Commentary on The Sutra of the Father and Son Collection: Lecture 189

The Five Aggregates Are Illusory, and Sentient Beings Are Merely Illusory Combinations

Furthermore, just as several individuals form a group, this group is also illusory. If each person departs, the group ceases to exist. The group can be said to exist or to disperse; it lacks autonomy. It arises when conditions are sufficient—it is illusory, existing when said to exist and ceasing when said not to exist, lacking true reality. The group is merely a nominal designation, a concept, a term used to describe this state. The group is an illusory, nominal designation; it is merely a name given to the state of individuals gathering together. This group does not truly exist. Is it Group A or Group B? Individually, none can be called a group; even when gathered, it is not inherently a group. We merely assign a name to the illusion formed by aggregation for the sake of language and communication. All phenomena are like this—forcibly assigned names.

Similarly, the five aggregates are the same. The five aggregates arise from the combination of various conditions; they are a state of nominal existence. This state can arise, vanish, and disperse—it is not inherently real or indestructible. When the functions and roles of the five aggregates—such as seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching—are dispersed, the five aggregates cease to exist. Therefore, the five aggregates of sentient beings are also unreal. Analyzing the composition of the five aggregates is the same as analyzing the composition of a group. In truth, the five aggregates could be called by any name. We name this form of five aggregates "human," and another form of five aggregates "ant" or "mosquito" for the sake of distinction. In essence, they are all aggregates of the five skandhas. When the functions and roles of the five aggregates disperse and vanish, sentient beings cease to exist. What are called sentient beings are all illusory, nominal combinations.