Hello Jorg,
You wrote: “It’s somewhat confusing to me in regard to the PS cycle, since there it’s avija paccaya sankhara, paccaya vinnana all the way to tanha paccaya upadana. But here, in the chart, it shows sankhara are happening in between these two steps.”
Even though the PS cycle, in its standard form, starts with “avijja paccaya sankhara” that NEVER happens in practice.
– We don’t just start acting with avijja without a reason.
It is only if we get attached to a sensory input (arammana) that we start acting with avijja.
– First, we attach with tanha.
– Then it is at the “tanha paccaya upadana” step, that we start acting with avijja. “Upadana” means to “keep that arammana close” and try to get more enjoyment.
– That is explained in #4 of the post.
That is an important point. I tried to explain it systematically in the new series of posts:
“Paṭicca Samuppāda During a Lifetime”
If you read those starting with the first post there, it could be more clear.
Please feel free to ask questions from any of those posts.