Neglecting personal values can lead to negative consequences and suffering. It can also be a complex issue that is deeply rooted in our habits, desires, and perceptions. To understand how neglecting personal values can affect us and how we can break the cycle, we can turn to the Twelve Nidanas of dependent origination, a Buddhist concept that illustrates how our thoughts and actions arise from complex causes and conditions.

The first step in the Twelve Nidanas is Ignorance (avijja), which refers to a lack of understanding of the importance of personal values for our own well-being and that of others. This can lead to a lack of direction or purpose, which can in turn make it difficult to prioritize our personal values over personal gain or convenience. Our mental formations (sankhara) are then conditioned by this ignorance, leading us to form habitual patterns of neglecting our personal values.

These habitual patterns can have a profound impact on our consciousness (viññana), making us prioritize our egoic desires over our personal values. This can lead to negative or unskillful behaviors, such as lying or cheating, as our attention is focused solely on our own needs and desires. Our body and mind then manifest in a way that is susceptible to neglecting personal values (nama-rupa), and our sense organs (salayatana) interact with the external world, providing us with opportunities to act in accordance with or against our personal values.

When we encounter situations that challenge our personal values or provide opportunities to act in accordance with them, we experience Contact (phassa), followed by Feeling (vedana). This is where we may experience inner conflict between acting in accordance with our personal values and acting in accordance with our egoic desires. If we give in to our desires, we may develop a strong Craving (tanha) for personal gain, pleasure, or convenience at the expense of our personal values, which can intensify our attachment to our egoic desires (upadana) and lead to further internal conflicts and suffering.

This clinging to egoic desires and neglect of personal values then reinforces our habitual patterns and karmic tendencies (bhava), perpetuating the cycle of neglect. Our neglect of personal values manifests in the form of choices and actions that are contrary to our core values, leading to negative consequences in personal and interpersonal relationships (jati), which can ultimately lead to mental suffering and external conflicts in old age and death (jara-marana).

To break the cycle of neglecting personal values in the Twelve Nidanas of dependent origination, we can take several steps. We can start by learning about the importance of personal values and how they contribute to our own well-being and that of others. We can actively work on changing our habitual patterns of neglecting personal values and cultivating awareness of our actions and their impact. We can also align our mental and physical faculties with our personal values, practice restraint, develop emotional intelligence, cultivate equanimity, recognize when we are rationalizing our behavior, and make choices that lead to positive outcomes for ourselves and others. By valuing our personal principles over materialistic gain, building meaningful relationships based on mutual respect and trust, and living a life that is true to our principles, we can prioritize our personal values for greater mindfulness, well-being, and happiness.