(NOTE: INCOMPLETE POST)
Here is a response to a question posed to me by Ian And on another thread:
http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/1003445
After some thought I realized that an inventory of my Buddhist knowledge would be useful for me right now, both as refresher and to identify any holes, as Ian puts it.
I've put it here for organizational purposes.
Ian And:
. . . could you fill us in a bit on the background of your knowledge base of the Dhamma. What teachings do you have a bead on to focus toward realization? For example: the five aggregates, dependent arising, the three characteristics of existence, following the noble eightfold path, sila (virtue), samadhi (concentration), panna (wisdom/insight), or sati (mindfulness)? I ask this because it can be difficult to make suggestions without knowing what your knowledge base is and whether or not there are any holes in it.
First off, I'm not sure what Ian means by "have a bead on to focus toward realization" here. I would venture a guess that he means a level of understanding that has lead to insight realizations along the path.
Five Aggregates:I had to do a google search for this one. After reading briefly on wikipedia I realized that I learned about the five aggregates as the five "heaps" somewhere along the road.
Form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. Hmm . . . Okay, I can see these elements in my own reality to some degree. Form, sure. Sensation, okay. Perception . . . Subtle. Mental Formations . . . also subtle. Consciousness. Hmm . . . It's in here somewhere.
Perception "registers whether an object is recognized or not (wikipedia)." Okay. I think that this makes sense. Is this the mechanism by which sensations are categorized into existing mental formations? As in, I recognize that sound, that is the sound of a "bell." A "bell" is a particular spectrum of matter that my mind has identified as an individual object for convenience' sake.
Mental formations: "all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object" Mental formations seems somewhat straightforward to me now that I'm thinking about it. Thinking of these as "ideas" in the broadest sense seems useful to me, although not a perfect descriptor.
Would it be safe to say that the act of Perception connects Form to Mental Formations?
Sensation: As I understand it, this is simply the mechanism of recognizing an object as pleasant, painful, or neutral. I would presume that identifying an object as such would necessitate the involvement of the Mental Formations? For instance, your ideas (mental formations) about a dog (past experiences) determine whether you are attracted (a "dog lover") repelled (had a frightening encounter?) or neutral (could care less). So sensation would be dependent on both Perception and Mental Formations.
Form: As simple as it seems?
Consciousness. I don't really understand consciousness because I find it hard to "look at." Doesn't consciousness do the looking? How can I see consciousness without some kind of "mental mirror?" Don't I need to look back at the "looking" itself?
When I ponder something (as I just was) where does the pondering take place? Where/how does language arise? Why are my thoughts linear? What arranges/orders my thoughts into a coherent, linear progression? My thoughts are mental formations, right? Some thoughts are heard, some seem to be silent or felt in the body. Are these thoughts different or the same? Are feeling thoughts and "auditory" thoughts identical phenomena at different ends of a continuous spectrum of thought?
I would say that my conceptual understanding of the 5 aggregates is perhaps between 30%-50%. I would say that my experience of the 5 aggregates is perhaps around 5%.
(TO BE CONTINUED)