The Five Heaps

As normal, thinking adults, our minds are said to be ‘conditioned’. These conditions are the countless experiences that shape and define our sense of self and the reality in which we dwell. Whilst the common goal of all spiritual awakening is to experience the ‘true mind’, that is, the unconditioned mind, to get there one first has to learn about how things are for the ‘conditioned mind’.

The five heaps (skandhas in Sanskrit) are five categories of experience that offer a helpful model in understanding ‘reality’. They are superior to other models, such as those presented in science or psychology, as they include both physical reality and the psychological experience of this reality.

We consider these five heaps as distinct groups that all work together in creating what we experience as reality. This model is fairly simple and offers us a useful platform to understand our experience of life.

The Material Heap

The Body, and all of physical reality, form the first heap. This is called ‘the material’. It includes all physical phenomena detected by our five senses. This is largely the reality described by science, with physical laws and so forth.

All physical ‘stuff’ belongs to the material skandha. We call it a heap because it is an aggregate — made up of a mix of materials. Think about atoms and molecules: different bits that somehow stick together to form ‘solid’ reality. This heap is not mind; it cannot sense anything. This is obvious in rocks and soil, but even includes our bodies. It is our minds that feel the sensations that arise in our bodies, through special arrangements of matter that respond to physical stimulus.

Our bodies are made up of this material heap, with organs arranged to respond to light, smells, tastes, sounds and pressure. It is our minds that observe patterns within the sense organs and, through the mental heaps, derive meaning from them.

The Mental Heaps

The remaining four heaps are mental. These are: feelings, perceptions, mental factors, and consciousness.

The Feeling Heap

Feelings arise either due to:

• Sensations — patterns that arise within our material sense organs; or
• Thoughts — patterns that arise purely within our minds.

At any moment, many feelings arise as our minds respond to inputs from our senses or thoughts. Despite the vast number of feelings, there are only three basic types: pleasurable, painful, or neutral. These feelings condition us into adopting certain behaviours: we avoid unpleasant stimuli, seek pleasurable ones, and are indifferent to neutral experiences.

The Perception Heap

Perceptions are feelings that we make a mental note about. We recognise patterns of feelings and build upon them. Accurate perceptions reflect intelligence. Intelligence is simply the ability to make refined distinctions in a particular area of life.

Perceptions also create our sense of self. When we perceive something, we create an ‘object’ out of sensations and feelings. This mental creation of an object also creates a subject — the perceiver. Thus, the act of perception builds duality: self and other.

The Mental Factors Heap

The heaps get increasingly subtle. The mental factors are elements that support the arising of consciousness. Consciousness arises when a certain number of these factors are present. The number and type of factors dictate the quality of consciousness that arises. It is like baking a cake: the ingredients determine the flavour.

Basic consciousness may require seven factors; anger, greed and ignorance require 9–18; wholesome consciousnesses like wisdom and compassion require many more factors, which stabilise awareness.

The Consciousness Heap

Consciousness is the process by which the mind knows something. It is the subtlest heap, arising in 89 distinct types of moments, called ‘citta’. Each citta arises with its mental factors, dictating the quality of each moment. While awareness seems continuous, it is actually a stream of these rapidly arising cittas, each knowing a particular object of perception.

Why Does This Matter?

Many who are drawn to studying the mind do so to gain control over their life — to better themselves or to recover from suffering. Understanding how the five heaps work is the first step in transforming one’s experience. For example, there are only 12 types of consciousness that create unhelpful future states. Recognising these states and their conditions allows one to mitigate suffering.

With increasing understanding, one can direct effort toward changing specific aspects of mind. This has profound effects on future experiences, transforming suffering into wisdom.

This is Alchemy.

“All phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning; thus should you meditate on them.”
— Diamond Sutra