A lump of form

This morning, I took this photo in my little garden. There had been a long day of rain and it appears in the following morning that water bubbles had accumulated itself on stems of various plants. This is a stem of the lady finger plant.

Part of nature, reflections are formed around the surfaces of the water bubbles. In the A lump of form sutta from the Samyutta Nikaya. Buddha in this sutta explained the 5 aggregates using similes. The water bubble is equate to feelings, one of the the five aggregates. The mirage forming is equate to perception, another one of the five aggregates. Dependently arising with external conditions to the formation of the sense of self. Always fleeting, unstable and unreliable. Dependably arising feelings, perceptions arises and ceases are the part and parcel experiences of the aggregates.

You can read brief explanations about dependent origination and consciousness from this following by Bihkkhu Anālayo , Consciousness and Dependent Arising. A lump of form sutta, translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi can be access at A Lump of Foam.

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. “Samvega, ‘Aesthetic Shock.’” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 7, no. 3 (1943): 174–79. https://doi.org/10.2307/2718013.