The five aggregates, let's talk about four of the five. We have the body, that's one, we have the other four that are from the mind. I like to refer to these four as four processes. When we think of the word process, it means some sort of activity, rather than part of an actual mechanism. Sometimes in the scriptures when they talk about the five aggregates, they use the analogy of a chariot, that it has different parts. It has the wheel, it has the standing or sitting spot, it has this, it has this, it has different parts. We can actually see that they are parts of some material object. I don't like that analogy being used with four of the five aggregates because the four are actually processes rather than a part, like a material part.
So we have Perception, that's our memory bank. We look at something, we perceive what it is. You look at me, you perceive a number of different things, you perceive Steve, you perceive dark hair, whatever, ok you perceive things, that's your perception from past conditioning. If you didn't know my name, you could never perceive me as Steve, so all this is based on past conditioning. It's like a memory bank, Perception, a process the mind does regularly.
We have Vedana, feeling. Vedana again is a conditioned process. You look at me, imagine it's not right here, let's imagine you're in town next week and you're shopping and you see me. What's your Vedana going to be? Probably pleasant, "Oh my gosh, there's Steve!" So that's conditioned. Now the person standing next to you in the shop, who has never met me before, doesn't know me, might see me also as I maybe walk in the door, you see me, you like it, pleasant Vedana, person next to you sees me, pfff! They might hate me! I might remind them of their stepfather! So it's all based on past conditioning again, all your Vedana is a process based on past conditioning.
Mental Formations, that's the biggie. If you don't know already, that's where all the Dukkha is created. Perception itself does not create any Dukkha, it's just a memory bank. Vedana itself does not create any Dukkha, it's just a conditioned pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feeling that arises within you. It's in the Mental Formations where we make our stories. You see me in the shop, you have a pleasant Vedana arise, your perception labels me, you have a pleasant Vedana arise from that, too, and then you might start thinking, "Oh, what's Steve going to think, I've got makeup on!" or something. Whatever! All of a sudden Mental Formations takes over, and we're often into Dukkha of one sort or another.
Mental formations builds a story. You're sitting in the hall, somebody coughs, you note, "hearing, hearing." You go back over to the subject you're on, that's fine. You had a Perception, you noted it, you came back. The Vedana would have been very neutral. No problems, no Mental Formations follow it. Sometimes, the person's in the hall, they hear somebody coughing, they don't note "hearing, hearing" and come back. Instead they might think, "oh, coughing", and unpleasant Vedana may arise because it distracted them. Then they built a story, "Well that person shouldn't be in the hall! They're distracting everybody. They should get out of here!" Blah blah blah blah. Mental Formations, that's where we start creating things and we can create our Dukkha. So again, it's a process.
The fourth process is Consciousness, Vinnana. Consciousness is actually always working with the other three as to which is predominant in a certain moment. Consciousness is our knowing quality. You could be in that shop, and you could be very busy talking to somebody, and you happen to see me walk in the room but you're so busy talking that the perception doesn't click. Consciousness did not move over onto our perception of the eye seeing color and form, and recognizing it. So the consciousness is still working with our speech, talking with somebody else and interacting with them. Even though the eyes are staring straight at Steve, they won't see Steve. If it's aware of the Vedana, fine, it's aware of the Vedana, if it's aware of the Perception, fine, it's aware of Perception, or it can be aware of the Mental Formations. So Consciousness is working with the other three.
I can't really explain Citta. This is a word that is used in Thai Buddhism, sometimes to indicate "what goes from one body to another." There is dispute over what this word really means, the scholars don't agree. So people like us who are practitioners may not really have to get involved in this word. As to the Thais, whenever you ask them about the mind, they point here to the heart area. You ask them about the brain, they point to their head. You ask a Westerner about the brain, they point to the head, and the same if you ask them where the mind is. So this Citta-type mind, as far as the Thais are concerned, is in the heart area.
Now maybe you'd like to make an experiment. Sometime when you're having body pain, and you really actually try to do the Unpleasant Physical Sensations technique seriously, you're pushing some of your limits, if you want to test something, go straight to the heart area and see what's happening here physically. Go straight to what's called the Citta and see what's happening, it may be interesting for some of you.