Upayasutta
Involvement
Consciousness stands dependent on the other four aggregates, and this attachment is what fuels the cycle of rebirth.
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Bījasutta
Seeds of Plants
Consciousness is like a seed that is planted in the soil of the other four aggregates and watered with craving.
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Udānasutta
An Inspired Saying
The Buddha utters an enigmatic saying that non-identification leads to cutting off the fetters. A mendicant asks how to achieve this.
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Upādānaparipavattasutta
Rounds of the Grasping Aggregates
The Buddha did not claim to be awakened until he had fully understood each of the five aggregates in the light of each of the four noble truths. This discourse includes definitions of each of the aggregates.
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Sattaṭṭhānasutta
Seven Cases
To be fully accomplished, a mendicant should investigate the five aggregates in light of the four noble truths, as well as their gratification, drawback, and escape. In addition, they should investigate the elements, sense fields, and dependent origination.
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Sammāsambuddhasutta
The Fully Awakened Buddha
The Buddha declares that a mendicant is freed by wisdom by non-attachment to the aggregates, in just the same way as he himself. He then explains that the difference between himself and another awakened mendicant is simply that he was the first to discover the path and teach it to others.
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Anattalakkhaṇasutta
The Characteristic of Not-Self
In the Deer Park at Varanasi the Buddha teaches the famous second discourse, on not-self with regard to the aggregates, to the group of five monks. At the conclusion, they become perfected ones.
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Mahālisutta
With Mahāli
Mahāli the Licchavi reports to the Buddha that the rival teacher Pūraṇa Kassapa asserts that there is no reason for beings to be either defiled or pure. The Buddha denies this, and goes on to explain how it happens.
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Ādittasutta
Burning
The five aggregates are burning.
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Niruttipathasutta
The Scope of Definition
All philosophers must accept that the five aggregates are described in language that refers to either the past, future, or present.
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Upādiyamānasutta
When You Grasp
A mendicant comes to the Buddha to ask for instructions before going on retreat. The Buddha teaches them that in clinging to the aggregates one is bound by Māra.
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Maññamānasutta
Conceiving
In conceiving regarding the aggregates one is bound by Māra.
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Abhinandamānasutta
When You Take Pleasure
In seeking enjoyment in the aggregates one is bound by Māra.
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Aniccasutta
Impermanence
One should let go of desire for what is impermanent, namely the five aggregates.
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Dukkhasutta
Suffering
One should let go of desire for what is suffering, namely the five aggregates.
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Anattasutta
Not-Self
One should let go of desire for what is not-self, namely the five aggregates.
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Anattaniyasutta
Not Belonging to Self
One should let go of desire for what does not belong to self, namely the five aggregates.
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Rajanīyasaṇṭhitasutta
Definitely Arousing
One should let go of desire for what appears tantalizing, namely the five aggregates.
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Rādhasutta
With Rādha
Venerable Rādha asks the Buddha how to see so as to let go of conceit. The Buddha tells him to contemplate the aggregates in terms of not-self.
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Surādhasutta
With Surādha
Venerable Surādha asks the Buddha how to see so as to let go of conceit and be freed. The Buddha tells him to contemplate the aggregates in terms of not-self.
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Assādasutta
Gratification
Only a noble disciple truly understand the five aggregates’ gratification, drawback, and escape.
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Samudayasutta
Origin
Only a noble disciple truly understand the five aggregates’ origin, ending, gratification, drawback, and escape.
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Dutiyasamudayasutta
Origin (2nd)
Only a noble disciple truly understand the five aggregates’ origin, ending, gratification, drawback, and escape.
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Arahantasutta
The Perfected Ones
One who is freed after truly understanding the aggregates is a perfected one. They are the best of beings, even up to the pinnacle of existence. A set of verses extols the perfected ones.
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Dutiyaarahantasutta
The Perfected Ones (2nd)
One who is freed after truly understanding the aggregates is a perfected one. They are the best of beings, even up to the pinnacle of existence.
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Sīhasutta
The Lion
When a lion emerges from its lair and roars, animals are terrified. Similarly, when the Buddha teaches of the impermanence of the aggregates, even the gods are filled with fear. This is illustrated with a set of verses.
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Khajjanīyasutta
Bitable
One of the most extensive discourses in this collection begins with the Buddha saying that when anyone recollects a past life, all they are recollecting is the five aggregates. He then gives a distinctive set of definitions of the aggregates in terms of their functions, and discusses them from various aspects.
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Piṇḍolyasutta
Beggars
While staying at Kapilavatthu the Buddha dismissed the the Sangha for misbehaving. Later he decided to support them for the sake of the young mendicants. He reminds them that their livelihood is considered a lowly one, and that one should let go of bad thoughts and wrong views, and see the aggregates as impermanent.
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Pālileyyasutta
At Pārileyyaka
Leaving behind the quarreling monks at Kosambi, the Buddha went to stay in the empty forest at Pārileyyaka. Ānanda brings some mendicants to receive a teaching, and one of them wonders how to see so as to end defilements in this very life. The Buddha teaches the 37 practices that lead to awakening, and then goes on to show that various ways of regarding the aggregates are conditioned phenomena.
