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I have been practicing mindfulness in daily life by watching my thoughts and emotions.
When I feel angry, jealous, or happy, I can notice it and say, “This is anger” or “This is jealousy.”
Then I look at the reason behind these feelings.
For example, I see that anger often comes when things don’t go the way I expect or want.
I know many causes and conditions are involved, not just my will, and I feel calmer and cling less.
My questions are:
I think just observing emotions is not enough to develop wisdom. Wisdom comes only when we see that these emotions are anicca, dukkha, and anatta.
Also, even though I can notice anger or jealousy when they arise, I don’t want them to keep coming.
What is the right way to reduce these unwholesome emotions without suppressing or fighting them?
I also sometimes feel that I don’t want to stay in this world. It feels like a rush to reach Nirvana.
I know I am clinging even to the path, but at this stage I don’t feel it is wrong.
I would appreciate simple guidance on how to live day-to-day life without fighting my own thoughts.
Theruwan Saranai 🙏🙏🙏
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I am glad that you realized the following: “I think just observing emotions is not enough to develop wisdom.”
- I highlighted that part of your comment above.
1. That is why ancient yogis, before the Buddha (like Ālāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta), could not attain a magga phala.
- Many people who engage in meditation today are like those two yogis. Of course, they are better than those who engage in ‘breath meditation’ because there is no ‘meditation’ in ‘breath meditation.’
2. The problem is the following. You are trying to meditate while in the ‘nava kamma‘ stage or at least toward the end of the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage.
- Those ancient yogis like Ālāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta did not know how a mind becomes defiled in two stages: purāna kamma and nava kamma.
- Before I go any further, are you familiar with those two stages of mind contamination?
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That’s the core problem with “modern Buddhism” = I think just observing emotions is not enough to develop wisdom. Wisdom comes only when we see that these emotions are anicca, dukkha, and anatta.
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Yes. One needs to understand how and why those emotions arise, and what triggers them. Until the root causes and the triggering mechanism are figured out, we can never stop such emotions from arising.
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@AniccaSeeker: You may not have seen my above comment yet. I will wait to hear from you. I cannot explain things until I know roughly where you are on the Path.
- Until then, the following sutta explains what ‘bhāvanā‘ in Buddha Dhamma is: “Bhāvanā Sutta (AN 7.71).” One must first cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna.
- Essentially, one cannot remove defilements in the mind permanently (with the removal of samyojana) until one grasps the worldview of the Buddha and frees the mind of pañca nīvaraṇa at least for a short time.
- The first time overcoming pañca nīvaraṇa (temporarily) occurs at the Sotapanna phala moment.
- So, the first step is to understand Buddha’s worldview. It explains how the ‘world’ (the same as pañcupādānakkhandha) arises through two stages of mind contamination: purāna kamma and nava kamma. No one knows about the ‘unconscious part’ of the pañcupādānakkhandha generation (the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage) until a Buddha discovers it.
- Until then, everyone tries to stop mind contamination with the mind already in the nava kamma stage. They can never reach the purāna kamma stage until they clearly understand how it arises automatically.
- That seems like a lot of work, but it can be done. But one must proceed step-by-step. Before starting on Satipaṭṭhāna, one must meditate (contemplate) on the complete ‘mind contamination process’ occurring via two stages. That allows the mind to overcome pañca nīvaraṇa (temporarily) and attain the Sotapanna stage.
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@AniccaSeeker: You may not have seen my above comment yet. I will wait to hear from you. I cannot explain things until I know roughly where you are on the Path.
- Until then, the following sutta explains what ‘bhāvanā‘ in Buddha Dhamma is: “Bhāvanā Sutta (AN 7.71).” One must first cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna.
- Essentially, one cannot remove defilements in the mind permanently (with the removal of samyojana) until one grasps the worldview of the Buddha and frees the mind of pañca nīvaraṇa at least for a short time.
- The first time overcoming pañca nīvaraṇa (temporarily) occurs at the Sotapanna phala moment.
- So, the first step is to understand Buddha’s worldview. It explains how the ‘world’ (the same as pañcupādānakkhandha) arises through two stages of mind contamination: purāna kamma and nava kamma. No one knows about the ‘unconscious part’ of the pañcupādānakkhandha generation (the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage) until a Buddha discovers it.
- Until then, everyone tries to stop mind contamination with the mind already in the nava kamma stage. They can never reach the purāna kamma stage until they clearly understand how it arises automatically.
- That seems like a lot of work, but it can be done. But one must proceed step-by-step. Before starting on Satipaṭṭhāna, one must meditate (contemplate) on the complete ‘mind contamination process’ occurring via two stages. That allows the mind to overcome pañca nīvaraṇa (temporarily) and attain the Sotapanna stage.
