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Vibhaṅga: Analysing the Five Aggregates Three Ways
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Vibhaṅga: Analysing the Five Aggregates Three Ways

Khandhavibhaṅgo

The Vibhaṅga, the second book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, often analyses a single topic three times: by the Suttanta method, the Abhidhamma method, and a question method based on the matrix. Its first chapter, the Analysis of the Aggregates, shows this clearly.

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In the Analysis of the Aggregates, the first chapter of the Vibhaṅga, the second book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, the topic is the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness. The chapter has three parts: the Suttanta analysis (following the style of the discourses), the Abhidhamma analysis (following the style of the Abhidhamma), and the question section (asking questions based on the matrix).

The Vibhaṅga has eighteen chapters, such as those on the aggregates, bases, elements, truths, faculties, dependent origination, establishments of mindfulness, absorptions, knowledge, minor matters and the heart of the Dhamma. Many use this three-part structure, but not all; the Analysis of the Training Rules, for example, has no Suttanta analysis.

The Abhidhamma Piṭaka has seven books: Dhammasaṅgaṇī, Vibhaṅga, Dhātukathā, Puggalapaññatti, Kathāvatthu, Yamaka and Paṭṭhāna. Theravāda tradition holds them to be the Buddha's teaching, while many scholars consider them compiled later than the Suttas and the Vinaya. This page focuses on method for overall understanding; contemplation of the aggregates in practice is found in discourses such as the Mahāpuṇṇama Sutta.

  1. 1

    One aggregate gathers eleven aspects Yaṅkiñci rūpaṃ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṃ

    The Suttanta analysis explains that the form aggregate is whatever form there is — past, future or present, internal or external, coarse or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near — gathered together into one mass. The other aggregates are explained with the same formula, which is also found in the discourses.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you take your present body or feeling to be yourself, reflect that it is just one part of a great mass that includes past and future.

  2. 2

    Defining word by word Suttantabhājanīyaṃ

    Each word in the formula is then defined. Past form is form that has passed, ceased and changed. Internal form belongs to that being itself; external form belongs to other beings. Coarse form is the ten bases from the eye base to the touch base; subtle form includes the femininity faculty, masculinity faculty and life faculty.

    Applying it in daily life

    When learning Dhamma terms, don't stop at the name. Ask what the word refers to in your actual experience.

  3. 3

    Coarse and subtle are relative Taṃ taṃ vā pana vedanaṃ upādāya upādāya

    Coarse and subtle feeling are divided at several levels: unwholesome feeling is coarse, wholesome and indeterminate feeling subtle; painful feeling is coarse, pleasant and neutral feeling subtle; the feeling of one not in an attainment is coarse, of one in an attainment subtle. The text concludes that coarse and subtle feeling should also be understood by comparing each feeling with another, level by level.

    Applying it in daily life

    A feeling that seems refined today may still be coarse compared with another level. Use this to keep yourself from being satisfied too soon.

  4. 4

    The Abhidhamma method: classifying with the matrix Ekavidhena rūpakkhandho

    The Abhidhamma analysis classifies each aggregate in ones, in twos, and on to many ways, using terms from the matrix. The form aggregate in one way, for example, is: all form is not a root, is conditioned, is compounded, is mundane, is indeterminate, is impermanent, and is overcome by ageing. The material is arranged in series: the dyad-based, triad-based, both-ways-expanding and manifold series. This point is for overall understanding.

    Applying it in daily life

    Viewing one thing through several categories keeps you from getting stuck on one name. The body is at once conditioned, impermanent and overcome by ageing.

  5. 5

    The question method: which aggregate is wholesome? Pañhāpucchakaṃ

    The question section takes the matrix item by item: of the five aggregates, which are wholesome, which unwholesome, which indeterminate? The answer is that the form aggregate is indeterminate, while the other four may be wholesome, unwholesome or indeterminate — and so on through all the triads and dyads.

    Applying it in daily life

    After learning something, test yourself with questions from several angles. Answers that need to distinguish cases often show your understanding has deepened.

  6. 6

    Some things cannot be said Dve khandhā na vattabbā

    Many answers say "cannot be said". For example, the first two aggregates — form and feeling — cannot be said to be associated with pleasant, painful or neutral feeling, while the remaining three may be any of the three. This agrees with the Summary Section of the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, which defines states associated with pleasant feeling excluding that feeling itself.

    Applying it in daily life

    Not every question can be answered yes or no. Admitting that a question doesn't fit what it asks about is a form of intellectual honesty.

Try it in daily life

The three methods are like learning the same subject three ways. The Suttanta method gives a framework you can contemplate right away; the Abhidhamma method classifies in detail for precision; the question method tests whether you really understand.

When learning something difficult, try the same structure: explain it simply first, break it down in detail afterwards, then set yourself test questions.

The lesson that coarse and subtle are relative helps us avoid labelling feelings as fixed goods or evils too quickly.

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