The five Skanda.

In Buddhistphenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāli, aggregates in English) are the five functions or aspects that constitute the human being. The Buddha teaches that nothing among them is really “I” or “mine”.

The five skandhas

The sutras describe five aggregates:

“form” or “matter”: external and internal matter. Externally, rupa is the physical world. Internally, rupa includes the material body and the physical sense organs.

“sensation” or “feeling”. Sensing an object as either pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.

“perception”, “conception”, “apperception”, “cognition”, or “discrimination” : registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).

“mental formations”, “impulses”, “volition”, or “compositional factors” all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.

“consciousness” or “discernment”-shes-pa):

in the Nikayas/Āgamas: cognizance, that which discerns

In the Abhidhamma: a series of rapidly changing interconnected discrete acts of cognizance.

In some Mahayana sources: the base that supports all experience.

( There are many buddhist traditions, and will describe words slightly differently.)