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The Five Aggregates and "Awareness of Awareness": an Original

Interpretation of "Non-self"

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The Five Aggregates and “Awareness of Awareness”:
an Original Interpretation of “Non-self”

Abstract: My work attempts to interpret Buddha Dhamma from a unique perspective

based on both the scientific mechanism behind Buddhist meditation and the empirical
materials of Theravāda Buddhism. In “The Science behind Buddhist Meditation”, I
proposed that the nature of vipassanā is enhanced awareness induced in meditation
(after samādhi), which makes contemplating the five aggregates possible, just like
“watching” a slow-motion film. If we regard each aggregate as an “awareness” which
is the state of being conscious of something, then contemplating the five aggregates
would reveal the existence of “awareness of awareness” according to the empirical
materials of Theravāda Buddhism. For instance, when one feels happy, one knows that
one is happy. (Note that feeling happy is not the same as knowing that one feels happy.)
Furthermore, inspired by Ajahn Brahm’s insightful “fruit salad simile” which describes
experiences in Theravāda Buddhist meditation, I develop an original model to interpret
“non-self” by introducing “awareness of awareness” out of the framework of the five
aggregates: contemplating the five aggregates would discern that “awareness of
awareness” arises a moment after each aggregate and they do not appear simultaneously.
Thus, one may realize that the notion that there is a constant self always there
experiencing/observing all aggregates just results from “awareness of awareness”
appearing between any two aggregates, something that under ordinary conditions
happens very quickly. (That's like a torch spinning so fast that it looks like a ring of
fire.) This would lead to the insight of “non-self” which means no subject of awareness
(or consciousness) at all. That’s the essence of “non-self”. Moreover, this model may
bridge Buddhism and western philosophy in two ways: Firstly, the illusion that there is
a self underlying the five aggregates intrinsically means a two-tier structure like that of
Cartesian Theatre or "Cogito, ergo sum”. However, the slowing down of “speed” in
vipassanā reveals that the reality is single-tier. Obviously, my interpretation of “non-
self” is very similar to and a convincing demonstration of Hume’s “Bundle theory”.
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Secondly, “the illusion of self” is just “self-consciousness”, while the concept of the
five aggregates is similar to consciousness in the sense of qualia. Therefore, this model
can also explain how self-consciousness arises. The sense of self just emerges out of
the process of alternating of “aggregates” (or “awareness”) and “awareness of
awareness”.

Keyword: non-self, the five aggregates, awareness of awareness, vipassanā, self-

consciousness, Bundle theory, Cartesian Theatre

1. Introduction

Anattā (Pali) is one of the main bedrock doctrines of Buddhism, and its discussion is
found in the later texts of all Buddhist traditions. In Theravāda Buddhism, anattā
primarily refers to the doctrine of “non-self” that no unchanging, permanent self can be
found in any person, which is also called pudgala-nairatmya (Sanskrit). Instead, the
individual person consists of five aggregates (khandhas in Pali and skandhas in Sanskrit)
that are constantly changing: rūpa (body/form), vedanā (feelings/sensations), saññā
(perceptions), saṅkhārā (mental formations/volitions) and viññāṇa (consciousness).

Although it is usually interpreted by the deductive logic of impermanence or

Chandrakirti's 7 Fold Reasoning of Chariot, “non-self” has always been a perplexing
and controversial thesis. What does “non-self” really mean? What is the correlation
between “non-self” and the five aggregates? If there is no self, why is there the illusion
of self?

Basically, Buddha dhamma is not something that Buddha imagined or inferred, but the
reality that Buddha discovered through Buddhist meditation. Therefore, this paper
attempts to interpret “non-self” from a unique perspective based on both the scientific
mechanism behind Buddhist meditation and the empirical materials of Theravāda
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Buddhism. An ideal interpretation should be able to answer two questions
simultaneously: what is the essence of "non-self" and how does the illusion of self arise?
(They are two sides of the same coin.)

2. The Nature of Vipassanā

In a previous paper (“The Science behind Buddhist Meditation”), we proposed that the
nature of vipassanā is enhanced awareness induced in meditation (after samādhi).

As Henri Bergson asserted, in ordinary conditions perception has a natural sensitivity

threshold for the purpose of biological survival.

But in altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by meditation, awareness

becomes more sensitive, because the perception-filtering function gets weakened to
allow the influx of more details, resulting in various unusual capabilities, one of which
is vipassanā. That is to say, enhanced awareness makes contemplating the five
aggregates possible, just like “watching” a slow-motion film.

3. Revealing the Existence of “Awareness of Awareness”

If we regard each aggregate as an “awareness” which is the state of being conscious of

something, then contemplating the five aggregates would reveal the existence of
“awareness of awareness” according to the empirical materials of Theravāda
Buddhism,.