Dear Mr. Lal,
Thank you for your detailed reply and for the sutta reference 🙏
I’m still a lay practitioner working mainly with daily-life mindfulness — seeing how emotions and thoughts arise from craving and expectations, and trying to reduce clinging and aversion. I don’t really do long sitting meditation for hours yet. Instead, I try to observe my actions and thoughts throughout the day and look at them in terms of anicca, dukkha, and anatta.
I’m not very familiar with the terms purāna kamma and nava kamma. What I currently understand instead are vipāka citta and kamma citta, and that these two processes are operating in the mind. I am not sure whether emotions like anger and jealousy are vipāka citta or kamma citta.
If they are vipāka, I can observe them as anicca, dukkha, and anatta.
But if they are kamma, I wish to understand how to prevent them from arising in the first place.
All I currently understand is that everything is conditioned, a saṅkhata, a paṭicca-samuppanna process. Things do not bend according to our personal will; we can only have a limited, conditional influence. Because of this, I see that grasping and aversion lead to dukkha. By reflecting this way, I see the anatta nature — that there is nothing solid to hold on to.
Could you please explain in simple terms what you mean by “purāna kamma” and “nava kamma,” and how I can apply that practically when anger or jealousy arises in daily life?
Theruwan Saranai 🙏
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1. I am glad that I asked you about your understanding of the “purāna kamma” and “nava kamma” stages. I normally respond to comments, thinking that the questioner is familiar with the current posts on the website.
- I first discussed those two stages over two years ago: “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
- However, some background material was covered even before that. You can see the progression in “New / Revised Posts.”
2. However, I recently (January 3, 2026) started a new series of posts to get to the same point with a different approach: “Buddha Dhamma.”
- May be you can start with the new section. Of course, you can first read “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation” and try to see whether you can grasp it, by also perusing through posts in “New / Revised Posts” from late 2023.
3. Please spend some time along the above lines. Once you have some idea, you can start asking questions by citing any specific post.
- A key aspect is understanding the concept of saññā. See, for example, “Saññā – What It Really Means.”
- Maybe you can read that post first and ask questions about anything unclear.
- Please don’t be intimidated by the sheer number of posts. Once you make a connection (the ‘ahā moment’ can come at any time!) and get started, things will become clearer. The only way to learn is to spend time and ask questions about anything that’s unclear.
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Thank you for your guidance and for sharing those resources. I will try to go through some of the posts gradually and reflect on them together with my daily practice.
I am still learning step by step, so I may ask questions if something is not clear. I appreciate your time and explanations.
Bohoma pin, Theruwan Saranai!
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Dear friend AniccaSeeker 🙏🏻
Blessings of peace and love to you and all the dear ones who are looking to improve themselves in this life, through a way which is in line with the big picture and in line with Truth.
A humble suggestion which you could try and see if it is of benefit to you:
1. A line in the water – If it is an emotion which is suddenly upon you, and you know from past experience that it’s not going to last too long, say to yourself the following:
(for example) ”Instead of being angry, I’m going to realize that people doing things I do not like are just results of previous causes. So now I’m going to repeat the name of the Buddha ten times. Namo Buddhaya… Namo Buddhaya… etc. x10. Now I express gratitude that instead of being angry, I could praise the Buddha.”
By that time, two or three minutes should have passed, and the emotion should have calmed down to a great extent.
2. A line in the sand – If it is something on a deeper level, like your mother always asking you when you’re gonna get married, or your boss never saying ‘hello’ to you every time you greet him, we need to realize that this is our jati. We can try the suggestion for level one, but if that does not work, we can accept it as being fair, reward for previous choices, and wait it out. We can think of it like as if someone else is having an emotional reaction, and now we just have to wait until he or she gets over it. So now we wait until we get over it ourselves.
3. A line in the stone – If it is something which is beyond level one or two, like fear when someone pulls out a gun, or anxiety when you hear your parent is on death’s bed, we can know that this can only be removed through maggaphala. There’s little we can do about it, and the most constructive thing is just to be motivated by it to find the path and stay on the path.
Namo Buddhaya 🌺🕊️💙
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Dear HugoZyl 🙏🏻
Thank you very much for your kind suggestions and encouragement.
I feel that I can usually handle emotions in the first two levels you described, but the third type is definitely harder for me. I appreciate your advice about repeating “Namo Buddhaya” or using a calming phrase. I think it can help slow down my reactions and give me a little space and time to look at the root cause more clearly instead of immediately reacting.
I will try to practice this together with my mindfulness in daily life.
Thank you again for sharing this with kindness.
Namo Buddhaya 🌺
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Yes. Tackling the third is harder, but can be done once the ‘complete sequence of kamma generation‘ (the same as the suffering generation) is understood.
- That is what a Buddha teaches, and what we need to understand.
- Our mind is in autopilot in the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage. Even though we cannot directly control it, once the complete process is understood, it can be controlled.
- First, we must control kamma generation in the ‘nava kamma‘ stage (abstaining from dasa akusala) and, simultaneously, spend time understanding the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage. That second part is the ‘real meditation’ or Vipassanā.
