| Dependent origination R McDowell |
| Islamic Review |
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| 1. What is the doctrine of dependent origination?
The Buddhist doctrine of dependent origination, or conditional arising, called paticca-samuppada in Pali or pratitya-samutpa in Sanskrit, states that all things come into being, or exist, due to the existence of other conditions or causes. It also states that they cease to exist when their conditions are removed. So it is sometimes expressed as follows: � When A exists, B comes into existence. � With the arising of A, B arises. � When A does not exist, B does not come into existence. � With the cessation of A, B ceases to be. This means that everything is connected and interdependent. Everything that occurs does so because of the occurrence of previous factors, and these in turn provide the conditions necessary to cause forthcoming things. Waterhouse explains that this does not mean to say that each and every experience is dependent on one single incident for its existence but that everything comes into being because of a number of contributory conditions. This is the Buddhist principle of conditionality, which applies to everything, except nirvana1. Therefore, there is nothing that occurs or exists, which is independent of other causes. It follows that because there is no absolute, which exists independently, then there is nothing which exists, or has existed, for all time. For this reason, Buddhists maintain that there is no sovereign God of the universe2. It is sometimes thought of as a wheel or a cycle, to which (like karma) man is bound. Horner describes it as a continual process, which has twelve interdependent, conditioned and conditioning links. Each link comes into being (is caused) as a result of the existence of the previous link and this directly causes the appearance of the next link in the wheel. Although the cycle continually revolves, Buddhists believe that man is capable of bringing to an end, once and for all, the revolution of the cycle thereby ending his suffering and gaining peace3. Horner lists the twelve components in persons as follows4: 1. Ignorance. 2. Karmic formations. 3. Consciousness. 4. Name and shape. 5. The six sense fields. 6. The impact on the senses. 7. Feeling. 8. Craving. 9. Grasping. 10. Continued becoming. 11. Birth. 12. Old age and dying, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation and despair. Taken together the above twelve components explain the source of suffering. However, if looked at in reverse order, the list of twelve components also shows how to end that suffering. Harvey describes the different components as follows5: The first of these components, ignorance, is understood to be spiritual ignorance of the �Four Noble Truths�. It could also be said to be ignorance of the doctrine of dependent origination since the two are so closely tied, or ignorance of the Buddhist doctrines of �not self� and �impermanence�. It is understood to be a fundamental misperception of reality and is therefore placed first in the list of twelve although it is itself conditioned by the five hindrances: sensual desire, laziness and so on. The wheel of conditioning may be stopped at this point through understanding, which is gained through meditative insight. The second component, �karmic formations�, also called �constructing activities�, is expressed in both the positive and negative actions of the body, speech, and mind. These are themselves conditioned by the will, which initiates the actions, and to some degree by past events. These too can be affected with insight and mindfulness thus reducing and weakening the will�s ability to influence a person in a negative way. Depending on one�s tendencies, which are themselves conditioned by karmic formations, �consciousness� (the third component) is said to play an important role in the cycle especially between rebirths. So, what links a person to his previous existence is both karma and consciousness. The fourth component, �name and shape�, or �mind and body�, refers to cognition, feeling, etc as well as the physical body. Together, consciousness, mind and body encompass the five khandhas of personality. Their interaction determines the life process of the person and his suffering. The �six sense bases� are the five physical sense organs plus the �mind organ�. They are conditioned by name and shape (mind and body) because they cannot exist without them. These determine our lived experience. The six sense bases cause �sensory stimulation� (the sixth component) which along with consciousness motivates �feeling� (the seventh component) which in turn arouses �craving� (the eighth component). Harvey states that while man cannot control which feelings arise within him, he can alter the degree of his craving. Craving and ignorance are regarded as the two weakest links in the chain. Buddhists strive to weaken craving through discipline and meditation, and eventually to destroy both it and ignorance through wisdom. �Grasping� is seen as ever desperate clinging to the object of craving, which leads on to �continued becoming�, or the continuation of the process of life. Some schools believe that this tenth component refers to an intermediate period between death and rebirth. From continued becoming or existence comes �birth�, or more specifically conception, after which �old age�, �dying� and �suffering� naturally follow. 2. Why and in what ways is dependent origination central to Buddhist teaching? The doctrine of dependent origination is regarded as central to the entire Buddhist teaching. It is said that whoever sees dependent origination sees Dharma (the truth of the way things are) and whoever sees Dharma sees dependent origination6. For a start, it explains the Buddhist belief that there is no sovereign, creator God of the universe and until its cycle is broken, it keeps the cycle of karma and rebirth (samsara) revolving. It is also central to the Buddhist doctrines of suffering, impermanence and no self - �the three marks of conditioned experience�7. The doctrine of duhkha (Suffering) as explained by the �Four Noble Truths� The Buddhist interpretation of suffering is contained within the �Four Noble Truths�. Waterhouse describes these as follows8: 1. The truth of suffering. The first noble truth describes the nature of suffering. It spells out that life as we see it is unsatisfactory and this inescapably leads to restlessness and agitation. Buddhists also claim that the �three poisons� of greed, malice and delusion are the causes suffering. This is supported by the Buddhist assertion that everything is temporary and impermanent. Consequently, even those experiences that evoke happiness themselves ultimately cause suffering because they too are impermanent. 2. The truth of the causes of suffering. The second noble truth explains the reasons for suffering as being due to a person�s inclination to crave for things. Waterhouse states that there are three particular types of craving: craving for sense pleasures, craving for becoming or existence and craving for non-existence. This craving is said to be the reason why a person will do the type of actions that results in his rebirth and from rebirth, his continuing suffering. 