Unit Three
The Group of Feeling (vedanā-khandha)
S.XXXVI, 1
There are three kinds of Feeling: pleasant, unpleasant, and neither pleasant nor unpleasant (indifferent).
The Group of Perception (saññā-khandha)
S. XXII, 56
What, now, is Perception? There are six classes of perception: perception of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, bodily impressions, and of mental objects.
The Group of Mental Formations (saṅkhāra-khandha)
What, now, are Mental Formations? There are six classes of volitions (cetanā):will directed to forms (rūpa-cetanaa), to sounds, odors, tastes, bodily impressions, and to mental objects.
The ‘group of Mental Formations' (saṅkhāra-khandha) is a collective term for numerous functions or aspects of mental activity which, in addition to feeling and perception, are present in a single moment of consciousness. In the Abhidhamma, fifty Mental Formations are distinguished, seven of which are constant factors of mind. The number and composition of the rest varies according to the character of the respective class of consciousness (see Table in B. Dict). In the Discourse on Right Understanding (M.9) three main representatives of the Group of Mental Formations are mentioned: volition (cetanā), sense impression(phassa), and attention (manasikāra). Of these again, it is volition which, being a principal ‘formative' factor, is particularly characteristic of the Group of Formations, and therefore serves to exemplify it in the passage given above.
For other applications of the term saṅkhāra see B. Dict.
The Group of Consciousness (viññāṇa-khandha)
S. XXII. 56
What, now, is consciousness? There are six classes of consciousness:consciousness of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, bodily impressions, and of mental objects (lit.: eye-conscious-ness, ear-consciousness, etc.).
Dependent Origination of Consciousness
M. 28
Now, though one's eye be intact, yet if the external forms do not fall within the field of vision, and no corresponding conjunction (of eye and forms) takes place, in that case there occurs no formation of the corresponding aspect of consciousness. Or, though one's eye be intact, and the external forms fall within the field of vision, yet if no corresponding conjunction takes place; in that case also there occurs no formation of the corresponding aspect of consciousness. If, however, one's eye is intact, and the external forms fall within the field of vision, and the corresponding conjunction takes place, in that case there arises the corresponding aspect of consciousness.
M. 38
Hence I say: the arising of consciousness is dependent upon conditions; and without these conditions, no consciousness arises. And upon whatsoever conditions the arising of consciousness is dependent, after these it is called.
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the eye and forms, is called ‘eye-consciousness' (cakkhu-viññāṇa).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the ear and sounds, is called ‘ear-consciousness' (sota-viññāṇa).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the olfactory organ and odors, is called ‘nose-consciousness' (ghāna-viññāṇa).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the tongue and taste, is called‘tongue-consciousness' (jivhā-viññāṇa).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the body and bodily contacts, is called ‘body-consciousness' (kāya-viññāṇa).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the mind and mind objects, is called ‘mind-consciousness' (mano-viññāṇa).
M. 28
Whatsoever there is of ‘corporeality' (rūpa) on that occasion, this belongs to the Group of Corporeality. Whatsoever there is of ‘feeling' (vedanā), this belongs to the Group of Feeling. Whatsoever there is of ‘perception' (saññā), this belongs to the Group of Perception. Whatsoever there are of ‘mental formations' (saṅkhāra), these belong to the Group of Mental Formations. Whatsoever there is of consciousness (viññāṇa), this belongs to the Group of Consciousness.
Dependency of Consciousness on the Four Other Khandhas
S. XXII. 53
And it is impossible that any one can explain the passing out of one existence, and the entering into a new existence, or the growth, increase and development of consciousness, independently of corporeality, feeling, perception, and mental formations.
The Three Characteristics of Existence (ti-lakkhaṇa)
A. III. 134
All formations are ‘transient' (anicca); all formations are ‘subject to suffering' (dukkha); all things are ‘without a self' (anattā).
S. XXII, 59
Corporeality is transient, feeling is transient, perception is transient, mental formations are transient, consciousness is transient.
