Thank you for sharing your experience and insights.
You wrote:
“I will watch my thoughts, as they become my words.
I will watch my words, as they become my deeds.
I will watch my deeds, as they become my habits.
I will watch my habits, as they become my character.
I will watch my character, as it becomes my destination by strengthening the fetters.
That is how I will train.”
That is an excellent plan. Maybe the last one should be revised as “I will watch my character, as it becomes my destination by weakening the fetters (anusaya/samyojana that give rise to a defiled mind).”
The following could be helpful:
The mind of any average person (puthujjana) in our human world (in ‘kama loka‘) works in a three-stage process when it receives sensory input.
1. Upon receiving sensory input, the mind moves to the ‘kama loka‘ based only on the fact that it still has the ‘kama raga anusaya‘ (same as ‘kama raga samyojana‘) intact. They represent the samsaric (or sansaric) bond to the ‘kama loka.’ This stops only after one attains the Anagami stage of Nibbana.
- With this step, the mind moves to the ‘purana kamma‘ stage.
- Here, ‘purana kamma‘ means ‘initial kamma‘ accumulation. The very early and weak kamma accumulation is with ‘sankappa‘ which are a weak form of sankhara.
2. The next level of ‘kamma accumulation’ (still in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage) depends on the specific sensory input and also on one’s gati (character/habits) at that moment. One’s gati can change even from moment to moment. For example, when one consumes alcohol or drugs, one’s character will change.
- Based on the specific sensory input and one’s gati at that moment, one’s mind begins to accumulate slightly stronger kamma.
- That second stage of kamma accumulation (still in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage) is with ‘sara sankappa‘, a slightly stronger form of sankhara.
Kamma accumulation in stages 1 and 2 happens within a fraction of a second, and we are not even aware of it. Only a Buddha can discover that extremely fast process.
3. If the mind firmly attaches to that sensory input, it reaches the ‘tanha paccaya upadana‘ step in Paticca Samuppada. This is stage 3. With that, the mind enters the ‘nava kamma‘ stage.
- A Paticca Samuppada process starts with “avijja paccaya sankhara‘ and goes through several steps before reaching that ‘tanha paccaya upadana‘ step. It should be clear that those steps happen in the #1 and #2 stages (while in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage) discussed above.
- Stage 3 is where we consciously accumulate strong kamma through body, speech, and mind; these are kaya, vaci, and mano kamma, and the strongest sankhara are generated here.
- Once we become aware of kamma accumulation in this stage, we can wilfully control it. This is the ‘nava kamma‘ (or ‘new kamma‘) accumulation stage where strong kammic energies that can bring vipaka into even future lives are generated.
All sensory inputs force the mind into the ‘purana kamma‘ stage; this is triggered by one of several types of ‘kama saññā’, and it is a deeper aspect to study. Only some of them will proceed to the ‘nava kamma‘ stage, based on the strength of the ‘attachment.’
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That provides a basic outline.
- As we can see, we do not have direct control over the first two sub-stages within the ‘purana kamma‘ stage. However, the Buddha taught how we can do that by fully understanding the details of those two early sub-stages in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage.
- First, we try our best to cultivate ‘good gati‘ and abstain from ‘bad gati.’ See “The Law of Attraction, Habits, Character (Gati), and Cravings (Āsavas)“ and “Habits, Goals, and Character (Gati)“
- To stop the very first stage in #1 above, the ‘kama raga anusaya‘ (same as ‘kama raga samyojana‘) can only be eliminated at the Anagami stage of Nibbana.
- Before that, one must attain the Sotapanna stage by studying the Buddha’s teachings more deeply and cultivating wisdom (paññā).
So, it is a good idea to read those two posts above. More related posts are in “Moral Living and Fundamentals.”
- Also, it is a good idea to start learning Paticca Samuppada. Those last steps mentioned above for attaining the Sotapanna and Anagami stages depend on that.
- See “Paṭicca Samuppāda.” Some posts there need revision. But the ones listed at the top are likely recent or recently revised.
One main point is that we can get considerable relief by changing our gati (pronounced ‘gathi’).
- However, the only permanent solution is to attain the Sotapanna stage. Once that is attained, the subsequent steps (including the Anagami stage) can be attained without the help of others.
Your comments indicate your determination to make progress. Be patient and start learning systematically. I hope the overview above helps in some way.
P.S. By the way, don’t worry about the popping up of <br> in the text. Those are hard to edit out, but I can do that easily.
