The skandhas, like the elements, only exist, or possess an identity, due to their relationship with things other than themselves. The idea of ‘form’ only has meaning inasmuch as we are able to make a distinction between form and, say, feeling, or consciousness, and the same goes for the other aggregates. In each case, it is the activity of consciousness that enables us to make the distinction. Just as ‘short’ has no existence without ‘tall’, or cause without effect, the individual skandhas are no more substantial than is the illusory ‘self’ they appear to support.
