This is the right forum for your questions.
Yes. Paticca Samuppada (PS)is very complex. Avijja and tanha go together. They are both removed at the Arahant phala moment.
You asked: “Perhaps more clearly, can avijja paccaya tanha by doing so without the involvement of sankhara, vinnana, namarupa, salayatana, phassa and vedana? ”
- The key point is that the PS cycle runs from “avijja paccaya sankhara” to “upadana paccaya bhava” step in the suddhashtaka-generating step.
- That “bhava energy” created up to that point can now bring vipaka EITHER at that moment OR at a later time, starting from “bhava paccaya jati“.
- This is a highly-condensed answer to your question. It is probably not necessary to get into such details, but I mentioned it because you specifically asked. Sometimes, one needs to get to deep Abhidhamma to explain subtle points.
- It is enough for most purposes to understand that a particular bhava (and jati) arises due to the cultivation of certain type of (abhi)sankhara, based on one’s level of avijja and gati.
– Within there, many complex inter-connecting steps can occur, like “sankhara paccaya avijja”
– All this happens within a fraction of a second, in javana citta in a citta vithi.
– In particular in a “uppatti PS”, the vipaka may come much later, even in a future birth. So, the “bhava paccaya jati” step comes later.
– In pavutti PS, the results appear at that time. For example, when one is drinking alcohol at a party, one is generating kaya, vaci, and mano sankhara related to that and may end up in the “drunkard bhava” and a “drunkard jati” (become drunk) at that time.
– For example, births in the apayas are due to the cultivation of apunnabhisankhara or immoral deeds/speech, and thoughts. Births in a rupavacra brahma realm is due to the cultivation of rupavacara jhanas, which is a type of punnabhisankhara.
– Both are done with avijja, but at very different levels.