And that which is transient, is subject to suffering; and of that which is transient and subject to suffering and change, one cannot rightly say: ‘This belongs to me; this am I; this is my Self'.
Therefore, whatever there be of corporeality, of feeling, perception, mental formations, or consciousness, whether past, present or future, one's own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, one should understand according to reality and true wisdom: ‘This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Self'.
The Anatta Doctrine
Individual existence, as well as the whole world, is in reality nothing but a process of ever-changing phenomena which are all comprised in the five Groups of Existence. This process has gone on from time immemorial, before one's birth, and also after one's death it will continue for endless periods of time, as long, and as far, as there are conditions for it. As stated in the preceding texts, the five Groups of Existence—either taken separately or combined—in no way constitute a real Ego-entity or subsisting personality, and equally no self, soul or substance can be found outside of these Groups as their ‘owner'. In other words, the five Groups of Existence are ‘not-self' (anattā), nor do they belong to a Self (anattaniya). In view of the impermanence and conditionality of all existence, the belief in any form of Self must be regarded as an illusion.
Just as what we designate by the name of ‘chariot' has no existence apart from axle, wheels, shaft, body and so forth: or as the word ‘house' is merely a convenient designation for various materials put together after a certain fashion so as to enclose a portion of space, and there is no separate house-entity in existence:in exactly the same way, that which we call a ‘being' or an ‘individual' or a‘person', or by the name ‘I', is nothing but a changing combination of physical and psychical phenomena, and has no real existence in itself.
This is, in brief, the Anattā Doctrine of the Buddha, the teaching that all existence is void (suñña) of a permanent self or substance. It is the fundamental Buddhist doctrine not found in any other religious teaching or philosophical system. To grasp it fully, not only in an abstract and intellectual way, but by constant reference to actual experience, is an indispensable condition for the true understanding of the Buddha-Dhamma and for the realization of its goal. The Anattā-Doctrine is the necessary outcome of the thorough analysis of actuality, undertaken, e.g. in the Khandha Doctrine of which only a bare indication can be given by means of the texts included here.
For a detailed survey of the Khandhas see B. Dict.
S. XXII. 95
Suppose a man who was not blind beheld the many bubbles on the Ganges as they drove along, and he watched them and carefully examined them; then after he had carefully examined them they would appear to him empty, unreal and unsubstantial. In exactly the same way does the monk behold all the corporeal phenomena, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and states of consciousness—whether they be of the past, or the present, or the future, far or near. And he watches them, and examines them carefully; and, after carefully examining them, they appear to him empty, void and without a Self.
S. XXII. 29
Whoso delights in corporeality, or feeling, or perception, or mental formations, or consciousness, he delights in suffering; and whoso delights in suffering, will not be freed from suffering. Thus I say.
Dhp. 146-48
How can you find delight and mirth
Where there is burning without end?
In deepest darkness you are wrapped!
Why do you not seek for the light?
Look at this puppet here, well rigged,
A heap of many sores, piled up,
Diseased, and full of greediness,
Unstable, and impermanent!
Devoured by old age is this frame,
A prey to sickness, weak and frail;
To pieces breaks this putrid body,
All life must truly end in death.
The Three Warnings
III. 35
Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman, eighty, ninety, or a hundred years old, frail, crooked as a gable-roof, bent down, resting on crutches, with tottering steps, infirm, youth long since fled, with broken teeth, grey and scanty hair or none, wrinkled, with blotched limbs? And did the thought never come to you that you also are subject to decay, that you also cannot escape it?
Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman who, being sick, afflicted, and grievously ill, wallowing in his own filth, was lifted up by some and put to bed by others? And did the thought never come to you that you also are subject to disease, that you also cannot escape it?
Did you never see in the world the corpse of a man, or a woman, one or two or three days after death, swollen up, blue-black in color, and full of corruption? And did the thought never come to you that you also are subject to death, that you also cannot escape it?
