What are the Five Primary Categories of Being ?
I: There is the cluster of clinging to Material Form (Rūpa):
Form or materiality is composed of these 4 Primary Elements:
1: Solidity based microscopically on the force of extension.
2: Fluidity based microscopically on the force of cohesion.
3: Heat based microscopically on the property of vibration.
4: Motion based microscopically on the property of energy.
From these 4 can be derived 24 other formed phenomena...
Whatever there are of formed things, whether past, present
or future, internal or external, fine or gross, high or low,
far or near, all that belongs to this form group. Desire, lust
craving & clinging to that, is the cluster of clinging to form!
II: There is the cluster of clinging to Mental Feeling (Vedanā):
There are these five kinds of Feeling:
1: Bodily pleasurable feeling and 2: Bodily painful feeling.
3: Mental happy feeling and 4: Mental unhappy feeling.
5: Indifferent feeling: Neither painful, pleasurable, sad nor glad.
Which each can be born of eye contact, or ear contact, or nose
contact, or tongue contact, or body contact or mental contact...
Whatever there is of feeling, whether past, present or future,
internal or external, fine or gross, high or low, far or near, all
that belongs to this feeling group. Desire, lust, & craving for and
clinging to these reactions, is the cluster of clinging to feeling!
III: There is the cluster of clinging to Mental Perception (Saññā):
There are these six kinds of Perception:
1: Visual perception of form & color. 2: Auditory perception of sound.
3: Olfactory perception of smell. 4: Gustatory perception of taste.
5: Tactile perception of touch. 6: Mental perception of ideas & states.
Whatever there is of perception, whether past, present or future,
internal or external, fine or gross, high or low, far or near, all
that belongs to this perception group. Desire, lust, craving for and
clinging to these experiences, is the cluster of clinging to perception!
IV: There is the cluster of clinging to Mental Construction (Sankhāra):
There are six kinds of mental construction dealing with visual objects,
or hearable objects, or smellable objects, or tastable objects, touchable
or mental objects. Whatever there is of mental construction, whether past,
present or future, internal or external, fine or gross, high or low, far or
near, all that belongs to this mental construction group. Desire, craving for
and clinging to these objectives, is the cluster of clinging to construction!
V: There is the cluster of clinging to Consciousness (Viññāna):
There are six kinds of consciousness:
1: Visual consciousness of seeing. 2: Auditory consciousness of hearing.
3: Olfactory consciousness of smelling. 4: Gustatory consciousness of tasting.
5: Tactile consciousness of touching. 6: Mental consciousness of thinking.
Whatever there is of consciousness, whether past, present or future, internal
or external, fine or gross, high or low, far or near, all that belongs to this
consciousness group. Desire, lust & craving for and clinging to this awareness,
is the cluster of clinging to consciousness!
The Blessed Buddha said:
Recluses & priests, who knows the causation, the ceasing, and the way leading
to the ceasing of these five clusters of clinging, who are practicing disgust
towards these, for their fading away and dissolution, they are practicing well!
They are later released and well liberated through this very non-clinging...
Those who are well liberated are consummate ones, completed ones...
There is no way of describing such utterly perfected ones...
There is nothing in this Universe apart from these 5 Clusters of Clinging...
Source: The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya XXII (56); [III 59-61]
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507 A Vast Ocean of True Dhamma Teaching!
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/index.html#Khandha On these Clusters!
http://www.budsas.org/ebud/bud-dict/dic_idx.htm See details under: K for Khandha.
