Thanks for the directions.
I’ve read those posts and a few others and there are still some questions lingering. Hopefully, you can address these. Any kind of answer/support is very much appreciated!
1. You’ve mentioned sankhara happens in the tanha paccaya upadana, but also in upadana paccaya bhava. What, then, is the reason Buddha said it’s tanha paccaya upadana instead of tanha paccaya sankhara, sankhara paccaya upadana, upadana paccaya sankhara, sankhara paccayay upadana, etc.?
2. If tanha happens and then we start acting with avija, does that mean two parts of the same cycle are running simultaneously? For example, let’s say tanha paccaya upadana is activated, then we start acting with avija, hence avija paccaya sankhara is initiated at the same time?
3. You said, “We don’t just start acting with avijja without a reason.”
But because there’s avija, there is tanha, so technically it precedes tanha. But here it is meant in a more active/conscious way as in starting the whole cycle then?
4. If a cycle is always initiated with an arammana, why does it start then with avija and not with, let’s say, salayatana?