In the course of our lives, many troubles in our hearts always revolve around "I". For the sake of "I", I always feel dissatisfied and uncomfortable. I often yearn and yearn for things outside the body, and from time to time complain, doubt, jealousy, craving, and hatred, all kinds of karma are created. When you have to receive the retribution, you often don’t want to be repaid, just like you owe a debt but fail to pay it back, so you create more karma. This is what Buddhism calls the "five aggregates and suffering."
The so-called "five aggregates": form, feeling, thinking, behavior, and consciousness are the components of our body and mind, that is, the elements that constitute the human body, which can be divided into two parts: spiritual and material. The material part is called "color," which means shape and form, which is the physical phenomenon of the body. The other four are psychological and spiritual phenomena: among them, "feeling" means feeling; "thinking" is the cognition generated after feeling; "action" is how to deal with and react to the rise after cognition is generated decision. These three belong to the psychological level.
And the fifth aggregate is called consciousness. Consciousness is the subject of our life, from birth to death, from this life to life, and is the subject of the entire life process. When the two parts of our body and mind are combined and influenced each other, behaviors and actions will occur. After behaviors occur, a kind of power will be formed, which we call "karma", which is the essence of our consciousness. Behavior includes three aspects: body, language, and psychology, so "knowledge" is caused by the behavior of body, mouth, and mind, and a force left behind. Now that we have created the causes of consciousness, with these consciousnesses, it is possible to receive the retribution in this life, or it is possible to receive the retribution in the next life.
Most people think that "knowledge" is "soul", but "soul" is constant and always the same, while "knowledge" is constantly changing. As long as we continue to create karma, whether it is good karma or bad karma, the composition of consciousness will change accordingly. When we accept the retribution, the composition of consciousness will also be different. Therefore, when you receive the result, you are creating the cause at the same time, and you will receive the result at the same time as you create the cause. In this way, the content of consciousness is constantly changing.
The so-called "I" is actually formed by the combination of the five aggregates of body and mind. This is a combination of causes and conditions, and there is no eternal soul in it. Therefore, what you were yesterday is different from what you were ten years ago. Even an hour ago you are different from what you are now. Not only are the bodies different, but our mental state, behavioral patterns, and content of consciousness are also different at any time. Is changing. Therefore, the self made up of the five aggregates is constantly changing. It is not the real self at all, nor does it have an unchanging self.
The cause of the "Five Aggregates, Exuberance and Suffering" is that we don't understand the subject of our life-Consciousness, which is unconstrained. The "Heart Sutra" says that Guanyin Bodhisattva "sees that the five aggregates are empty," so he can "save all suffering." Ordinary people are miserable because they don't know that "the five aggregates are empty."
If we don't know that "the five aggregates are empty", the five aggregates will become a tool for creating troubles, and they will continue to produce troubles, just like a raging fire, causing us a lot of pain. Able to understand that "the five aggregates are all empty." The five aggregates will no longer create troubles, but will be transformed into tools for the cultivation of blessing and wisdom, helping us to obtain complete liberation.
---Master Sheng Yan
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