Avijjā is Triggered by Kāma Saññā in Kāma Loka

Avijjā is defined as “ignorance of the Four Noble Truths.” The Four Noble Truths explain how suffering in the kāma loka arises via attaching to “worldly pleasures” with kāma rāga. Here, we discuss how such “perceptions of worldly pleasures” are mind-made and arise via kāma saññā generated by Paṭicca Samuppāda. We can say that avijjā is the ignorance of this “mind-fooling” mechanism. 

September 13, 2025

Root Causes of Suffering – Avijjā and Taṅhā

1. Those who are exposed to Buddha’s teachings know that a root cause of suffering is the ignorance of the Four Noble Truths (avijjā). Sometimes the root cause is stated as our tendency to attach to sensory pleasures, i.e., taṅhā. 

  • However, as we all know, it is not easy to overcome our tendency to attach to sensory pleasures.
  • No matter how hard we try, it is quite hard to overcome that ‘instinct’ or ‘the perception’ that certain sights, ot tastes (to take just two examples) have ‘attractive qualities’ embedded in them.
  • Men are attracted to “good looking women’ and vice versa, and we all like to eat tasty foods.
The Greatest Magic Trick – The “Mundane Reality”

2. Everything that falls within “the world” (all sentient beings and the external environment) is very much real. Scientists conduct numerous studies on human health and bodily functions (medical field), animals (zoology and veterinary science), plants and trees (biology), and the motion of inert objects in physics (ranging from microscopic particles to the motion of the stars and planets).

  • Scientists can design rockets to go to the Moon. The Moon is real, and the rocket getting there and coming back is real. 
  • When it comes to our sensory experiences, any investigations done within conventional methods also confirm our experiences.
  • For example, humans experience sweetness when consuming honey or sugar. Scientists have confirmed that the sweetness of sugar comes from the sucrose molecules it contains. We can call this the ‘mundane reality.’
  • In mundane reality, there are ‘mind-pleasing things’ in the world: sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touches. Those are ‘external rupa‘ in the world. In this mundane reality, pleasures seem to be embedded in those rupa. For example, honey has a sweet taste, and the conventional understanding is that the sweet taste is in honey. Same for the sights and other sensory experiences.
‘Greatest Magic Trick’ Cannot be Uncovered within the World 

3. Until a Buddha is born in the world, humans can only know about the mundane reality. There were yogis (like Alāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta) who realized the drawbacks of sensory pleasures; they saw how people engage in immoral actions seeking sensory pleasures. Furthermore, they found that abstaining from sensory pleasures enabled them to cultivate jhāna, which they found to be far superior to sensory pleasures. 

  •  However, since they also believed sensory pleasures are embedded in external rupa, they went deep into the jungles to escape sensory attractions. 
  • That enabled them to cultivate rupa jhāna and arupa samāpatti. However, that approach did not release them from future suffering. That is because those ‘jhānic or samāpatti pleasures’ available in the rupa and arupa lokas are also ‘tricks’ created by the mind! 
  • Initially, the Buddha (or more correctly, the Bodhisatta) learned those techniques from the two yogis.
  • However, the Bodhisatta realized that their approach to attaining jhānās (by suppressing kāma rāga by hiding in the jungles) did not break the bonds of samsāra. That is when he left them and discovered the ultimate reality of the world. It revealed that “mind-pleasing sensations’ are generated in the mind itself (via ‘jhāna saññā’ in rupa loka, ‘samāpatti saññā’ in arupa loka, and ‘kāma saññā’ in kāma loka).
  • For simplicity, we will focus on ‘kāma saññā’ in kāma loka below.
The ‘Ultimate Reality’ Uncovered by the Buddha

4. What if we come to realize that any food item, no matter how tasty, has no intrinsic taste in it? What if we can realize that no woman (or a man) is intrinsically attractive? That all this time, we have been fooled by the greatest ‘magic trick’?

