When, Monks, a Noble Disciple understands as they really are the cause and the disappearance, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these five aggregates subject to clinging,

Monks, then he is called a Noble Disciple who is a Stream-Enterer, no longer bound to the nether world, fixed in destiny, with Enlightenment as his destination.

(Reference: SN 22.109)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a Stream-Enterer will understand “the cause and the disappearance, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of” The Five Aggregates. The Five Aggregates are introduced in The Four Noble Truths, a central Teaching of The Buddha and then explained in more detail within other Teachings. A Stream-Enterer will deeply understand and be practicing The Four Noble Truths with the wisdom of The Five Aggregates.

The Five Aggregates are form, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations, and consciousness.

The Five Aggregates are what makes “a being, a being”. A living being will have all five aggregates, also known as “elements” or “collections”.

The Five Aggregates

Form: the physical body.

Feelings: results of experiences in the mind through The Six Sense Bases.

Perceptions: a belief or opinion based on how things seem.

Volitional Formations: choices or decisions that are made.