Siebe said: “I believe the unconditioned is the stable.”
That is exactly right. But only an Arahant is at the unconditioned state. The question is how does one get to that stage: step-by-step. See, “Is It Necessary for a Buddhist to Eliminate Sensual Desires?“.
A related point:
When Siebe says he cannot see a difference from day-to-day (in the first post), that is because he is not “seeing it with panna”. This is actually what most of us perceive.
– We don’t see a change from day-to-day, but the change is apparent to the “physical eyes” only over a relatively long time. Same with the mind: Our minds do not see any change from day to day (that is because our gati do not change that fast).
We need to learn to “see” with wisdom (panna).
We know that we have changed physically over the past 10 years, say. We can even look at a picture taken 10 years ago and even see with our own eyes.
However, we may or may not be able to see the change over even a year by looking at an year-old picture.
– But if we think about it, we will realize that we much have changed somewhat over a year, because a few years more and we will be able to see the change.
We can keep doing this division to shorter and shorter times. Logically, even over a second, we would have changed at least a minute fraction.
– That is how one “sees” the change with wisdom. The change is incessant, it never stops. We just don’t “see it”.
If we don’t make an effort, the change is to the down side.
– If we don’t exercise or eat well, our physical bodies will degrade over a year. In the same way, if we don’t make an effort to be “more moral”, the natural tendency is to “enjoy the moment” and the consequence will be to “worse gati” over a year for sure.
Of course, in order to see a “big improvement” of our gati, we must comprehend the anicca nature. That will help us stay away from unwise immoral actions (and more importantly immoral thoughts).
As we discussed in “Sankhāra – What It Really Means“, our conscious thoughts (vaci sankhara) play a huge role here, in helping comprehend the anicca nature, and thus in changing one’s gati.
P.S. The book “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Joseph Murphy gives a mundane version of how our thoughts (the way we think) can make a huge difference. The more we think in a certain way (good or bad), our subconscious mind changes accordingly. This is another way of saying that our gati change according to the way we think.