Since no one else has commented with their perspective, I thought I would respond to Lang’s last comment. This is in no way to ‘put down’ Lang. I am grateful that he was being honest. This material is not easy to digest. First, let me say a few words about that.
1. This is why, just after attaining Buddhahood, the Buddha decided not to teach his newfound Dhamma. He thought, “This Dhamma I have discovered is deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the scope of mundane logic (atakkāvacaro), subtle, comprehensible only to the wise (paṇḍita).”
- For details, see #9 of “Attachment Is to Saññā, Not to Pañcakkhandha.”
2. In Lang’s last comment he wrote: “For the question “Why is this not a ‘big deal?’”, I must admit I do not (yet) see the “big deal” with it in terms of realizing nibbana. I mean no disrespect nor to trivialize this in anyway; I’m just churning all of this in my mind at the moment — very slowly.”
- Yes. It is a ‘big deal,’ and one cannot attain Nibbana without that understanding. We have been exposed to many Buddhās’ teachings throughout a beginningless process of rebirth. Unless one grasps the ‘keys to Nibbana,’ one merely starts over in a new existence.
- That is why attaining Nibbana cannot be measured in the number of attempts. See “The Infinity Problem in Buddhism.”
3. In Lang’s last comment he wrote: “The question then is “So what?”, in the sense of “We know that this is mind-made, so what can you do about it?”. In a way, this reality is all we have: it’s the reality for a particular person (or any sentient being) at that time, dictated by paticca samuppada.”
- What we can do is to fully understand how Paticca Samuppada processes are initiated. Each Paticca Samuppada process is initiated by ‘distorted saññā.’ We will be trapped in this rebirth process until we do. The Paticca Samuppada process stops the moment one attains the Arahant stage. Then it cannot again generate another existence where one is ‘being fooled’ by the ‘saññā that one is born with.’
- See “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
4. However, we must be careful not to totally reject ‘sensual pleasures.’ Many types of ‘saññā‘ are critical for our survival. Our bodies are designed with certain types of saññā to survive in our environment.
- See #10 of “Attachment Is to Saññā, Not to Pañcakkhandha.”
5. Let me try one more time to point out how we attach to ‘mind-pleasing things’ in the world via ‘distorted saññā.’
- As I emphasized many times, the easiest way is to look at the impact of ‘colorful things.’
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Life would be pretty boring without colors! But the world is truly ‘colorless.’ It is the ‘ultimate reality.’
This is a critical point to understand. The following video shows what the world would look like without color (actually with just two colors, black and white).
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- This second video also does not convey the full impact. In a ‘colorless world,’ there is no ‘black or white’ either! Essentially, there will be nothing to see. That is why Paticca Samuppada (or the mind via Paticca Samuppada) makes a ‘colorful world.’
- We will not be able to see any objects without them ‘having colors.’ However, the objects in the world do not have inherent colors. The ‘color perception’ is mind-made via Paticca Samuppada.
- Paticca Samuppada does not try to get us into trouble. It merely prepares one’s internal and external worlds to provide the ‘pleasures’ one is pursuing. Of course, if one engages in immoral deeds, the birth will accordingly be filled with much suffering. The problem is that when one pursues ‘pleasures’, it is inevitable that one will, sooner or later, engage in immoral deeds, which will lead to rebirths in an apaya. Please don’t think you can avoid that in the long run. We know, for example, that Ven. Moggalana was in an apaya just before he was reborn a human to attain Arahanthood.
- The above videos are from the post “Colors Are Mind-Made (Due to Kāma Saññā).”
6. Again, I encourage all to comment. I don’t know what types of unresolved questions one has or how many people understand what I am trying to say. As I emphasized above, ‘tinkering at the edges’ (just engaging in good deeds and living a moral life) is not enough to attain Nibbana. Of course, those things are required too.
- We must understand the deeper aspects of Buddha’s teachings to make a difference.
- Furthermore, one may get depressed only by having a superficial understanding. As I emphasized in #4 above, we must also understand that many types of ‘saññā‘ are critical for our survival. Simple example: We will not be able to drive around without the help of ‘color lights’ at junctions. Even an Arahant would know they must abide by those rules (such as stopping at a red light) to live in this world. But since they have fully understood that ‘colors are mind-made,’ they will not be reborn in this suffering-filled world again.