For instance, when one feels happy, one knows that one is happy. (Note that feeling
happy is not the same as knowing that one feels happy.) P. A. Payutto makes this point
clearly in Buddhadhamma (2019: 23-24).

Therefore, the “enhanced awareness” induced in meditation is not only enhanced

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“awareness” (for instance, more sensitive hearing, more acute vision and much stronger
memory), but also enhanced “awareness of awareness” (for instance, one can discern
the arising and passing away of every feeling, every thought, every instinct and so on).

4. Why Could and Should Five Aggregates Be Regarded as “Awareness”?

Aggregate is one of the concepts most central to Buddha’s teaching. However, the
definition and discussion of five aggregates (especially viññāṇa) are obscure and
confusing in Sutta Piṭaka. Maybe this is because it was very difficult for Buddha to
explain what he realized in enlightenment to his followers by using ordinary concepts
and words 2500 years ago.

In SN 22.79 (Khajjaniya Sutta) the aggregates are defined as follows: rūpa is body,
vedanā is feeling, saññā is recognition of colors, saṅkhārā is the ability to form new
mental and material states, and viññāṇa is recognition of tastes.

But in MN 148 (Chachakka Sutta) and SN 12.2, viññāṇa refer to six consciousnesses
(eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind-consciousness) — i.e. the five sense bases and
the mind-consciousness, which refers to intellect/mind receiving inner thought,
imagination or memory.

Moreover, in SN 22.3, the other four aggregates are described as the “home” of viññāṇa,
which stands as the fundamental of the five aggregates and is similar to the concept of
consciousness as it is used today.

Obviously, viññāṇa has different meanings in different contexts. But for the logical
consistency, viññāṇa shouldn’t have different meanings simultaneously in the
framework of the five aggregates. We prefer the meaning of viññāṇa as derivative of
the sense bases to viññāṇa as consciousness in modern term.

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According to P. A. Payutto (2019: 279), “the law of Dependent Origination reveals how
the five aggregates exist as mutual, interrelated causes and conditions.” Therefore,
rather than define the individual person as the five aggregates, we consider the five
aggregates as factors that form the sense of self:

1. Viññāṇa (Six Consciousnesses): one thinks that it is he who is seeing, hearing,

smelling, tasting, touching, receiving (the inner ideas).
2. Saññā (Perceptions): one thinks that it is he who recognizes/identifies the incoming
data.
3. Vedanā (Feelings): one thinks that the feelings belong to him.
4. Saṅkhārā (Reactions): one thinks that it is he who reacts to the feelings.
5. Rūpa (Body): one thinks that the body belongs to him.

Thus, it is easy to understand that the four mental factors (six consciousnesses,
perceptions, feelings and reactions) are all “awareness”. As for rūpa (body) also being
an “awareness”, we mean that one notices his body or part of it, which is the premise
for one to think that the body belongs to him.

This viewpoint is supported strongly by Rupert Gethin (1986: 49):

“However, the five khandhas, as treated in the nikāyas and early abhidhamma, do not
exactly take on the character of a formal theory of the nature of man. The concern is
not so much the presentation of an analysis of man as object, but rather the
understanding of the nature of conditioned existence from the point of view of the
experiencing subject. Thus at the most general level rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṃkhārā and
viññāṇa are presented as five aspects of an individual being’s experience of the world;
each khandha is seen as representing a complex class of phenomena that is continuously
arising and falling away in response to processes of consciousness based on the six
spheres of sense.”

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Moreover, Sue Hamilton (2000: 27) and Alexander Wynne (2009: 63) also have the
similar opinion that the five aggregates are not descriptions of a human being but
descriptions of the human experience.

5. Ajahn Brahm’s Insightful “Fruit Salad Simile”

According to Ajahn Brahm, the stream of consciousness is not a continuously flowing

process, but a series of discrete mental events. In his famous “fruit salad simile” (2006:
118), he describes experiences in Theravāda Buddhist meditation in this way:

“Suppose on a plate there is an apple. You clearly see this apple completely disappear
and in its place appears a coconut. Then the coconut vanishes and in its place appears a
banana. Then the banana vanishes and another coconut is there. … In this analogy, the
apple stands for an event of eye-consciousness, the banana for an incident of nose-
consciousness, … and the coconut for mind-consciousness. …

Mind-consciousness, the ‘coconut’, appears after every other species of consciousness

and thereby gives the illusion of sameness to every conscious experience. To the
average person, there is a quality in seeing that is also found in hearing, smelling, tasting,
and touching. We can call the quality ‘knowing’. However, with superpower
mindfulness, we will discern that this knowing is not part of seeing, hearing, and so on,
but arises a moment after each type of sense consciousness. Moreover, this knowing
has vanished when, for example, eye-consciousness is occurring. And eye-
consciousness has vanished when knowing (mind-consciousness) is occurring. In the
simile of the fruit salad, there can’t be an apple and a coconut on the plate at the same
time.”
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By drawing this analogy, Ajahn Brahm attempts to illustrate the principle of “non-self”
through undermining “the illusion that there is a knower, constantly present, which is
always there to receive the experience of the world”. But it seems that he confused the
concept of “mind-consciousness” with what Buddha defined in MN 148 and SN 12.2.
For the logical consistency, “mind-consciousness” shouldn’t have different meanings
simultaneously in the framework of the five aggregates.