Saṃsāra
S. XV. 3
Inconceivable is the beginning of this Saṃsāra; not to be discovered is any first beginning of beings, who obstructed by ignorance, and ensnared by craving,are hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths.
Saṃsāra—the wheel of existence, lit, the ‘Perpetual Wandering'—is the name given in the Pali scriptures to the sea of life ever restlessly heaving up and down, the symbol of this continuous process of ever again and again being born, growing old, suffering, and dying. More precisely put: Saṁsāra is the unbroken sequence of the fivefold Khandha-combinations, which, constantly changing from moment to moment, follow continually one upon the other through inconceivable periods of time. Of this Saṃsāra a single life time constitutes only a tiny fraction. Hence, to be able to comprehend the first Noble Truth, one must let one's gaze rest upon the Saṃsāra, upon this frightful sequence of rebirths, and not merely upon one single life time, which, of course, may sometimes be not very painful.
The term ‘suffering' (dukkha), in the first Noble Truth refers therefore, not merely to painful bodily and mental sensations due to unpleasant impressions, but it comprises in addition everything productive of suffering or liable to it. The Truth of Suffering teaches that, owing to the universal law of impermanence, even high and sublime states of happiness are subject to change and destruction, and that all states of existence are therefore unsatisfactory, without exception carrying in themselves the seeds of suffering.
Which do you think is more: the flood of tears, which weeping and wailing you have shed upon this long way—hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths, united with the undesired, separated from the desired-this, or the waters of the four oceans?
Long have you suffered the death of father and mother, of sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. And whilst you were thus suffering, you have indeed shed more tears upon this long way than there is water in the four oceans.
S. XV. 13
Which do you think is more: the streams of blood that, through your being beheaded, have flowed upon this long way, these, or the waters of the four oceans?
Long have you been caught as robbers, or highway men or adulterers; and,through your being beheaded, verily more blood has flowed upon this long way than there is water in the four oceans.
But how is this possible?
Inconceivable is the beginning of this Saṃsāra; not to be discovered is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance and ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths.
S. XV. 1
And thus have you long undergone suffering, undergone torment, undergone misfortune, and filled the graveyards full; truly, long enough to be dissatisfied with all the forms of existence, long enough to turn away and free yourselves from them all.
New Words and Expressions
all states of existence 一切有；一切存在；一切境有
Anatta Doctrine 无我说
attention / əˈtenʃn / n. 作意；注意力
be ensnared by 为……所缚
behead/biˈhed/vt. 斩首
behold / biˈhəʊld / 注视；看
body-consciousness 身识
Buddha-Dhamma 佛法
conditionality / kəndiʃənˈæliti / n. 缘起；缘；条件
conditions / kənˈdɪʃnz / n. 诸缘
constant factors of mind 遍一切心心所
