Part 14 - Becoming: When Identity Demands a Future

“With clinging as condition, becoming.”
— SN 12.2

What is becoming?

Becoming (bhava) is the momentum of identity
pushing itself into the next moment.

It is the drive to continue being:

  • this person
  • with this story
  • in this world
  • chasing these outcomes

Becoming says:

“This must go on.”

It is the project of self.

The mechanics of becoming

When clinging says:

“This is me,”

becoming says:

“And I must keep existing.”

Three components converge:

1️⃣ Momentum
 Habits driving repetition
 → reactions firing automatically

2️⃣ Identity investment
 Protecting who “I am”
 → narratives constructing continuity

3️⃣ Kamma
 Intentions shaping what comes next
 → future experience being prepared

Becoming is the engine room of saṁsāra.

The illusion of progress

Becoming makes promises:

  • “I will be happier later.”
  • “I will be complete when…”
  • “I can fix myself through more becoming.”

But becoming has one requirement:

  • suffering must continue to exist
    → as the justification for more becoming

The self needs a problem to solve
so the self can continue.

The ego survives by fixing a world
that it keeps breaking.

The emotional flavor of becoming

Becoming feels like:

  • striving
  • anticipation
  • fear of failing
  • fear of disappearing
  • constant incompleteness

Even pleasure feels incomplete:

it must be renewed

Thus:

  • becoming is never finished
  • the self is never satisfied

Becoming is restlessness made into identity.

How to see becoming directly

Watch for:

  • the “next moment” obsession
  • the “I must continue” tension
  • the subtle fear of ending
  • the resistance to stillness

When the mind cannot allow:

  • a moment to stand alone
  • an experience to fully end

Becoming is active.

Culmination Link for Part 14

Craving wants.
Clinging owns.
Becoming insists:

“There must be a next moment
in which I remain.”

As long as becoming operates:

  • the chain must continue
  • suffering must resume
  • identity must return

But if becoming stops:

  • there is no next moment for suffering
  • there is no self to continue it

Dependent Origination collapses
when the future is no longer required.