So far in these introductory lessons, we have seen that:

• Spiritual growth can be accomplished by:
  • abandoning "negative" or "unskillful" qualities (harmful habits of thought and action that lead to suffering); and
  • adopting "positive" or "skillful" qualities (beneficial habits that lead to well-being).
• In the Lam Rim ("Stepwise Path") of spiritual growth, each step builds on the preceding steps.
• The "Intention → Reception → Reflection → Realization → Dedication" algorithm contributes to spiritual growth at each step.
• "Calm abiding" meditation increases the effectiveness of the algorithm, as well as being a useful technique in everyday life.

For a better understanding of how this works, we can use the concept of the skandhas - the five "aggregates" that compose an individual's personality: form, sensation, perception, consciousness, and mental formations. Here’s a model of how they function as an integrated signal processing chain:

• Form (Rupa): This is the physical aspect, the "hardware" of the mental biocomputer.
• Sensation (Vedanā): This occurs when contact is made with a stimulus. The sensation is the initial, raw sensory data, such as sight, smell, taste, sound, or touch, which may be experienced as pleasurable, painful, or neutral, even before it is processed by the mind.
• Perception (Samjna): Following sensation, perception involves recognizing and labeling the experience.
• Consciousness (Vijñāna): This processes the perceived signal into a coherent stream of awareness, and may produce an Action.
• Mental Formations (Saṅkhāra): This is the substrate or "operating system" of the mental biocomputer, including memory, habitual behaviors, and instinct or reflexive functioning. It operates continuously to monitor and influence the signal process chain, based on instinct, memories, and habits, and builds new memories and habits in turn.
  • This layer may "short-circuit" the signal processing chain, for example, by producing a reflexive action directly from sensory input.
  • It may also produce "feedback loops", introducing new thoughts to consciousness in response to a previous stream of thoughts.

Obviously, this model is a great simplification of actual neurophysiological processes, but it is sufficient for an understanding of what we are doing in the Lam Rim: we are transforming the mental formations, forming new memories and habits. In time, these will produce new patterns of skillful behavior, and the older, less skillful patterns will atrophy from non-use.