alan... wrote:perhaps a clear definition is in order?
form: the physical objects that are seen and known by the mind? the actual act of cognizing physical objects? the body?
During the process of seeing: There are no objects being seen (they are not within the range of All
) but there are forms (rupa
), eye and eye-consciousness.
So, in the process of seeing there's just seeing; no objects being seen, and no seer. Seeing is seeing during the process of seeing!
The process of illusion of seen
are closely related: There is an illusion that there are real objects having essence (self) of their own while in fact these objects (which are actually aggregates of physical units) are mere concepts. Similarly there is an illusion that there is an essence (self) in the five-aggregates while in fact self is just a concept.
feelings: painful, pleasant and neutral feelings?
perception: not sure about this one, many different definitions out there. i believe it's the defining of what an object is by the mind. can someone elaborate?
Perception does the evaluation of pure sensory input so that feeling becomes pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
mental formations: volitional thought, the "doer" of the mind.
Yes, including the store of all conditioning and tendencies from the past.
consciousness: the knower of the mind?
Not the knower but the knowing
. There are six consciousness: Eye-consciousness, Ear-consciousness, Nose-consciousness, Tongue-consciousness, Body-consciousness, Mind-consciousness
from another viewpoint, isn't it all in consciousness? like consciousness is a jar and all the other things are it's contents?
Not contents but they can arise together.
These aggregates all have these properties:
1. They arise due to some causes and conditions. When this is, that is.
2. So they change (cease) when causes and conditions change (cease). When this is not, that is not.
3. They (five as a whole, or individual aggregate) are discrete or discontinuous temporally (ie., impermanent)
as well as "spatially"
4. Therefore, they do not have any core or essence of their own. They are core-less temporally as well as "spatially".
5. Ignorance and sankhara
lead to the perception that they are continuous in time (giving rise to sense of permanence) and continuous in "space" (giving rise to sense of single essence or core). So there is the origination of sense of self, and therefore clinging.
(This is my understanding. Please feel free to correct me.)