[Yash RS]

If everything is Anicca, does that also mean that our thoughts also arise based on causes and conditions?

In that sense don’t we have any control over our thoughts as well?

We humans have free will as there is a “lag” between our thoughts and the brain acting on it. During that lag we can control what we want to do.

When we say there is no “I” but a mind and body. What does it exactly mean? Doesn’t the mind have the ability to control its thoughts?

[Lal]

This is why it is necessary to understand the “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages. 

• The “purana kamma” stage happens automatically due to unbroken samyojana. the mind goes through this stage in a split second.
• The “nava kamma” stage is where we have free will to control our thoughts, speech, and actions. 
• We have to start the “cleansing process” in the “nava kamma” stage and gradually take the mind toward the “purana kamma” stage. 
• At the same time, one must learn the the details of the “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages. That means learning about “distorted sanna“, Paticca Samuppada, etc. 
• At some point in this process, one will become a Sotapanna Anugami, and the mind will get the ability to bypass the “purana kamma” stage and move into the “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi, ” allowing the  mind to be free of the “distorted sanna.” Here, one can contemplate Dhamma concepts without being hindered by the “distorted sanna.“
• That is when one becomes a Sotapanna by breaking three of the ten samyojana. 
• Once becoming a Sotapanna, one must make the effort to get into the “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi ” as often as possible.  “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi ” is where one can engage in Satipaṭṭhāna effectively and start breaking the remaining seven samyojana
• Once all ten samyojana are eliminated, the “nava kamma” stage will not be initiated based on ANY sensory input.
• Those are the steps involved. 

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The basic process in the chart in #1 of “Pāth to Nibbāna – Learning Dhamma to Become a Sotapanna.”

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lotus, Yash RS

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