Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

I was listening to a series of talks by Donald Rothberg at Dharmaseed, and he kept referring to the "Ladder of Inference". He seems to be explaining it as a map of how papañca is proliferated, though that was not it's original intention. I found it interesting as something to study along side dependent origination, and as something to remember while being mindful during daily life. You can find more info here: http://www.systems-thinking.org/loi/loi.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

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Real Data & Experience

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He mentions several things to watch out for to "bring you down" the ladder and allow you to experience things as they really are. They seem to coincide with the 4 foundations pretty well, and it's interesting to watch for these things while contemplating the ladder. In his talks he mentions:
Tracking thoughts
Watching emotions
Staying with the body
Checking for reactivity
Noticing repetition of thoughts
Acknowledging pleasant and unpleasant

You can find the excellent series of talks here: http://dharmaseed.org/talks/?search=get ... =-rec_date" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;