“Panca upadanakhanda being compared to drinking the poison, seems to imply that suffering begins at the upadana stage(pulling object of greed/hatred closer), rather than beginning at the tanha stage(getting attached).”
- Yes. That is correct.
“Is there a deliberate reason why the Buddha called it “panca upadanakhanda” instead of “panca tanhakhanda?”
- The reason is in the above statement.
It is the upadana that we have control over, not tanha.
If it was tanha that leads to “bhava” WITHOUT having the upadana step in between, then no one will be able to attain Nibbana.
This is a VERY IMPORTANT point. If this is not clear to anyone: Please read the thread from the beginning and ask questions. Be specific what the sticking point is.
To put it in another way, attaining Nibbana is really about getting rid all gati, especially the “bad gati” in the beginning.
– When we get rid of a certain gati over time (by controlling upadana via controlling vaci and kaya sankhara), tanha associated with that gati will be removed eventually.
– One becomes free of the apayas by removing “apayagami gati” or “those gati that makes one do bad kamma that can lead to rebirth in the apayas”. That is the way to the Sotapanna stage. It becomes easier to get rid of”apayagami gati” when one starts grasping the anicca nature.