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5 Planes of Existence
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BIBLE VERSES
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SKANDHAS, FIVE
Symbols of the five elemental bodies or vestures
of the soul, as instruments for the manifestation of spirit.
"Every being is composed of five constituent elements called
Skandhas, which have their source in Upådāna, and are continually
combining, dissolving, and recombining, viz. (1) Form (rupa), i.e.
the organised body. (2) Sensation (vedanā) of pain or pleasure, or
of neither, arising from contact of eye, ear, etc. with external
objects. (3) Perception (sanna) of ideas through the same sixfold
contact. (1) Aggregate of formations (samkhāra), i.e. combination of
properties or faculties or mental tendencies, fifty-two in number,
forming individual character and derived from previous existences.
(5) Consciousness (rinnāna) or thought. This fifth is the most
important. It is the only soul recognised by Buddhists.
Theoretically it perishes with the other Skandhas, but practically
is continued, since its exact counterpart is reproduced in a body."
- MON. WILLIAMS, new Buddhism, p. 109.
The bodies are taken in their receptive aspects towards the energies
upon the several planes. Placing them in their proper order, the
five bodies are,---
Samkhāra = Buddhic;
Vinnana = Causal;
Sanna = Mental;
Vedană = Astral;
Rūpa = Physical.
The Samkhāra is described as the potential higher causal-body
containing the prototypes of all things and qualities that have to
be evolved on the planes below. These prototypes are derived from
the experience of previous life-cycles. They are perfect and
complete (5 + 2 = 7), and guide the formation of the character of
the units in the phenomenal world. The Vinnāna represents the
causal-body on the higher mental plane, the seat of the higher
consciousness of humanity. The causal-body persists throughout the
cycle, and periodically reproduces the transitory lower bodies at
each incarnation. The Sanna is the mental body which gives
perception of ideas formed through vibrations from the lower
activities. The Vedana is the astral body of the desires, feelings,
and lower emotions which are aroused by the senses. The Rupa is the
physical body by means of which action is effected.
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