I am glad to hear that firwrns has understood the basic concept of vinnnana: “I now think this is a mistake. Vinnana, vedana and sanna are not rupa. Vedana, phassa and sanna are cetasika, while vinnana is the overall experience of the cittas and cetasikas we experience in any given moment.”
This is a critical understanding that lead to the knowledge of the “namarupa paricceda nana”, i.e, how vinnana give rise to rupa formation starting with just nama (citta,cetasika). Very few people understand this key idea.
Vinnana is the mindset (hopes/desires) that arises via in the “sankhara paccaya vinnana” step in paticca samuppada (PS). Here it is the javana power in (abhi)sankhara that creates kammic energy (kamma beeja) that gives rise to future rupa (namarupa) formation.
– That is the “vinnana paccaya namarupa” step in PS.
Also see, “Kamma Viññāna – Link Between Mind and Matter” and the post referred to at the end of that post.
It takes an effort to understand such key ideas. But the result is fully worth the effort. As the Buddha explained (as quoted in the above post), vinnana does not belong truly in the nama or rupa categories. It is the “link between the two and is in the middle”.