3. The truth of stopping suffering. The third noble truth makes it clear that it is possible for man to reign in and eventually stop his craving. By doing so, his suffering will diminish and stop. By stopping his suffering completely, man will gain nirvana. Buddhists understand nirvana to be the end of suffering, hatred, delusion, re-birth, ageing and death. Or in other words, it is peace and serenity, liberation, contentment and happiness. To reach nirvana is the ultimate aim for Buddhists. 4. The truth of the �Eightfold Path�, which stops suffering. The Eightfold Path is described as the �middle-way� between materialism and asceticism. It is the practical guide or way, which, if implemented, will lead to the ending of attachment and craving. The ending of attachment and craving leads to the ending of suffering. The ending of suffering is nirvana. Waterhouse lists the eight elements as perfect resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and view or understanding. The doctrine of dependent origination is central to the Buddhist doctrine of the Four Noble Truths. It explains how duhkha, which is the subject of the first noble truth, arises in the first place, the subject of the second noble truth. It also describes the ending of duhkha, and stresses the importance of doing so, the subject of the third noble truth. The fourth noble truth in practice is the way of breaking the twelve links and thus of ending duhkha. So, here the doctrine of dependent origination provides a strong incentive for the Buddhist to implement the Eightfold Path. The doctrines of aniccata (impermanence) and anatta (no self) The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence states that nothing is permanent (except nirvana) and that everything that comes into being inevitably passes away and ceases to exist9. The law of dependent origination, which explains that everything changes and that nothing remains eternally the same, supports this. This is seen to be the main cause of man�s anxiety and suffering. As man strives endlessly for the security of permanence, he continually suffers because there is nothing that exists which is permanent. Another of the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, supported by the doctrine of dependent origination together with the doctrine of impermanence, is that of anatta, or no self, the view that we are not selves, nor have a self. Because everything is continually changing, nothing is fixed or changeless. Therefore, according to Buddhist teaching, it would be wrong to say that a person has a permanent changeless self. On the contrary, Buddhism teaches that human beings exist only as mental and physical processes10. Therefore, Buddhists maintain that man does not possess a permanent, non-changing, essential nature and that this applies to all things. Nevertheless, Buddhists believe that a person is made up of five skandhas, or bundles, of subconscious and cognitive conditions or incidents. Waterhouse lists these as: 1. Material shape (rupa). 2. Feeling (vedana). 3. Perception (Sanskrit: samjna; Pali: sanna). 4. Intentions and habitual tendencies (Sanskrit: samskaras; Pali: sankharas). 5. Consciousness (Sanskrit: vijnana; Pali: vijnnana) 11. She describes material shape as the physical human body, its five sense organs along with the mind, as well as all the corporeal things or objects in the physical world. Feelings are the personal, or internal sense reactions, which occur through interaction with the external world. Perception, aided by feeling, is understood to be our recognition or understanding of experiences or things. Intentions and habitual tendencies cause our response to our encounters. So, a man�s intentions and habitual tendencies cause good or bad (or indifferent) actions which themselves bring wisdom and ignorance respectively. These actions (or more specifically intentions to act) also determine a person�s karma. A person�s karma fixes a person�s future circumstances (experience). Consciousness, the fifth skandha, is awareness of self and of worldly experience12. Horner states that it is the consciousness that survives the death of the body and is born again into a new material shape. However, it is not the same, it is changed by karma, and therefore cannot be regarded as an eternal unchanging self13. While the doctrine of the five khandha details the elements of personality, the twelve components of the dependent origination doctrine reveal in more depth how the parts of the mechanism of personality interact with each other. They also reinforce the beliefs that none of the five khandha function independently, and that each khandha is continually transforming. For this reason, Buddhists maintain that there is no eternal self, nor is there even an element of the self which is eternal. The law of dependent origination states that everything is dependent on conditions for its existence. Therefore nothing has existence independently and of itself. So, dependent origination is central to the Buddhist doctrine of no self. If nothing has existence of itself, then everything is impermanent. This explains the Buddhist belief that everything a person experiences in the world, even happy experiences because they too are only temporary, are by their nature unsatisfactory and cause anxiety and suffering. Therefore, the doctrine of dependent origination is central to, supports and bridges the core Buddhist doctrines of no self, impermanence and suffering. By becoming aware of exactly how one is conditioned, it is hoped that man will actively set out to alter this process of conditioning thereby reducing his duhkha and in the end, stopping the cycle completely by rising above the conditions and gaining ultimate peace, nirvana. Notes 1. Waterhouse, H (2000). BUDDHISM UNITS 11-13, Open University (Milton Keynes, England) p. 22-23. 2. Ibid. 3. Zaehner, R. C. (1959). THE HUTCHINSON ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIVING FAITHS, Helicon Publishing L. T. D. (Oxford, England) p. 278. 4. Ibid p. 279. 5. Harvey, P (1990). AN INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England) p. 56-60. 6. Zaehner, R. C., op cit, p. 278. 7. Waterhouse, H, op cit, p. 27. 8. Ibid p. 21-30. 9. Ibid p. 23. 10. Ibid p. 24. 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid pp. 25-26. 13. Zaehner, R. C., op cit, p. 280, 282. Bibliography Beckerlegge, G (ed.) (1998). THE WORLD RELIGIONS READER, Routledge (London, England). Gowans, C. W. (2003). PHILOSOPHY OF THE BUDDHA, Routledge (London, England). Harvey, P (1990). AN INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England). Waterhouse, H (2000). BUDDHISM UNITS 11-13, Open University (Milton Keynes, England). Zaehner, R. C. (1959). THE HUTCHINSON ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIVING FAITHS, Helicon Publishing L. T. D. (Oxford, England). |