Pertaining to the section on Vipāka Vēdanā Arise With That Initial Vipāka Viññāna, under point #9 “At this stage, there is no sukha, dukkha, sōmanassa, or dōmanassa vēdanā generated. The mind receives the sensory event. All vēdanā associated with that initial sensory event is a neutral (upekkha) vēdanā.”
I opined the fact that we have a pair of eyes, we inherently have this expectation to be able to see. Expectation is attachment. Attachment brings suffering. Isn’t this expectation dukkha? While not obvious to someone who is not exposed to the dhamma, this expectation seems to form a default mental state of vexation in all normal beings. Isn’t craving for even a pure seeing event that yields only vipāka viññāna also subject a person to dukkha? It becomes very apparent especially when one were to suddenly go blind or enter a room with no source of light for prolonged period of time. Remember, we are not even talking about looking at something that we like here. Expectation runs in the background all the time.
Things we like to see and hope to own, of course kamma viññāna will be present. We are no longer interested in just seeing. We want to look (kamma). Which brings me to another question. If kamma is synonymous to sankhara and upadana, then is it correct to say that the associated suffering that one has bear at this stage is dukkha-dukkha, sankhara dukkha, and viparinama dukkha? Notice the stark difference in the above illustration when one is only craving for seeing. I am trying to see the correlations between the types of viññāna and dukkha experienced by a being at the tanhā and upādāna stages.
Food for thought from sutta reference MN 43:
(Ven. Mahakotthita) “Friend, how is renewed existence in the future produced?”
(Ven. Sariputta) “Renewed existence in the future is produced through the delighting in this and that on the part of beings who are hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.”
It appears tenable that kamma is a natural byproduct of craving. I think that’s why the second noble truth is tanhā and never upādāna. Because by the time one performs kamma/sankhara/upādāna, it’s already too late.