10 THE B UDDHI S T T R A D I T I ON

All things are com posite. B uddhism would dispute the Hegelian theory th a t units may organize themselves into greater units whieh are m ore than the sum of their parts. As a corollary of th e fact th a t all things are com posite they are transient, for the com position of all aggregates is liable to change w ith tim e. M oreover, being essentially transient, they have no eternal Self or soul, no abiding individuality. A nd, as we have seen, they are inevitably liable to sorrow. T h is threefold characterization of the nature of the world and all th a t it contains— sorrowful, transient, and soulless— is frequently repeated in Buddhist literature, and w ithout fully grasping its tru th no being has any chance of salvation. For un til h e thoroughly understands th e th ree characteristics o f the world a m an will inevitably crave for perm anence in one form or another, and as this cannot, by th e nature of things, be obtained, he will suffer, and probably m ake others suffer also.

All things in the universe m ay also be classified in to five com ponents, or are com posed of a m ixture of them : form and m atte r {m p a ) , sensations (vedand), perceptions (sanfid), psychic dispositions or constructions (samkhdrd), and con­sciousness or conscious though t (vifindna). T h e first consists of the objects of sense and various o ther elem ents o f less im portance. Sensations are th e actual feelings arising as a result of the exercise of the six senses (m ind being the sixth) upon sense-objects, and perceptions are th e cognitions of such sensations. T h e psychic constructions include all the various psychological em otions, propensities, faculties, and conditions of th e individual, while the fifth com ponent, con­scious thought, arises from the interplay of the o ther psychic constituents. T h e individual is m ade up of a com bination of th e five com ponents, which are never the same from one m om ent to the next, and therefore his whole being is in a sta te of constant flux.

T h e process by which life continues and one th ing leads to another is explained by th e C hain of Causation {Paticca- samuppdda, lit. D ependen t O rig ination). T h e root cause of the process of b irth and death and rebirth is ignorance, the

the Buddha’s last words might be translated: “Growing old is the dharma of all composite things.’’