  • That will make it much easier to give up cravings (taṅhā) for ‘sensual pleasures.’
  • That is exactly what the Buddha taught. He discovered that the ‘trick’ has two parts: (i) Because of our ‘wrong perception’ of sensual pleasures (kāma saññā), we generate (abhi)saṅkhāra, which in turn generates kammic energies, (ii) Kammic energies accumulated over lives lead to future rebirths that will generate corresponding viparita (distorted) saññā.
  • Thus, those who cultivate jhāna, for example, generate kammic energies to bring future rebirths with ‘jhāna saññā’ in rupa loka. However, until the corresponding saṁyojana are broken via the comprehension of this mechanism, no one is released from rebirth among the 31 realms.
  • Thus, it is a vicious cycle that cannot be broken until a Buddha discovers that process!
Two Realities and Paramatta Dhamma

5. Ignoring the “pleasurable sensation” of worldly pleasures (especially sights, sounds, tastes, smells, touches) will become much easier if they turn out to be “not real.” The Buddha pointed out that there are two “realities.”

  1. What we experience through our senses is real because our bodies and the world around us are all supposed to provide such sensations. This is the mundane reality.
  2. However, that is not the ultimate reality (paramatta dhammā) because the world is sustained via “our collective mind constructs.” Here, “us” means “all sentient beings.” See “Paṭicca Samuppāda Creates the External World, Too! .”
Avijjā Is the Inability to Grasp That Process

6. One key aspect of avijjā is the inability to grasp that profound teaching.

  • We all have enjoyed seeing conventional magic tricks. If it is easy to figure out the trick, there is no enjoyment. However, if it becomes difficult to figure out the trick, we may even believe that it is a real effect. 
  • The ‘magic trick’ associated with life is the greatest one anyone has ever experienced. Even when explained by a Buddha, it is not easy to figure out the ‘trick.’

7. Most people realize they need to stop attaching to sensory pleasures to even attain a jhāna, let alone to attain Nibbāna.

  • However, it is not easy to do (especially if they don’t know about the ‘trick’). People today are bombarded with sensory attractions (movies, TV, video games, etc.), and it’s much harder to even suppress the desire to enjoy sensory pleasures. 
  • However, if they can understand that all those sensory pleasures are not real, and are mind-made, it becomes easier not only to suppress them, but also to make a determined effort to eliminate them.
  • That is why I think it is quite useful for anyone to try to understand the importance of “seeing with wisdom’ the origin of the “distorted saññā‘ (types of saññā present in kāma, rupa, and arupa loka). It is enough to understand the ‘kāma saññā‘ in kāma loka; the same principle applies to rupa and arupa loka. 
Attachment to a Mirage Is the Cause of All Suffering!

8.  The basic idea of how suffering arises according to Buddha’s teachings can be explained as follows: (i) There are pleasurable things (sights, sounds, tastes, smells, touches, and memories). (ii) When we try to get “more of them,” we tend to engage in immoral deeds (akusala kamma). (iii) Those akusala kamma are responsible not only for suffering (sickness, injuries, etc) during life but also for bringing rebirths in “undesired realms” like the animal realm. 

  • Therefore, the solution to the problem of suffering is “not to attach to pleasurable things.” Yet, that is easier said than done!
  • It could be worse, because if one tries to avoid “pleasurable things,” that can lead to anger or at least frustration. 
Avijjā and Taṅhā Can be Stopped from Arising!

9. Please think about the above. It seems to be an unresolvable problem. Yet, it can be done by understanding the ‘trick.’

  • The key is to understand the root cause of avijjā and taṅhā. That both are Paṭicca Samuppanna (arising via Paṭicca Samuppāda) and arise due to ‘kāma saññā’ in kāma loka.
  • Let us discuss that critical idea using a couple of suttās.
Role of Saññā in Triggering Avijjā and Taṅhā

10. In the “Gotama Sutta (SN 12.10),” the Buddha described how he realized how the whole world is created via Paṭicca Samuppāda.

