Reply To: Determinism

#50247
Lal
Keymaster

Yes. This is a subtle and vital issue. Taryal has a general sense of it.

  • Even though there is no “me” in the ultimate reality, everyone below the Arahant stage has a “sense of me” because they do not comprehend the true nature of reality.
  • That ignorance is avijja
  • That avijja manifests when one attaches (automatically) to certain types of sensory inputs based on the types of gati they have at that time. One’s gati can change based on one’s associations (mostly family and friends). The “Gati Sutta (AN 9.68)” describes the five major gati that lead to rebirths. There can be innumerable gati within those five types.
  • The first three gati are removed (and one becomes free of rebirths in the apayas) at the Sotapanna stage when one starts comprehending Buddha’s worldview, i.e., when critical wrong views (sakkaya ditthi) are removed. The other two are removed at the Anagami and Arahant stages. That requires removing “distorted sanna
  • I am traveling for several days and may not be able to respond fully. But I will try to find time to respond further when I have more time. In the meantime, please ask more questions so I can answer them all.