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I’m sorry if I am asking repeated questions without reading everything in full.
I learn better through discussion rather than reading long paragraphs, and I don’t really have anyone nearby to discuss Dhamma with, I’m not in Sri Lanka and I don’t have access to monks or teachers here. Sometimes I feel a bit helpless, so I really appreciate this forum.
I am still reading about nava kamma and purāna kamma, but meanwhile a question came to my mind:
If everything is conditioned, even thoughts and wisdom, is there such a thing as free action?
If everything arises due to causes and conditions, how does choice or freedom work?
I’m not even sure if I am asking this correctly, but I am trying to understand.
Any simple explanation would be very helpful.
Theruwan Saranai 🙏
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“If everything is conditioned, even thoughts and wisdom, is there such a thing as free action?”
1. Good question. This question gets to the heart of the distinction between the ‘purana kamma‘ and ‘nava kamma‘ stages.
- The ‘purana kamma‘ stage, especially at the beginning, runs on ‘auto pilot’ without thinking, and is controlled by two things: (i) the number of unbroken samyojana one has (at the very beginning in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage), and (ii) one’s mindset (gati, pronounced ‘gathi’) at that moment (toward the middle of the ‘purana kamma‘ stage). Therefore, controlling this process requires comprehension of the ‘purana kamma‘ stage.
- On the other hand, we become aware of our thoughts in the ‘nava kamma‘ stage, and thus are able to control them. This is where we do mano, vaci, and kaya kamma (dasa akusala) with intention.
- One must live a moral life controlling the ‘nava kamma‘ stage, while learning Noble Truths/Paticca Samuppada/Tilakkhana to eliminate samyojana and gati in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage.
- I described the basic idea in “Kamma Nirodha – How Does It Happen?“
2. You wrote, “I learn better through discussion rather than reading long paragraphs.”
- If you understand Sinhala, the following discussion could help understand the ‘purana kamma‘ and ‘nava kamma‘ stages (they have more): “බුදු දහම, මාර්ග ඵල සහ මග වැඩීම“.
- I referred to it in #6 of the post “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
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Dear friend AniccaSeeker🌷
Sympathy and compassion for you concerning feeling lonely. It is something the most followers of the Dhamma in 2026 have to go through. We can remember it’s better to be lonely while walking on the right road than having friendly company while walking on the wrong road.
Concerning free will vs predestination.
Some humble constructive thoughts. This is probably similar to the kinds of tricky questions which were asked of the Holy Buddha: Is the universe finite or infinite? Is the body and the self one thing or not one thing? Does the Buddha exist after passing away or does he not exist after passing away? …etc…
In morality, philosophy, western religion or eastern religion, there is a big variety of ideas about the topic of free will. As a youngster, I just did what I wanted to do (no-idea). Then I became a Christian (predestined), then Daoist (free), then Hindu (both), then Non-dualist (neither). ☺️
Perhaps it is just another attempt for a human being to try to find permanent happiness for himself/herself. This is of course ignorant of anicca, dukkha and anatta. This ignorance will lead on to making kamma. To stop and say, ‘But who is making it? Is it my will or is it God’s will or is it the universe or is it fate?’ Mmm… Not useful. Not skillful. Insight is useful and skillful. Insight like what Venerable Lal is sharing on this wonderful website.
May all escape from unskillfull ways of thinking.
Namo Buddhaya 💛
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Dear Lal, and HugoZyl, 🙏
Thank you both very much for your time, patience, and kindness in responding to my questions.
I truly appreciate the detailed explanations as well as the gentle guidance and encouragement.
I realise that sometimes I may be chasing answers intellectually instead of calmly observing anicca, dukkha, and anatta in my own experience. Your responses helped me see that balance more clearly.
I feel that with the right causes and conditions, understanding will naturally grow as a result. So for now I will continue practicing mindfulness in daily life without worrying too much about resolving every philosophical question immediately.
Thank you again for your compassion and support.
Theruwan Saranai 🌺
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We wish you well in your efforts. May the Blessings of the Triple Gem be with you in your efforts! Theruwan Saranayi!
- However, regarding your comment: ” So for now I will continue practicing mindfulness in daily life without worrying too much about resolving every philosophical question immediately.”
- The question of whether ‘colors’ are present in the external world is not a philosophical issue, if you intended to say that.
- First of all, it is an established scientific fact that ‘colors’ are NOT present in the external world. However, most scientists and philosophers are on the wrong track, trying to explain how the ‘perception of color’ arose through evolution.
- The ‘perception of color’ (and taste, smell, touch, etc., that also lead to a ‘pleasure sensation’) ARE built into our bodies via Paticca Samuppada. One becomes a Sandiṭṭhiko (Sotapanna) by comprehending that: “Sandiṭṭhiko – What Does It Mean?“
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