  • @marker 2.1: He realized that all the suffering associated with old age (jarā), death (marana), etc., is initiated by each rebirth (jāti). Whenever jāti arises, it always endures suffering and ultimately leads to suffering. Suffering cannot be stopped until jāti is stopped. 
  • However, how does the mind create the seeds (kammic energy) that lead to jāti? The mind must focus its attention on something enticing to attach to it and generate kammic energy. @marker 2.2: ‘kimhi nu kho sati jarāmaraṇaṁ hoti, kiṁpaccayā jarāmaraṇan’ti?  

11. The breakthrough came: “Tassa mayhaṁ, bhikkhave, yoniso manasikārā ahu paññāya abhisamayo: ‘jātiyā kho sati jarāmaraṇaṁ hoti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇan’ti” OR “I realized with wisdom:‘When rebirth exists there’s old age and death. Old age and death are conditional on rebirth.’

  • Then, @marker 3.1, he goes through the steps that lead to jāti. Those are bhava (which is accumulated kammic energy), upādāna (consciously attaching sensory inputs seeking ‘pleasures’), taṅhā, samphassa-jā-vedana, samphassa, salāyatana (12 types of ajjhatta and bahiddha āyatana), nāmarūpa, viññāṇa, saṅkhāra, and avijjā.
  • @marker 4.1: Therefore, the generation of jāti begins with “avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā” and proceeds through the nine steps to culminate in “evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti” or “all kinds of suffering.”
  • He concluded “That is how this entire mass of suffering originates” or “evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti” (@mareker 4.3).
  • That was the realization of the “previously unheard Dhamma of a Buddha” (@mareker 4.4).
All Terms in Paṭicca Samuppāda Arise in the Mind

12. It is critical to realize that all terms in Paṭicca Samuppāda arise in the mind first.

  • It is clear that the initial terms are all associated with the mind, ranging from avijjā to bhava. Bhava is kammic energy accumulated via kamma done via the body, speech, and mind, all of which are based on (abhi)saṅkhāra that arise in the mind.
  • It is customary to associate jāti with only “births with a physical body.” However, initial jāti arise in the mind while one is accumulating kammic energy. Consider the case of a person (X) in the process of killing another (Y) by repeatedly stabbing with a knife. First, the thoughts of killing arise in the mind (mano saṅkhāra); then X may threaten Y with speech (vaci saṅkhāra); then X is engaged in stabbing Y (that physical action is done with kāya saṅkhāra). All types of saṅkhāra arise in the mind. The critical point is that while generating the three types of saṅkhāra, X has the mindset of an animal or a hell being; X is literally “born a vicious animal.” Once the killing is done, X may ‘come back to his old self’ and may even regret killing Y. Thus, X was temporarily ‘born a vicious animal,” and then that “jāti” goes through some of the steps of jarā, marana, soka, etc. That ‘temporary jāti‘ will end up in marana. 

13. X has now accumulated kammic energy suitable to bring rebirth as an animal. That will remain in viññāṇa dhātu as “bhava energy” and can lead to X being reborn as an animal in the future. That will also correspond to “bhava paccayā jāti” in a Paṭicca Samuppāda cycle at a future time when bringing that rebirth!

  • One must be able to differentiate such occurrences and not try to apply “bhava paccayā jāti” only for rebirth.
  • We can make a couple of critical observations based on the above discussion.
“avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” = “avijjāya sati saṅkhārā honti“

14. Another critical point can be resolved with the above discussion. We saw that the complete Paṭicca Samuppāda process runs in the mind first to generate bhava or kammic energy that could (depending on the conditions) bring future vipāka. Furthermore, the step “upādāna paccayā bhava” and “bhava paccayā jāti” steps must arise in the mind at the cuti-paṭisandhi moment to grasp a new existence.