craving / ˈkreɪvɪŋ / n. 贪
Death / dɛθ / n. 死；死亡
delight(in)/dɪˈlaɪt/vi. 对……很喜欢；喜于……
devour/diˈvauə/vt. 吞噬；毁灭
disease / diˈziːz / n. 病；疾病
distinguish/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/vt. 辨别；区别
ear-consciousness 耳识
Ego-entity 实我；我
empty,void/adj. 空的
ensnare/ɪnˈsneə(r)/vt. 进入；落网
examine/ɪɡˈzæmɪn/vt. 审视；检查
eye-consciousness 眼识
Fivefold Khandha-combinations 五蕴和合
from time immemorial 从无始时来
greediness / griːdinis / n. 贪欲
ignorance / ˈɪɡnərəns / n. 无明；痴；愚痴
illusion / ɪˈluːʒn / n. 虚妄；幻觉；错觉
impermanence / imˈpəːmənəns / n. 无常；暂时性
inconceivable/ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl/adj. 不可思议的；不能想象的
intellectual/intiˈlektʃuəl/adj. 智慧的；理性的；知识的
mental activity 心理活动
mental formations 心行
mental objects 心法
mind-consciousness 意识
mirth / mɜːθ / n. 欢笑；欢乐；高兴
misfortune / misˈfɔːtʃən / n. 不幸；灾祸
neither pleasant nor unpleasant 非苦非乐
nose-consciousness 鼻识
not-self 无我；无我的
obstruct/əbˈstrʌkt/vt. 阻碍；障碍
perpetual wandering 轮回
personality, self, soul or substance / n. 个体，自我，灵魂或实质
puppet / ˈpʌpit / n. 傀儡；木偶；被操纵的人
putrid/ˈpjuːtrid/adj. 腐烂的；令人厌恶的
reality / rɪˈælɪtɪ / n. 事实；现实；实际
rebirth / riːˈbɜːθ / n. 再生
restlessly/ˈrestləsli/adv. 不安地
rigged/rigd/pp. 被操纵的；被控制的
round of rebirths 轮回
Samsara / səmˈsɑːrə / 轮回
scripture / ˈskriptʃə / n. 经；经文；经典
Self / self / n. 我
sensation / senˈseɪʃən / n. 感受；感觉
sense impression 触；
separated from the desired 爱别离
subject to suffering 苦的；受制于苦
subsisting/səbˈsɪstɪŋ/pr./p. 存在的；实在的
the First Noble Truth 第一圣谛
the Ganges / n. 恒河
the Three Characteristics Of Existence 三法印
the Three Warnings 三示戒
the Truth of Suffering 苦谛
the wheel of existence 轮回
tongue-consciousness 舌识
torment / ˈtɔːment / n. 折磨
transient/ˈtrænzɪənt/adj. 无常；短暂的
united with the undesired 怨憎会
unpleasant impressions 非乐触
unreal/ʌnˈrɪəl/adj. 非真；假的
unstable/ʌnˈsteɪb(ə)l/adj. 不稳定的；易变的
unsubstantial/ʌnsəbˈstænʃ(ə)l/adj. 非实；无实质的；不坚固的
volition / vəˈlɪʃ(ə)n / n. 思；意
watch/wɒtʃ/vt. 观察；注视
weak/wiːk/adj. 虚弱的
will / wɪl / n. 意；意志；意图
will directed to forms 色思
without a Self 无我
Grammar
话语标志（Discourse Marker）并不是传统语法的词类，而是包括了具有相似的语法功能的几类词或短语。它们在文章中的作用，通俗地讲，就是提示文章思路的“起承转合”。
《佛言》中最具标志性的Discourse Marker就是“now”。例如：
What, now, is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
这里的“now”，只是表示“下面，要开始讲一个新观点”，或者，“下面讲的东西很重要”，提醒听众（读者）注意：（= I want to call your attention now）。
类似的“话语标志”还有：
thus, truly, verily, or, therefore, but, indeed, hence, yet, in brief, I tell you, and further…
Discourse Marker 的大量使用是佛祖（经）语言特点之一。有时，在一个短短的句子中，会出现几个Discourse Marker：
Now, Right Speech, I tell you, is of two kinds.
短短的一句话，竟被Discourse Marker分成了4个部分，中间要停顿3次。此处的话语标志使节奏放慢，目的是强调，加强读者的印象。试想，如果不用“话语标志”，句子就会变得非常平直：
Right Speech is of two kinds.
类似的例子在《佛言》中比比皆是。在这些句子中，我们可以听到一种“教戒”的语气和“不容置疑”的威严气势。
Exercises
l. What are the three characteristics of existence?
2. Elaborate on the “Anatta” doctrine. Give examples of bodily and mentale suffering.
3. What do you think are the “high and sublime states of happiness”? (Can you give examples? )
Will they last forever?
4. What is Samsara? How is it related to the First Noble Truth?
5. All formations are ‘transient' (anicca); all formations are ‘subject to suffering' (dukkha); all things are ‘without a self' (anatta).
Can we say “all formations are ‘suffering' ” ? Why?