The five skandhas / khandhas of Buddhism
(five sense organs & mind)
(mind, the locus of thought, is a sense organ in Buddhist
understanding, sensing world of ideas, thoughts, mental objects. Mind can
be brought under control just like the other senses)
The six senses, encountering their objects, give rise
to:
-
vedana feeling [sensation]
sensation (of these six kinds), gives rise to:
-
samjna perception [recognition]
perception of these six categories of objects leads to volition:
the perceiver wants, desires, in other words:
-
samskara [mental] fabrications
mental fabrications include volitional activity like wish,
desire, will, or any other volitional attitude arising out of perceptions
of both body and mind. It is these fabrications that flow into the consciousness
of a person:
According to Buddhism, there is no constant reality behind
the self; rather, the self is made up of the outcome of mental fabrications,
or formations; these are dependent on the other skandhas and themselves
in constant flux.
self thus does not exist as an independent reality; rather
no-self
(anatta / anatman)
is true.