Moreover, P. A. Payutto (2019: 130) describes the similar experience in Theravāda

Buddhist meditation.

6. An Original Model to Interpret “Non-self”

However, inspired by Ajahn Brahm’s keen insight, we develop an original model to

interpret “non-self” by using “awareness of awareness” instead of his “knowing (mind-
consciousness)” and “aggregate” instead of his “each type of sense consciousness”:

An aggregate arises and passes away;

then “awareness of awareness” arises and passes away;
then another aggregate arises and passes away;
then “awareness of awareness” arises and passes away;
The process loops repeatedly in this way……

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That is to say, contemplating the five aggregates would discern that “awareness of
awareness” arises a moment after each aggregate and they do not appear simultaneously.

Thus, one may realize that the notion that there is a constant self always there
experiencing/observing all aggregates just results from “awareness of awareness”
appearing between any two aggregates, something that under ordinary conditions
happens very quickly. (That's like a torch spinning so fast that it looks like a ring of
fire.)

This would lead to the insight of “non-self” which means no subject of awareness (or
consciousness) at all. That’s the essence of “non-self” in Buddhism.

7. Comparison with Dhamma Theory in Abhidhamma

Different from Abhidhamma developing and elaborating the Buddhist thought of five
aggregates by highlighting viññāṇa within the framework of the five aggregates, the
model presented in this paper regards viññāṇa just as a derivative of the sense bases,
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and introduces “awareness of awareness” out of the aggregate framework and
highlights the role of it, clarifying the relationship between the five aggregates and the
sense of self.

8. Bridging Buddhism and Western Philosophy

Moreover, this model may act as a bridge between Buddhism and western philosophy
(especially consciousness theories) in two ways:

Firstly, the illusion that there is a self underlying the five aggregates intrinsically
means a two-tier structure like that of Cartesian Theatre or "I think, therefore I am".
However, the slowing down of “speed” in vipassanā reveals that the reality is single-
tier. Obviously, our interpretation of “non-self” is very similar to and a convincing
demonstration of Hume’s “Bundle theory”.

Secondly, the concept of the five aggregates is similar to consciousness in the sense of
qualia, while the concept of “awareness of awareness” is similar to Sartre’s “pre-
reflective self-consciousness”. Furthermore, “the illusion of self” is just “self-
consciousness”; therefore, our model can also explain how self-consciousness arises.
The sense of self just emerges out of the process of alternating of “aggregates” (or
“awareness”) and “awareness of awareness”.

References:
Brahm, A., 2006, Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond: A Meditator’s Handbook, Wisdom
Publications.
Gethin, R., 1986, The Five Khandhas: Their Treatment in the Nikāyas and Early
Abhidhamma, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Volume 14, Number 1.
Gisela, F., 2013, Meditation-Induced Changes in Perception: An Interview Study with
Expert Meditators (Sotapannas) in Burma, Mindfullness, 4(1), Springer.
Hamilton, Sue., 2000, Early Buddhism: A New Approach, Routledge.
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 Huxley, A., 1954, The Doors of Perception, HarperCollins US.
Montague, M., 2017, What Kind of Awareness is Awareness of Awareness?, Grazer
Philosophische Studien 94 (2017) 359-380.
Payutto, P., 2019, Buddhadhamma: The Laws of Nature and Their Benefits to Life,
Buddhadhamma Foundation.
Tan, P., 2005, Viññāṇa (Consciousness): A Study of the 5th Aggregate, Living Word
of the Buddha SD Vol 17, No 8a.
Wynne, A., 2009, Early Evidence for the 'no self' doctrine?, Oxford Centre for Buddhist
Studies.
Zahavi, D., 2004, Back to Brentano?, Journal of Consciousness Studies 11/10-11 66-
87.
"Chachakka Sutta: The Six Sextets" (MN 148), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro
Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013
"Haliddakani Sutta: To Haliddakani" (SN 22.3), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro
Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013
"Khajjaniya Sutta: Chewed Up" (SN 22.79), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro
Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013
"Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising" (SN 12.2),
translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30
November 2013

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