The Buddha spoke of eight kinds of suffering that human beings endure: birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, confrontation with enemies, inability to attain what one seeks and, lastly, the suffering of the five aggregates. Of these eight kinds of suffering, the first seven are contained in the five skandhas. This is called the 'uninterrupted suffering of the five skandhas,’ meaning that from one moment to the next, pervasive suffering is renewed by the existence of the aggregates.

According to the agamas and the Abhidarmakosha, there is another dimension of meaning to the five skandhas, namely, 'grasping.'7 Grasping arises when a sense faculty interacts with a sense object, creating attachment, and consequently, suffering This grasping after sense experience assures the continuation of the five skandhas through life after life. The objects of grasping are not just desires, but also hatred and delusion. Simply put, grasping causes suffering and in turn, suffering causes the continuation of the five aggregates through rebirths. On this basis we hold onto the poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance which propel us into future rebirths. Then, because of the five skandhas, we give rise to vexations again. So vexations cause the five skandhas, and the skandhas cause vexations. They are inseparable, mutually causing each other.

In summarizing the five skandhas, we can say that they pervade the three realms of existence, that there is no suffering apart from the five skandhas. But Buddhism also says that through the practice of Buddhadharma we can be freed from the very source of our suffering--the five aggregates.

The Lesson of the Heart Sutra