The Five Skandhas

Various people have told me that the idea of the Five Skandhas is difficult to understand. The word in English comes out as "heaps" or "aggregates" or "a group" (as in a group of grapes). People wonder, "Why is it called 'aggregates?' What does that mean?" Furthermore they ask, "Why is the SELF, or the personality, equated with the five aggregates?" I've even heard people ask, as they struggle with understanding, "Why not six aggregates?" And one Buddhist writer has proposed a sixth aggregate.
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So this whole doctrine, though an important part of the Dharma, remains obscure. However I will assert that the meaning of the Five Skandhas is logical, rational, and easy to understand. The problem as I see it is that scholars of the Pali texts have fostered confusion by relying on written tradition which when translated into English makes the doctrine of the Five Skandhas illogical and confusing. (For example, read a definition and explanation of "formations.") Peoples' doubts are legitimate. The Mahayana tradition on the other hand has bequethed us a rational and clear explanation, which fosters understanding of the Dharma, not confusion.
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When one observes his own thought processes, he can watch an orderly progression through the skandhas, and watch an unbroken repetition of the process, as long as one CLINGS to the skandhas. This clinging constitutes the SELF that we know and identify with. But as the Buddha taught, clinging to the five skandhas is an obstacle to enlightenment, and that by not clinging, by overcoming clinging, we can be liberated, free from the illusory SELF, unattached to ME and MINE.
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In discussing this process below, I will use Yogi Chen's English translation of the five sanskrit words. And because the process is circular, we can begin with any one of the skandhas, but to make the explanation easy, I will begin with CONSCIOUSNESS rather than the usual FORM. The progression then becomes: CONSCIOUSNESS, FORM, RECEPTION, CONCEPTION, and MENTAL CONDUCT.
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CONSCIOUSNESS (vijnana)
This is a small "heap" (skandha) consisting of only six items, the consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Any one of the six can be either conscious or unconscious at any time.
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FORM (rupa)
This is the largest heap, infinite in size. Forms are not only objects visible to the eye, but also all the objects of the other senses.
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RECEPTION (vedana)
This heap is infinite is possibilities, however it occurs only when one or more of the consciousnesses is linked to one or more of the senses. Just because a form is perceptible and a sense organ is conscious does not mean that reception is taking place. For example, when strolling along the road, daydreaming, reception is taking place between the mind and the mind-objects, but even though the eyes and ears are wide open, there may be a complete lack of reception of sights and sounds. Another characteristic of reception is that several senses may be active simultaneously, as when eye-ear-mind are all receiving while taking in a movie. The RECEPTION step is the decision as to which of the infinite forms has highest priority at the moment.
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CONCEPTION (samjna)
This is another large heap, but limited to those forms for which we have words or conceptions. After reception takes place, the internal naming and identifying process is a necessary (though almost instantaneous) step before one moves on to the fifth skandha.
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MENTAL CONDUCT (samskara)
After conceptualizing the received sense-object, a heap of thoughts spool out in internal or external verbalization. This process can go on for a long time, one thought leading to the next, the whole thought process set in motion by the previous four skandhas. Thus, the stream of mental conduct continues until replaced by another consciousness-form-reception link-up. That is, something else grabs the attention, a more compelling form appears.
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The first sentence of the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra states that Avalokiteshvara ended all distress and suffering by the realization that the Five Skandhas are in fact shunyata.