Next explores the following topics: the five aggregates, Maxwell Maltz’s inner/outer (self) image, the 12 links of dependent origination, purification of the contaminated aggregates, and their transformation into the five wisdoms. It is grounded in classical Tibetan Buddha Dharma while using modern psychological language where it genuinely clarifies the point.
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1. The Five Aggregates: How They Construct Relative Reality
On the relative level, the five aggregates (skandhas) are the building blocks of the “person” and the “world” we experience. They are not problems in themselves—only contaminated aggregates (those infused with ignorance) bind us to samsara.
The Five Aggregates
- Form (rupa) – body, senses, physical world
- Feeling (vedana) – pleasant, unpleasant, neutral tones
- Perception (samjña) – labeling, recognising, categorising
- Mental formations (samskara) – habits, impulses, emotions, karma
- Consciousness (vijñana) – the six consciousnesses that know objects
Together they create the illusion of a solid “I” moving through a solid “world”.
How they construct reality
- Form provides the raw sensory data
- Feeling colours it with emotional tone
- Perception names and interprets it
- Mental formations react, judge, grasp, reject
- Consciousness ties it all together into a coherent “experience”
This is the construction of samsaric reality: a looping process of interpretation, reaction, and reification.
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2. Maxwell Maltz and the Two Pictures: Dharma Interpretation
Maxwell Maltz said we live with two pictures:
- Outer picture – the world as it appears
- Inner picture – the self‑image that determines behaviour and results
Tibetan Dharma agrees, but goes deeper:
- The outer picture corresponds to Form + Perception
- The inner picture corresponds to Feeling + Mental Formations + Consciousness
The Buddha’s insight: It is the inner picture—constructed by ignorance—that creates karma, suffering, and samsara.
The aggregates are not the problem. The clinging to them as “me” and “mine” is the problem.
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3. How the Aggregates Become Contaminated
The aggregates become “contaminated” when they are:
- appropriated by ignorance
- claimed as self
- used to reinforce ego-identity
- driven by the three mental poisons or *five kleshas/negative emotions: (ignorance/unawareness/ delusion, attachment (desire/craving), anger (aversion/ resentment). The further two are: pride (arrogance) and jealousy (envy).
This contamination begins at the moment of ignorance (avidyā)—the first of the 12 links.
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4. The 12 Links of dependent origination (arising) and the Point Where Awakening Breaks the Chain
The 12 links of dependent origination (arising) describe how the aggregates arise and bind us.
The 12 Links (briefly)
- Ignorance
- Karmic formations
- Consciousness
- Name-and-form (the five aggregates)
- Six sense bases
- Contact
- Feeling
- Craving
- Grasping
- Becoming
- Birth
- Aging and death
Where awakening severs the chain
There are three classical breakpoints, but one is supreme:
1. Ignorance (Link 1)
Seeing emptiness directly cuts the root. This is the Madhyamaka Prasangika view that will be explored further in due course.
2. Feeling → Craving (Links 7 → 8)
Mindful awareness interrupts the automatic leap from sensation to craving.
3. Grasping (Link 9)
Recognising the non‑self nature of thoughts and emotions dissolves grasping.
But the ultimate severing is at Link 1: Ignorance. When ignorance collapses, the entire chain collapses.
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5. How the Contaminated Aggregates Are Purified
Purification happens on two levels:
A. Relative Purification (Ethics, Meditation, Mindfulness)
This includes:
- Ethical conduct (śīla)
- Mindfulness of body, feelings, mind, phenomena
- Lojong mind training
- Bodhicitta
- Vajrasattva purification
- Restraint of harmful impulses
- Cultivating wholesome mental states
These purify the emotional and behavioural distortions in the aggregates.
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B. Ultimate Purification (Wisdom of Emptiness)
This is the direct insight that:
- The aggregates are empty of inherent existence
- They arise dependently
- They are like reflections, dreams, illusions
This insight purifies the aggregates at their root, transforming them into the five wisdoms.
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6. How the Five Aggregates Become the Five Wisdoms
In Vajrayana, each aggregate has a pure nature. When ignorance is removed, each aggregate reveals a wisdom aspect.
1. Form → Mirror‑like Wisdom
When form is seen as empty, the mind reflects reality without distortion.
2. Feeling → Wisdom of Equality
Pleasant, unpleasant, neutral are seen as equal in nature—empty, transient.
3. Perception → Discriminating Wisdom
Clear, precise knowing without grasping or bias.
4. Mental Formations → All‑Accomplishing Wisdom
Activity becomes spontaneous, effortless, compassionate.
5. Consciousness → Dharmadhātu Wisdom
The base awareness that knows emptiness directly.
This is the alchemical transformation of samsaric mind into awakened mind.
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7. The Inner Picture and the Non‑Dual View
Maxwell Maltz said the inner picture determines results. The Buddha said the same, but with a deeper twist:
- The inner picture is constructed
- It is empty
- It is modifiable
- It is not the true nature of mind
When the inner picture dissolves, what remains is:
- non‑dual awareness
- luminosity
- emptiness
- compassion
This is the ultimate purification.
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8. The Whole Path in One Breath
- The five aggregates construct the illusion of self
- Ignorance appropriates them as “me” and “mine”
- This fuels the 12 links and samsara
- Mindfulness purifies the aggregates on the relative level
- Wisdom purifies them on the ultimate level
- The aggregates transform into the five wisdoms
- The inner picture dissolves
- Awareness recognises itself
- Non‑dual reality is revealed
This is the heart of Tibetan Buddha Dharma.
Notes
The five aggregates (skandhas) in Tibetan Buddha Dharma are the constituent, changing factors-form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness- that make up a sentient being’s experience.
Ultimately empty of independent existence and are often mistaken for a permanent “self,” causing attachment and suffering when they inevitably change.
The Five Aggregates (Skandhas)
- Form (Rūpa): This includes the physical body and all material objects surrounding us, such as sense organs (eyes, ears, etc.) and their respective objects.
- Feeling/Sensation (Vedanā): The experience of pleasure, pain, or indifference arising from sensory and mental contacts.
- Perception/Distinguishing (Saṃjñā): The mental process of identifying, recognizing, or labeling objects and experiences.
- Mental Formations/Volitions (Saṃskāra): Mental activities, habits, and impulses, including likes, dislikes, and karmic conditioning, which drive actions.
- Consciousness (Vijñāna): The base awareness of an object, or the act of knowing (e.g., eye consciousness, mental consciousness).
Key Aspects
- Emptiness (Shunyata): In Mahayana philosophy, the aggregates are not a “self” but are empty of inherent, independent existence.
- Impermanence: The aggregates are constantly changing, arising, and passing away, forming the “temporal” nature of our personality.
- Transformation: In higher tantric practice, such as visualizing the Five Dhyani Buddhas, the energies of the five aggregates are purified and transformed into five kinds of wisdom.
- Source of Clinging: Suffering arises when one mistakes these changing processes for a permanent “I” or “mine”. ***
Understanding the aggregates as “not-self” and as interdependent processes is a key aspect of understanding phenomenal reality (relative and ultimate) and engaging in practice to break/ counter-antidote the cycle of attachment.
dharmasnonabiding 