Śākyamuni did not incorporate atman into his teachings. Rather, he preached anātman or “no-self.” He rejected the idea that various beings exist because of each having an ātman as their absolute foundation. Instead, he taught the “five aggregates” as the foundation of existence. These are: (1) form or flesh, (2) feeling or sensory function, (3) perception or the representative function, (4) mental formations, volition or will, and (5) consciousness or awareness. He explained that individual humans come into existence based on the mutual dependence of these five elements. To this notion of the “five aggregates” he added two more categories to form what are called the “three categories.” The next category is the “twelve sense fields” comprised of two groups. The six sense bases: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and their six objects: shape and color, sound, scent, flavor, physical feeling, and mental presentation. The last category contains the six consciousnesses of visual consciousness, auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory consciousness, tactile consciousness, and mental consciousness. The last two categories are also called the “eighteen elements”: twelve sense fields and six consciousnesses.