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Puṇṇamasutta
A Full Moon Night
On a sabbath day with the Sangha at Sāvatthi, the Buddha answers a series of ten questions on the aggregates.
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Ānandasutta
With Ānanda
Ānanda praises Venerable Puṇṇa Mantāniputta, and says that it was when hearing his teaching on the aggregates that he understood the Dhamma.
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Tissasutta
With Tissa
Venerable Tissa, the Blessed One’s paternal cousin, tells the monks that he is dissatisfied as a monk. When the Buddha hears of this, he calls Tissa to him, and questions him on the aggregates. As Tissa showed his understanding of each question, the Buddha praised him, lifting his spirits.
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Yamakasutta
With Yamaka
Venerable Yamaka had the wrong view that one whose defilements have ended is annihilated at death. The monks ask Sāriputta to help, and he asks Yamaka whether a realized one in this very life may be identified as one of the aggregates, or apart from them. Convinced, Yamaka lets go of his view and sees the Dhamma.
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Anurādhasutta
With Anurādha
Venerable Anurādha is questioned by a number of ascetics, and ends up by saying that a realized one is described in terms other than “still existing after death” and so on. The wanderers say he’s a fool, so he checks with the Buddha, who says that a realized one is not even apprehended in this life, so how can he be described after death?
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Vakkalisutta
With Vakkali
Venerable Vakkali is ill, and asks the Buddha to visit him. The Buddha does so, but says there is no point in seeing his physical body, as one who sees the Dhamma sees him. Later, Vakkali is taken to the Black Rock on Isigili, where he declares that he has no attachment to the aggregates, and takes his own life. The Buddha says that he had attained final extinguishment.
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Assajisutta
With Assaji
Venerable Assaji is ill, and asks the Buddha to visit him. The Buddha does so, and learns that Assaji has difficulty maintaining his meditation. The Buddha encourages him to contemplate the impermanence of the aggregates.
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Khemakasutta
With Khemaka
Venerable Khemaka is ill, and some senior mendicants ask Dāsaka to convey their concern to him. There follows a series of exchanges mediated by Dāsaka until eventually Khemaka, despite his illness, goes to see the other mendicants himself. The seniors are asking to determine Khemaka’s understanding of the Dhamma, and he says that although he has let go of the five lower fetters, he still has a residual attachment to the five aggregates.
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Channasutta
With Channa
Hearing that the Buddha, while on his deathbed, had announced a special punishment for him, Venerable Channa asks for teachings from the mendicants. Unsatisfied, he seeks out Ānanda, who teaches him the address to Kaccāyana (SN 12.15).
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Rāhulasutta
Rāhula
Rāhula asks how to contemplate to let go of conceit. The Buddha urges him to see the aggregates as not-self.
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Dutiyarāhulasutta
Rāhula (2nd)
Rāhula asks how to contemplate to let go of conceit and be free. The Buddha urges him to see the aggregates as not-self.
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Nadīsutta
A River
If you grasp at the aggregates as a self, you will meet with calamity, like a man swept down by a mountain river, grasping at grass or rushes.
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Pupphasutta
Flowers
The Buddha doesn’t dispute with the world; the world disputes with him. He has understood the five aggregates and explains them. Like a lotus, he was born in the swamp, but rises above it.
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Pheṇapiṇḍūpamasutta
A Lump of Foam
The Buddha gives a series of similes for the aggregates: physical form is like foam, feeling is like a bubble, perception is like a mirage, choices are like a coreless tree, and consciousness is like an illusion.
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Gomayapiṇḍasutta
A Lump of Cow Dung
Nothing in the aggregates has even the tiniest bit of stability or permanence. In a past life, the Buddha was a great king with vast properties, but all those conditions have passed away.
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Nakhasikhāsutta
A Fingernail
A mendicant asks whether anything in the aggregates has even the tiniest bit of stability or permanence. The Buddha answers using the simile of a little dirt under his fingernail.
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Suddhikasutta
Plain Version
A mendicant asks whether anything in the aggregates has even the tiniest bit of stability or permanence.
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Gaddulabaddhasutta
A Leash
Transmigration has no knowable beginning; even the oceans, mountains, and this great earth will perish. But like a dog on a leash running around a post, beings remain attached to the aggregates.
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Dutiyagaddulabaddhasutta
A Leash (2nd)
A dog leashed to a post will always remain close to that post. In the same way, beings remain close to aggregates in this endless cycle of transmigration. The Buddha refers to a well-known painting called “Conduct”, and says the mind is even more diverse than that; and indeed, the animal realm is the most diverse of them all, and it is produced by the mind.
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Vāsijaṭasutta
The Adze
Contemplating the aggregates leads to liberation, but this may not be immediately apparent. The Buddha illustrates this with similes of a chook sitting on eggs, the wearing away of an axe handle, and the rotting of a ship’s rigging.
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Aniccasaññāsutta
The Perception of Impermanence
The perception of impermanence eliminates lust, ignorance, and conceit. Illustrated with a long series of similes.