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Fork of The Five Skandhas (The Five Aggregates)

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Nita

Last edited Jun 17, 2025
Created on Jun 17, 2025

The Five Skandhas - Buddhist Concept Visualization

This project presents an interactive visualization of the Five Skandhas (Aggregates) from Buddhist philosophy. The implementation features a responsive web application that explains each skandha and visualizes their interdependence.

Project Overview

In Buddhist philosophy, the Five Skandhas represent the five aspects that constitute human experience:

  1. Form (Rūpa) - Physical structure; material body and external matter
  2. Sensation (Vedanā) - Feeling; experience of pleasure, pain, or neutrality
  3. Perception (Saññā) - Recognition; identification and labeling of sensory input
  4. Mental Formations (Saṅkhāra) - Volition; intentions, habits, thoughts, karmic tendencies
  5. Consciousness (Viññāṇa) - Awareness; basic awareness of experience

These aggregates explain how we perceive reality and form our sense of self.

Features

  • Informative Cards: Colorful, responsive cards for each of the five skandhas with detailed descriptions
  • Interactive Visualization: Force-directed graph using D3.js showing the interdependence relationships between skandhas
  • Responsive Design: Adapts to different screen sizes for optimal viewing on all devices
  • Color Coding: Each skandha has a distinct color scheme for visual clarity

Technical Implementation

Files Structure

  • index.html: Main HTML structure defining the content and layout
  • styles.css: CSS styling for the application with a dark theme and distinct colors for each skandha
  • index.js: JavaScript code that creates the interactive D3.js visualization of the interdependence between skandhas

Technologies Used

  • HTML5: Semantic structure for content
  • CSS3: Custom properties, flexbox for responsive layout, hover effects
  • JavaScript: DOM manipulation and data handling
  • D3.js: Force-directed graph visualization of interdependence relationships

Visualization Features

  • Force Simulation: Nodes representing each skandha with forces keeping them appropriately spaced
  • Draggable Nodes: Users can interact with the visualization by dragging nodes
  • Relationship Lines: Visual connections showing interdependence between skandhas
  • Color Coordination: Graph nodes match the color scheme of the corresponding skandha cards

Educational Value

This visualization serves as an educational tool for understanding a core concept in Buddhist philosophy. By illustrating both the individual properties of each skandha and their interdependent nature, it helps users grasp how these aggregates function together to create human experience.

Understanding the Five Skandhas helps recognize that what we consider our "self" is actually a collection of ever-changing processes rather than a fixed entity.

Getting Started

To view this project:

  1. Clone the repository
  2. Open index.html in a modern web browser
  3. Interact with the skandha cards and force-directed graph

No build process or special dependencies are required as D3.js is loaded from a CDN.

MIT Licensed