THE STRUCTURE OF THE MIND
Buddhists describe the person as composed of five skandhas ("aggregates"):
1. The body (rupa), including the sense organs.
2. Sensations and feelings (vedana), coming out of contact between sense organs and objects.
3. Perceptions and ideas (samjña), especially manifest in our ability to recognize things and ideas.
4. Mental acts (samskara), especially will power and attention.
5. Basic consciousness (vijñana).
The last four are called naman, name, meaning the psyche.
Namarupa is the Buddhist term for the person, mental and physical, which is nevertheless anatman, without soul or essence.
Buddhism also differentiates among six "fields" (ayatana) for the five skandhas:
• sight,
• hearing,
• smelling,
• tasting,
• touching,
• mind,
