levo

Buddhism: Beliefs and Teachings

The five khandhas, sunyata and buddha-nature

  • 3 things to know
  • Component Group 1

Overview

Rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara and vinnana, the chariot simile, links to anatta and dependent origination, sunyata, the Heart and Diamond Sutras, tathagatagarbha, and Theravada and Mahayana views of the person.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What are the five khandhas?

Key term

What do rupa and vedana mean among the khandhas?

Key term

What do sanna, sankhara and vinnana mean among the khandhas?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What are the five khandhas?

    Model answer

    The five khandhas (Sanskrit skandhas) are the aggregates that make up a person. The five are form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness.

  2. 2

    What do rupa and vedana mean among the khandhas?

    Model answer

    Rupa is form, the physical body and its senses. Vedana is feeling, the pleasant, painful or neutral tone of an experience.

  3. 3

    What do sanna, sankhara and vinnana mean among the khandhas?

    Model answer

    Sanna is perception, the recognising and naming of things. Sankhara covers mental formations such as will and habit, and vinnana is consciousness.

  4. 4

    How does the chariot simile explain the khandhas?

    Model answer

    The monk Nagasena told King Milinda that a chariot is only a name for its parts. A person is likewise a name for the five khandhas.

  5. 5

    How are the khandhas related to anicca, anatta and dependent origination?

    Model answer

    Each khandha arises from conditions and is constantly changing. A permanent self cannot be found in them, so a person is a process rather than a fixed thing.

  6. 6

    What does sunyata mean in Mahayana Buddhism?

    Model answer

    Sunyata means emptiness. Nothing has independent, inherent existence, because everything depends on causes and conditions.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings
Christianity: Practices
Islam: Beliefs and Teachings
Islam: Practices

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Omniscient means .
all-knowingall-powerfulall-loving

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AThe mind comes before all mental states and shapes them.
BPain follows an impure mind as a cart-wheel follows the ox.
CHappiness follows a pure mind like a shadow.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Shalom means peace, wholeness and wellbeing.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Buddhism: Beliefs and Teachings, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.