The Western inquiry into reality generally follows the Cartesian dictum “I think, therefore I am.” The Five Skandhas are an early example of the Buddhist solution to the same sort of self-reflection. But instead of taking the Archimedean standpoint vis-à-vis an external world, the Buddhist analysis never goes beyond our immediate experience. And as a result of reflecting on this experience, Buddhists conclude: “I am aware, therefore I neither am nor am not.”
