Reply To: Post On Kāma Guṇa – Origin of Attachment (Tanhā)

#45594
Lal
Keymaster

Yes. Two of my older posts were not entirely correct (I think it was just one post that had it wrong, with the other one not being clear) I had not read them for a few years. I have corrected the main issues in them.

Rather than making more revisions to those two posts to make it clear, I think it is better to start from a different angle that may provide a better understanding. That series of posts will start with the next post. I will make further adjustments to those two old posts as we proceed. So, it is better to wait until I post the next post.

  • Kama guna” (“iṭṭhā kantā manāpā piyarūpā kāmūpasaṃhitā rajanīyā” OR “.. likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. …” ) are defilements that arise in the mind. That happens because one believes external rupa, sadda, gandha, rasa, and phottabba (touches) intrinsically have “enticing properties.”
  • If kama guna are objective (inherent) properties of a sense object, we will not be able to remove them.
  • The Buddha explained that precisely the opposite is true. kama guna are what we subjectively assign to “mind-pleasing things.” See my two comments above. That is why it is possible to remove them from our minds.

Anyone living in the kama loka would have “kama sanna.” Attchement to “kama sanna” with “kama guna” does not occur for an Arahant. (However, an Arahant in Arahant-phala samapatti or nirodha samapatti would not have “kama sanna” either.)

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