Buddha's Five Aggregates

During the time of the Buddha, many spiritualists agreed that happiness couldn’t be found by materialistic or fleeting pleasures. However, many of those same teachers believed that true happiness could be found within ones’ self. This was known as (Atman) or the divine reality of ones’ “self.” Buddha retorted this notion stating that there is so such thing as a permanent “Self.” In saying this, he implied that all phenomena are lacking permanence and are in turn perpetually changing. The first of the Five Aggregates is “rupa,” or the form of the body. It’s stated that this “form” is made up of entirely impermanent material elements, which are produced by impermanent atoms. The rest of the aggregates make up the quintessential parts of our mental function. The second aggregate is “sensation” (vedana), which constitutes all feelings associated with existing. The third is “perception” (sanna), which includes how we perceive and distinguish objects, both mental and physical. The fourth is “mental formations” (samkhara), which includes the multitudes of mental states that determine a person’s character. Lastly, the fifth is “consciousness” (vinnana), which encompasses mental awareness. Many people regarded the fifth consciousness as the most viable argument for a permanent “self.” However, the Buddha broke down the aggregate in such a way that it’s clear to see it’s

The Buddha taught that there are six different sense properties which most would agree on, including, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and the mind (the mind pertaining to mental