Aggregates

Buddhist doctrine describes one physical and four mental aggregates: ^[1][2]

1. "form" or "matter" (sa., pi. rūpa):
   
   
   
   includes both external and internal matter. Externally, rupa is the physical world. Internally, rupa includes the material body and the physical sense organs.^[3] Alternately, it is described as the tangible manifestation of ignorance, the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."^[4]
2. "sensation" or "feeling" (sa., pi. vedanā):
   
   
   
   sensing pleasant, unpleasant or neutral (neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant).^[5] Generally considered not to include "emotions."^[6]
3. "perception" or "cognition" (sa. samjñā, pi. saññā):
   
   
   
   registers whether sense data is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree). From samyutta-ñana, conditioned knowledge. It is ordinarily conditioned by ones past sankhara, and therefore conveys a coloured image of reality. ^[7]
4. "mental formations" or "volition" (sa. samskāra, pi. sankhāra) />
   
   all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, compulsions, and decisions.^[8] Sankhāra arise from contact with form or from other mental factors. Sankhāra are the source of karma.
5. "consciousness" (sa. vijñāna, pi. viññāṇa^[9]):
   
   
   
   the base that supports all experience.^[10] Alternately, it is envisioned as series of rapidly changing interconnected discrete acts of cognizance.^[11]