| | [quote=Nick W (aka Bagpuss)]Does anyone have any advice on how to go about investigating the five aggregates? More specifically, are there any systematic techniques that can help develop this skill? For example, should one focus on one aggregate at a time until it becomes more easily discernible in terms of the 3C's? Been reading the Vimuttimagga lately. I find this interesting. There are two kinds of planes: plane of seeing and plane of volition. Here, the Path of Stream-entrance is the plane of seeing. The other three Paths and the four Fruits of the recluse are the plane of volition. Not having seen before, one sees now. This is the plane of seeing. One sees thus and attends to it. This is called the plane of volition. See what? And once seen, attend to what and how? "A virtuous monk, Kotthita my friend, should attend in an appropriate way to the five clinging-aggregates as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a dissolution, an emptiness, not-self. Which five? The form clinging-aggregate, the feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness clinging-aggregate. A virtuous monk should attend in an appropriate way to these five clinging-aggregates as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a dissolution, an emptiness, not-self. For it is possible that a virtuous monk, attending in an appropriate way to these five clinging-aggregates as inconstant... not-self, would realize the fruit of stream-entry."
— SN 22.122 Knowing what to see is helpful as well. Here is the Vimuttimagga explanation. I would learn to discern each aggregate first and in the way Sariputta explains above. Then when you know what to see and how to see it, then it's the aggregates bumping off of each other left right and centre. THE AGGREGATE OF FORM Q. What is the aggregate-method? A. The five aggregates are, the aggregate of form,? the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of formation, and the aggregate of consciousness. Q. What is the aggregate of form? A.The four primaries and the material qualities derived from the primaries.
FOUR PRIMARIES DEFINED Q. What are the four primaries? Earth-element, water-element,a fire-element,n air-element.18 What is the earth-element? That which has the nature of hardness and the nature of solidity. This is called the earth- element. What is the water-element? That which has the nature of flowing and the nature of cohesiveness. This is called the water-element. What is the firecelement? That which has the nature of heating and the nature of maturing matter. This is called the fire-element. What is the air-element? That which has the nature of moving and the nature of supporting. This is called the air-element.
The new yogin overcomes difficulties in two ways, namely, through viewing these briefly and through viewing these at length. This should be understood as was fully taught in the determining of the four elements.
DERIVED MATERIAL QUALITIES What are the derived material qualities? The sense-organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, matter as sense-object, sound as sense-object, odour as sense-object, taste as sense-object, femininity, masculinity, life-principle, body-intimation, speech-intimation, element of space, buoyancy of matter, impressibility of matter, adaptibility of matter, integration of matter, continuity of matter, decay of matter, impermanency of matter, solid food, the basis of the material element and the material quality of torpor.
AGGREGATE OF FEELING Q. What is the aggregate of feeling? A. From the point of charac- teristic, feeling is of one kind, as being experienced by the mind only. From the point of sense-organ, it is of two kinds thus: bodily and mental. From the point of intrinsic nature, it is of three kinds: blissful feeling, painful feeling, feeling that is neither blissful nor painful. From the point of the Law, it is of four kinds: meritorious, demeritorious, retributive and objective. From the point of faculties, there are five kinds, namely, pleasure-faculty, pain- faculty, joy-faculty, grief-faculty, indifference-faculty? From the point of black and white, it is of six kinds, namely, cankerous feeling of pleasure, non-cankerous feeling of pleasure, cankerous feeling of pain, non-cankerous feeling of pain, cankerous feeling of neither pain nor pleasure, non-cankerous feeling of neither pain nor pleasure. From the point of method, it is of seven kinds thus: feeling born of eye-contact, of ear-contact, of nose-contact, of tongue-contact, of body-contact, contact of mind-element, contact of mind-consciousness. Fully one hundred and eight kinds of feeling are fulfilled. Six states of feeling are aroused from craving; six from renunciation; six from grief-craving; six from grief-renunciation; six from equanimity-craving; six from equanimity-renunciation. Six times six are thirty-six, and in the three divisions of time, these thirty-six are increased three times.This is called the aggregate of feeling.
AGGREGATE OF PERCEPTION Q. What is the aggregate of perception? A. From the point of character- istic, perception is single, because only the mind apprehends objects. From the point of black and white, it is of two kinds, namely, perception-reversal and perception-non_reversal, From the point of demerit, it is of three kinds, namely, lustful-perception, hating-perception and harming-perception. From the point of merit, it is of three kinds, namely, renunciation-perception, non- hating-perception and non-harming-perception. From the point of not knowing the significant nature of sense-organ, it is of four kinds, namely, the perception of the ugly as beautiful, of ill as well, of impermanence as non-impermanence, of not-self as self. From the point of knowing the significant nature of sense-organ, it is of four kinds, namely, perception of the ugly, perception of ill, perception of impermanence and perception of not-self.l According to the Vinaya, it is of five kinds, thus: the perception of the.ugly as beautiful, of the ugly. as ugly, of the beautiful as beautiful and the perception of uncertainty. From the point of object, there are six kinds thus: form- perception, sound-perception, perception of odour, perception of taste, per- ception of contact, perception of ideas. By way of door, there are seven kinds thus: perception that is born of eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind-element-contact, consciousness-element- contact. Thus should the several kinds of perception be known. This is called the aggregate of perception.
AGGREGATE OF FORMATIONS
Q. What is the aggregate of formations? A. Contact, volition, initial application of thought, sustained application of thought, joy, confidence, energy, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom, life-principle, (removal of) hindrance, non-greed, non-hate, modesty, decorum, repose, wish to do, resolve, equanimity, attention, greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, views, agitation and anxiety, uncertainty, indolence, immodesty, indecorum4 and all other mental properties, eJi;cept feeling and perception, belong to the aggregate of formations.
AGGREGATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Q. What is the aggregate of consciousness? A. It is eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-conscious- ness, mind-element and mind-consciousness-element. Here, eye-consciousness is the cognizing offorms dependent on the eye. This is called eye-consciousness. Ear-consciousness is the cognizing of sounds dependent on the ear. This is called ear-consciousness. Nose-consciousness is the cognizing o f odors dependent on the nose. This is nose-consciousness. Tongue-consciousness is the cognizing of flavours dependent on the tongue. This is called tongue-consciousness. Body-consciousness is the cognizing of tangibles dependent on the body. This is called body-consciousness. Mind-element depends on the five-door-adverting and the receiving of the desirable and the non-desirable. The cognizing (of form etc.) immediately after the five kinds of consciousness.is called mind-element. Mind-consciousness-element: The mind, excepting these six kinds of consciousness, is called mind-conscious- ness-element. These seven kinds of consciousness should be known through these three ways: through organ-object, through object, through states.
"The well-instructed noble disciple... discerns what ideas are fit for attention, and what ideas are unfit for attention. This being so, he does not attend to ideas unfit for attention, and attends to ideas fit for attention... And what are the ideas fit for attention that he attends to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen effluent of sensuality does not arise, and the arisen effluent of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen effluent of becoming... the unarisen effluent of ignorance does not arise, and the arisen effluent of ignorance is abandoned... He attends appropriately, This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress. As he attends appropriately in this way, three fetters are abandoned in him: identity-view, doubt, and grasping at habits & practices. These are called the effluents that are to be abandoned by seeing."
— MN 2 My 2 cents. |