by Peter Carlson | Apr 30, 2026 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Peter reviews another way mindfulness practice supports Awakening, contemplating the Five Aggregates of Clinging, part of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness. The Five Aggregates represent a conceptual structure that helps understanding of Anatta, the absence of an enduring, autonomous self. Concrete, a crucial structural component in almost any building or road, is composed of cement, gravel, sand and water, which aggregate and solidify into a form–the human personality is also aggregated from file elements, and they can be investigated with sufficient training in mindfulness. When we are mindful of these elements as aggregates, the ability to “deconstruct” the self is nurtured.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: REVIEWING THE FIVE AGGREGATES OF CLINGING
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:56 — 52.1MB)
by Peter Carlson | Mar 29, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk begins several weeks of exploration of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, dhammanupassana. During the discussion, Peter pointed out that Mindfulness of the Body and of Feelings are projected onto the Third Foundation, that of consciousness, and that the culminating practice of this teaching is to notice the interactions between the foundations, Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena. He also suggested that the word “dhamma” conveys something static, a thing; however, a dhamma is transient, lasting a fraction of a second, and therefore is best considered as a dynamic process that commingles the four foundations. During the next several weeks, the dhamma called the five hindrances, the dhamma called the five aggregates, the dhamma called the six sense bases (which he terms “the six sense functions”, the dhamma of the seven awakening factors, and the dhamma called the full realization of the Four Noble Truths (which he called the Four Ennobling Truths) will be explored.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()