Reply To: Witness consciousness and Buddha nature

#52729
taryal
Participant

1. Step 8 is the critical one. As long as one has not removed certain samyojana/anusaya, that mind will automatically attach to the object if it is “an object of interest.” Conscious thinking is NOT involved.

It is interesting that we talk about a “mind” as if it is a well defined entity, despite knowing that in reality there are only complex manifestations of causes and conditions.

After Step 8, say the person chooses to consciously generate thoughts about the object and walk towards it to “see” it better. Then the following operations would transpire:

  1. With the aid of kammic energy sustaining the bhava, hadaya vatthu generates cittas.
  2. Then a signal (kirana) is sent to the mana indriya in the brain
  3. An electrical activity is generated in the brain which uses energy from food to generate transferrable electrochemical signals
  4. Via PNS, they are sent to the peripheral parts of the body to cause movement.
  5. (#3 to 4 takes roughly about 6 seconds (according to Libet’s experiment)

I’d like to confer about the #1 step since the decision is made here. Is there a more detailed mechanism that explains how it happens?