  • However, for that to happen, a Paṭicca Samuppāda process must be initiated at the cuti-paṭisandhi moment with the initial step “avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā.”
  • In the above-discussed “Gotama Sutta (SN 12.10),” the following verse appears @marker 3.13: “avijjāya kho sati saṅkhārā honti, avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā’ti.” Translation: “when avijjā manifests in the mind, saṅkhārā arise, (which means the same as) avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā.”
  • It is confirmed by reciting the opposite too @marker 6.13: “avijjāya kho asati saṅkhārā na honti, avijjā nirodhā saṅkhāra nirodho’ti.” Translation: “When avijjā does not manifest in the mind, saṅkhārā do not arise, (which means the same as) with cessation (nirodha) of avijjā, saṅkhārā will also not arise (nirodha).”
  • These points also appear in other suttās; see, for example, “Parivīmaṁsana Sutta (SN 12.51).” 
  • Now we come to the focal point of this post.
It is “Built-in Saññā” That Triggers Avijjā

15. All the terms in Paṭicca Samuppāda are “paṭiccasamuppannā dhammā” or “dependently originated phenomena.” See “Paccaya Sutta (SN 12.20).”

16. Then the question arises: Why isn’t there a term “saññā paccayā avijjā” in Paṭicca Samuppāda? 

  • That is because saññā (“distorted or viparita saññā“) cannot be stopped from arising! It is built into our bodies as well as into the external sensory objects in the world. In contrast, all terms in Paṭicca Samuppāda can be stopped from arising; that is why it is not included.
  • However, once a mind fully comprehends the ‘true nature of the world’ (yathābhuta ñāna), it will not trigger avijjā based on that ‘distorted or viparita saññā.’
  • That yathābhuta ñāna is realized in the four stages of Nibbāna (Sotapanna, Sakadāgāmi, Anāgāmi, Arahant), completing at the Arahant stage. 
  • Thus, even the mind of an Arahant generates that “distorted or viparita saññā” but will not attach to any sensory input based on it.
Summary

17. With any sensory input, the mind creates its own version of the external sensory input, i.e., the mind-made rupa does not reflect the true nature of the external rupa. The mind creates its version of that external rupa based on the “distorted or viparita saññā” that it experiences simultaneously with the incoming sensory input.

  • For example (as I have mentioned many times), the sweet taste of honey is a “distorted or viparita saññā.” Such a taste is not in honey in the ultimate reality. Yet, scientists who study these things can prove that the sweet taste of honey is real and is due to the presence of sucrose molecules in honey. This is the mundane reality. Until one comprehends the ultimate reality, one remains trapped in the mundane reality, and thus, in the cycle of rebirth.
  • Our bodies AND honey both arise via Paṭicca Samuppāda. The sensors in human tongues are designed to provide a “distorted or viparita saññā” of a “sweet taste” upon encountering sucrose molecules in honey or sugar. 
  • Yet, in other species (we can compare only with animals since we don’t see beings in other realms), sugar may not provide a “sweet sensation” with their tongues. That holds for many animals like tigers or cows. However, there are some animals, such as bears, that also experience the sweet taste. 

18. When the mind of a puthujjana experiences such a saññā, it attaches to it, because of the ignorance (avijjā) that they believe that saññā is associated with that external object, whether it is the sweet taste of honey or the beauty of a woman.

  • However, an Arahant has “seen with wisdom (paññā)” that those “attractive qualities” (kāma guṇa) are not inherent in honey or women, but that impression is automatically generated by our minds. That is why “saññā” is called a mirage, and viññāṇa is called a magician by the Buddha. See “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā).” 
“Built-in Saññā” Does Not Operate in Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi

19. Another critical point: The “distorted or viparita saññā” does not arise while the mind is in Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi.

  • We have discussed how it is possible for the mind of a Sotapanna to become free of the kāma saññā (“distorted or viparita saññā” in kāma loka) and transition to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi.
  • We have discussed that in “Overcoming Kāma Saññā – Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi or Jhāna” among other posts.
  • If one can get to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi, one can verify that for oneself. The mind becomes free of the ‘kāma saññā‘, and one can think much more clearly. One truly has “Sammā Sati” only while in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi.

20. Posts in the current series at “Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta – New Series.”

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