Let me see whether I can address some issues in Lang’s first comment today (December 10, 2025 at 11:14 am) ;
1. Lang wrote: “I have trouble understanding the phrase “attaching to kāma saññā“, and I have read all the posts and tried to digest them to the best of my ability. I have always understood attachment (tanha) in the context of vedana, as per paticca samuppada: … vedana paccaya tanha …”
- In most cases, it is hard to distinguish between saññā and vedana, especially at the very beginning of a sensory event.
- Just below your above comment, you wrote: “Seeing the blue sky on a beautiful day could lead to a good feeling (somanassa vedana), and attachment (tanha) is to that vedana.”
- No. The first attachment is to the ‘saññā of blue sky on a beautiful day.’ The sky (or anything else in the world) does not have the blue color. The mind goes through many steps before reaching the “vedana paccaya tanha” and “tanha paccaya upadana” steps in Paticca Samuppada. See the chart in #6 of “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
- In many cases, it is hard to distinguish between saññā and vedana. See “Saññā Gives Rise to Most of the Vedanā We Experience.”
- It is critical to understand saññā. See, for example, “Saññā – Hidden Aspect of Paṭicca Samuppāda.” See different types of saññā discussed starting from #6.
- It takes a determined effort to understand these deep concepts. Feel free to ask questions on any of the above by referring to the post and relevant bullet numbers.
- I am glad that Lang spoke his mind. That is the only way I can determine which issues to focus on.
2. After that, Lang wrote: “(2) Person B looks at the same blue sky on such a beautiful day and could have a bad feeling (domanassa vedana) instead. B’s story could be something like: “Last year, on a day just like this, I lost a loved one”, and tanha in B arises dependent on that domanassa vedana.
- There, the ‘blue sky’ is not the cause of domanassa vedana for person B. The reason for his domanassa vedana is in your following sentence: “Last year, on a day just like this, I lost a loved one.”