The Five Aggregates: Understanding Theravada Psychology and Soteriology

Robert B. MacIntyre is head of the Centre for Relationship Therapy and
Education in Orangeville, Ontario.

The Five Aggregates is a scholarly book intended for serious students of
Buddhist writings and teachings. The five aggregates represent a system
of understanding the conditioned, or learned, perceptions that make up
the human personality. As such, they also represent the basis for
misperception when one aggregate is mistaken for the whole or part of
reality. The Theravada tradition of Buddhism is based on the teachings
of the Buddha (as written in Pali around the first century B.C.) and
later commentaries. Basing his discussion on a detailed analysis (using
computerized data) of all the Pali texts containing reference to the
five aggregates, the author presents a rigorous examination of each of
the aggregates and the understanding of them in the Theravada tradition
of Buddhism.

Since the five aggregates do not represent fixed entities but are
rather a way of talking about changing experiences of reality, the
discussion can become highly abstract. The subtle differences between
many of the words and concepts do not allow for easy translation, and
the text relies heavily on many of the original Pali words. Although an
important resource for serious scholars of Theravada Buddhism, this book
could prove daunting to those who are seeking a casual understanding of
Buddhist philosophy.