Dependent Origination in Action?

Recently, I've had in interesting insight into how thoughts come up for me.

When I note thoughts, I ask myself, 'I wonder what my next thought will be?' and then wait and watch. This has been hit-and-miss: sometimes I'd get lost in thought waiting for thoughts to arise. I finally realized that I was only looking for obvious, verbal thoughts. I'd completely missed the quick, brief images that would also arise.

So it turns out that I often have clusters of images run through my head very, very quickly and faintly. So, for example, I'd look at a truck I'd pass on the highway, and that looking would spark a series of images or verbal fragments that run their course quite quickly. Each image or fragment would be linked in some way to seeing the truck, and each one might spark a few more, and each of those might spark some more. I also might get some related vedana or mindstate pop up, and those arise and pass much more slowly than the images.

If I'm not paying very close attention (as usually happens), thinking will follow one of these chains, curiosity will come up, and the next thing I know, I'm planning to check out the Mack Trucks product line when I get to work.

Interesting stuff. I've recently started reading Thinassaro Bikkhu's book on dependent origination, 'The Shape of Suffering.' Dependent origination is now my new hammer, and this insight clearly looks like a nail.

I wonder if I'm seeing a fragments of dependent origination in action -- the thought and verbal fragments that pop up (conditioned things, mental fabrications), all their associated vedana, then the curiosity sparking a craving for more information on trucks, and then finally the birth of an identity centered around satisfying that craving.

Comments?

Did you catch this Dharma talk? kennethfolkdharma.wetpaint.com/thread/48...Before+the+Theravada

Best explaination of Dependent Origination that I have heard. Really good stuff.

I'm actually working my way through that series now. John Peacock is a good lecturer, and I love how his points tie together in many different way. I'm currently part-way through the third in the series.

In which lecture does he bring up DO?

FWIW, I've heard several audio/video lectures on Dependent Origination already, but wanted something that provided more in-depth coverage than is possible in either an audio or video lecture. I'm also old-school in that I also wanted something I could carry around and read where ever I was.

It is in the Buddhism Before the Theravada series. Probably for the last 3 hours of it or so.

I took extensive notes on those talks. I could post them so that folks don't have to listen to all 8 hrs to get the message, though someone would have to tell me how. There's a character limit to making posts here...

I would love to see this. I think you just have to either make multiple posts or upload a word doc it to a public dropbox or something so we can just download it.

I don't want to have to split it. I'll make it available for d/l.