? It is the nature of longing for pleasant things.
What is resolute understanding? It is the nature of being certain about a settled matter, accepting it as one has clearly comprehended it.
What is mindfulness? It is the quality of repeatedly keeping the mind from forgetting, clearly remembering, and being aware of a familiar object.
What is samadhi? It is the ability to focus the mind steadily on a single object of observation, without distraction.
What is wisdom? It is the ability to discern and investigate phenomena—whether they are in accord with truth, contrary to truth, or neither.
What is faith? It is to be truly aligned with and have confidence in the law of cause and effect, the truths, and the Three Jewels. Faith has the nature of purifying the mind.
What is a sense of shame? It is the nature of being embarrassed and ashamed of one's wrongdoings, motivated by respect for oneself and respect for the Dharma.
What is a sense of shame? It is the quality of being modest and feeling embarrassed about wrongdoing, taking the world's standards as the ultimate reference.
What is non-attachment? It is the antidote to craving and greed. Its nature is to bring about deep disenchantment and a sense of weariness toward [worldly objects], resulting in the absence of clinging.
What is non-anger? It is the antidote to anger, with loving-kindness as its essential nature.
What is non-delusion? It is the antidote to delusion, characterized by acting in accordance with reality.
What is diligence? It means overcoming laziness and being resolute and courageous in pursuing wholesome qualities.
What is Serenity? It is the remedy for mental sluggishness, characterized by a state of physical and mental ease and capability.
What is diligence? It is the remedy against negligence. This means being free from greed and other afflictions, and being energetically engaged in what is wholesome. By relying on this, one abandons unwholesome states and cultivates the virtuous qualities that counteract them.