rder to protect ourselves from the unknown that change represents. However, reality is change and in Buddhist philosophy the awakened mind seeks not to solidify but to de-construct, losing the attachments, great and small that are the plague of human existence. All that exists changes, and being at peace with that change is a major step in the path to enlightenment.The third and last major cause of dukkha is that of existence. The “dukkha of existence” is the distress caused by the question of being human; “Who am I?” “Who or what, if anything, is experiencing my experience?” “Where or how is the experiencer?” It is from the dukkha of existence that we are introduced to the five skandhas which when examined offer the Buddhist answer to all these philosophical questions to which we do not posses the answer, not the least of which is: “What happens when we die?” In the Buddhist faith it is believed that the individual is composed of five Skandhas, or complex conglomerates, for lack of a better term. The first being a form and ‘material’, the last four being of the mind and therefore immaterial. The five skandhas are said by Buddha to be what makes up a person, the body being the vehicle with its own attributes and, and the mind composing the other characteristics of an individual. This could also be described as mind and body; Nama mind, Rupa body, in sanskrit. A quick reference chart follows:This is again where it is interesting to witness the translatory difference between the “western” and more traditional or ancient texts. The singular difference I find is that if the skandhas are mentioned in westernized texts they are depicted as five different and distinctly separate groups working to cause their own contribution to your tribulation, whereas in the oldest texts things aren’t nearly so clearly delineated and are perceived to be part o...
