Established Base - 05: Why the Being Is Neither Form Nor Mind

Preliminary exploration of pudgala and non-associated formations — including five aggregates mapping

Jan 24, 2026

Each article in this series may address multiple doctrinal categories, and at times several consecutive articles may focus on a single category. For this reason, the titles are provisional and serve only as rough summaries of selected aspects of the discussion, rather than as exhaustive descriptions of the content.

In the present article, we continue our analysis of the classifications of impermanence and introduce the notion of pudgala. In Buddhism, the presence of consciousness is a necessary condition for life; because plants are understood to lack consciousness, they are not considered to undergo rebirth. At the same time, when we observe the natural world, it is often difficult to draw a clear boundary between what possesses consciousness and what does not. Questions such as whether microorganisms have consciousness, or whether certain deep-sea invertebrates might exist without consciousness, naturally arise.

Nevertheless, these issues are not decisive for human practice. For a practitioner, what is fundamentally important is to understand the nature and operation of one’s own cognition. Practice consists precisely in transforming cognitive states—not as a temporary or situational adjustment, but as a stable and enduring transformation.

Impermanent dharmas can be divided into three categories: form, consciousness, and non-associated formation.

There are two dharmas that are equivalent to consciousness: cognition and awareness. Therefore, cognition, consciousness, and awareness are equivalent. This position is commonly accepted by the Sautrāntika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka.

The Vaibhāṣika, however, holds that cognition is equivalent only with the wisdom mental factor.

གསལ་ཞིང་རིག་པ། ཤེས་པའི་མཚན་ཉིད།
That which is clear and aware is the definition of consciousness.

This definition has two aspects:

1. “Clear”

“Clear” has two implications:

(a) transparency without contact obstruction—form has contact obstruction, whereas consciousness does not;

(b) constant change—from this it can be understood that consciousness is not only impermanent but also performs the function of manifesting its object.

2. “Aware”

“Aware” indicates the capacity to apprehend an object.

དབྱེ་ན། མིག་གི་ཤེས་པ་སོགས་དྲུག
Classified as six: eye-consciousness and so on.

Based on differences in uncommon dominant conditions, consciousness is divided into six types. The root upon which consciousness depends is divided into two kinds: form root and the mental root. According to the different basis roots, consciousness is divided into root consciousness and mental consciousness.

The root consciousness depends on the five roots, which belong to the form: eye root, ear root, nose root, tongue root, and body root. Mental consciousness depends on the mental root, which is the preceding moment of certain primary consciousness.

The five roots are extremely subtle form and are called pure form root. They cannot be extracted and examined under a microscope, not because of limitations in modern technology, but because the five roots are not grossly aggregated material substances. Their nature is closer to that of energy. For example, the eye root is located in the center of the eyeball, but it is not the eyeball itself. The eyeball is merely the physical basis of the eye root and is called the “eye-house” in Tibetan. The eye root is not the retina, optic nerve, or other gross anatomical structures.

After death, the five roots are carried by karmic force toward the next existence. At that time, although the eyeballs and other organs of the corpse remain intact, they can no longer function. What is indispensable for the arising of root consciousness is not merely gross material substance.

Based on the five pure form roots, five root consciousnesses arise: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, and body-consciousness. Based on the mental root, mental consciousness arises. For example, the conceptualizing mind we use in ordinary thinking belongs to mental consciousness.

གཟུགས་ཤེས་གང་ཡང་མིན་པའི་འདུས་བྱས་སུ་དམིགས་པ། ལྡན་མིན་འདུ་བྱེདཀྱི་མཚན་ཉིད།
That which is apprehended as a conditioned (dharma) that is not any one among form and consciousness.

“A conditioned (dharma) that is not any one among form and consciousness” means excluding both form and consciousness. Any conditioned dharma that is neither form nor consciousness meets the criterion. Whenever the expression “any one” is used, it indicates that satisfying any one or more qualifies; here, the addition of “not” means that both form and consciousness must be excluded.

Among conditioned dharmas, once form and consciousness are excluded, all remaining conditioned phenomena are non-associated formations. Examples commonly include time, space, habitual tendency, and seeds. Here, “seeds” do not refer to botanical seeds, which are form, but to habitual seeds that give rise to consciousness. Such seeds are a non-associated formation. If it is a seed, it would be pervaded by being a habitual tendency; if it is a habitual tendency, it would be pervaded by being a non-associated formation.

This definition is commonly accepted by the Sautrāntika and Cittamātra. Other tenets do not necessarily accept it.

དབྱེ་ན། གང་ཟག་ཡིན་པར་གྱུར་པའི་ལྡན་མིན་འདུ་བྱེད་དང་། གང་ཟག་མ་ཡིན་པར་གྱུར་པའི་ལྡན་མིན་འདུ་བྱེད་དང་གཉིས།།
Classified as two: non-associated formation of being pudgala, and non-associated formation of not being pudgala.

non-associated formations are divided into two types:

non-associated formations that are pudgala (living being with consciousness)
non-associated formations that are not pudgala

If it is a pudgala, it would be pervaded by being a non-associated formation, because a pudgala is neither form nor consciousness. Although a pudgala possesses form and consciousness, it is itself neither form nor consciousness.

If it is a non-associated formation, it would not be pervaded by being a pudgala. For example, time and space are non-associated formations but are not pudgala.

The definition of pudgala is: a being imputed in dependence upon any one of the five aggregates.

The five aggregates are: form aggregate, feeling aggregate, discernment aggregate, formation aggregate, and primary consciousness aggregate.

Among them:

The form aggregate refers to form.
The feeling aggregate refers to the feeling mental factor.
The discernment aggregate refers to the discernment mental factor.
The formation aggregate refers to all mental factors other than feeling and discernment (i.e. associated formations), as well as all non-associated formations.
The primary consciousness aggregate refers to the main mind. Primary consciousness, mentality, mental root, main mind, and mind are equivalent. Although both mind and mental factors are consciousness, they are not equivalent with consciousness itself, since consciousness includes both mind and mental factors.

“Dependent upon any one of the five aggregates” theoretically means that reliance on any number of the five aggregates is sufficient for the imputation of a pudgala. For example, beings in the formless realm lack the form aggregate and possess only four aggregates. Without the phrase “any one,” they could not be included as pudgala. By including “any one,” even without the form aggregate, a pudgala can still be imputed based on the remaining four aggregates, thus avoiding this fault.

The topics discussed here require understanding to develop in stages and at multiple levels. Concepts such as what it means for something to be “imputed on the basis of a particular dharma” cannot be fully grasped all at once, but must be approached progressively. At present, this course is intended only as an introduction to Pramāṇa, and there is therefore no need to attempt to comprehend every layer of these issues immediately. The primary goal at this stage is to establish a set of basic concepts; deeper and more refined understanding of the relevant topics will be introduced gradually in later stages of the Buddhist study.