Do you undermine mind using mind? Is this a vicious cycle or what?
What is it that powers your mind?
“What a pity, nobody’s got the sight,
Eyes all blind and the world full of light”
Dependent origination and cessation. I just list down the ones within the mind below to let you see how mind creates itself, strictly speaking, it involves matter as well, but I leave it out for now.
Ignorance, volitional formations, consciousness, name, the mind sense base, the mind contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, rebirth and death, sorrow, lamentation, displeasure, despair. None of them are self.
How can karmas/kammas that performed by the not-self, affect the self?
If there is no self, who will in future time receive the results of karmas performed by the not-self?
There’s the conventional self, which is merely a label for the impersonal (not self) 5 aggregates. The volitional formations does the kamma, the other 4 aggregates receives it.
No self doesn’t deny individuality, which is the property that the mind stream doesn’t branch off into many bodies in-between death and rebirth. Unlike real river which can split and combine, the stream of consciousness is separated, each individual has their own. The kamma done by one individual is theirs, not others. The ignorance, attainments etc each individual has is passed down in their own rebirth chain. Each person remembers unique past lives chains which doesn’t overlap with others. Person A and B doesn’t recall they are the same person C in the past.
This individuality characteristics is also not self as it ends at parinibbāna. Whereby there’s no mind or body to pin a characteristic of individuality.
1 Like
I think you responded to the question very well, and closely connected to the notion of personal dhatu in SA/SN: Self vs Individual - #65 by thomaslaw
1 Like
The earliest Mahāyāna text, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, states that the Perfection of Wisdom is for both Bodhisattas and Sāvakas. As time went on the texts became more hostile. This is probably reflecting a frustration with Abhidhammikas “just not getting it”.
1 Like
Something members on this forum may sympathise with! From both sides 
I think there’s a parallel with the Diamond Sūtra as well. It uses ātman, sattva, jīva, and pudgala for referring to emptiness. Which of course are all person-based terms. It seems to have no rhetoric of a distinction between personal and phenomenal emptiness. Though that itself may be the rhetoric, I suppose.
1 Like
A lot of Abhidhammikas think the Perfection of Wisdom abolishes the Abhidharma or basic Buddhism. Of course it doesn’t. Ven. Nagarjuna and his followers all still made use of their Abhidharmas, or general conventional reality. You could say the Perfection of Wisdom is mastery of ultimate reality, whilst the Abhidharma is mastery of conventional reality. The union of the two 
1 Like
Hi , it seems above is not in accordance with the Teacher’s middle way . Above saying are from the ultimate point of view which bypasses first and second round of the path . Buddha’s teachings doesnt direct us to seek for True arising or True cessation but instead looking at what actually is happening through wise reflection in the beginning of the path at the first round . Lacking of essence doesnt mean there is no conditioned arising or appearing . The path has three permutations or rounds where cessation happens at third round .
Yeah. Though I think the āgamas themselves cover enough of what people would need the Abhidharma for. It can be useful to study different Abhidhamma schools for specific points and if it is helpful for practice. But I don’t see many particularly relevant aspects Abhidharma offers that the suttas do not. Do you?
The discussions on virtue are most excellent. The discussions on meditation and the different methods are also most informative. There are other benefits too. How does one understand Kasinas for example without the Abhidharma and commentaries? You can’t really.
1 Like
The question is whether we need to practice kasina methods ? And does it leads to insight and dispassion ?
That depends on the personality of the person. Of course it does, for those who need it.
How does practising kasinas brings about insight and dispassion ? If you dont mind elaborating .
Exalted states of consciousness are dependent.
Lots. How to explain Bhavaṅga, or deep sleep where one isn’t aware, but consciousness is still there. How to classify boredom as aversion. How to know the list of volitional formations. How to see the mechanism of mind cognitive process as one by one mind moment and why Jhānas as one pointedness cannot have 5 phsyical senses functioning or else it’s not one pointed.
How to identify the mental factors as appeared in meditation. How to use Jhānas to verify the exact mind processes before Jhāna, inside Jhāna etc.
This appears to be a misconception , the aggregates doesnt works in such a way .
Hello @Max, I’m sorry I cannot understand what you are trying to say or why you perceive what I wrote as in error. Can you elaborate? I did not deny that things arise or cease. Is that what you read? 
In that case , could you explain why does you say we are looking for true arising or true cessation ?
Because that is what appears to ignorance? I’ve certainly gone looking for it and could not find it no matter how hard I tried. Have you found true arising or true cessation? Does it not appear to you?