This article, based on talks Ven. Nigel gave at The Root Institute,
Bodh Gaya in 1994, forms the first in a short series explaining the
broader principles of the teaching of Emptiness, & examines the ways
in which our mistaken view of reality perpetuates our suffering. This
brief appraisal presents what is essentially the Hinayana approach
to Emptiness, a comprehension of which is vital when considering the
later Mahayana interpretation.
The first of The Buddha's Four Noble Truths is Suffering, or Dukkha.
If Suffering exists, then it must have a cause, & that cause is identified
as Ignorance. Ignorance is not taken in this sense to be merely a
state of "not knowing", as in the case of "not knowing anything about
nuclear physics", but rather to be unaware of the true nature of phenomena,
& how they appear to us. Ignorance, or fundamental unawareness, forms
the first in a "chain" of twelve links, which are identified as Pratityasamutpada,
or "Dependent Origination". The twelve links are as follows:
1. Ignorance
2. Mental Formations
3. Consciousness
4. Body & Mind
5. Six Senses & their objects
6. Contact
7. Sensation
8. Desire
9. Attachment
10. Existence
11. Rebirth
12. Death
Mental Formations are the prompters of action; actions that spring
from Mental Formations conditioned by Ignorance are themselves conditioned
by that same Ignorance. Striving to give tangible form to Mental Formations
is the activity of Desire, & the constant round of Ignorance, Mental
Formations, actions & Desire gives rise to the condition of Existence.
Action is Karma; that is what the word "Karma" means - it doesn't
mean "fate" or "retribution" & has no moral aspect. Karma, or action,
is what it is. If it is action flowing from an informed source, the
actions will tend to the positive, if the action is uninformed, or
unskillful, then it will bear to the negative.
Consciousness informs both the body & the six senses, which give
rise to the experience of tangibility. In Buddhism, the mind is considered
a sense, along with the other five, & contact with external phenomena
made through the senses, together with subsequent sensations & attendant
desires - either for a repeat of pleasant sensations or the cessation
of unpleasant sensations - gives rise to the condition of Rebirth.
Rebirth is the condition that gives rise to old age, sickness & death,
& it is the cycle of these arising conditions, from Ignorance, through
Mental Formations & the rest, that inform the ever-repeating & cyclical
process of birth & death.
For as long as the condition of Ignorance exists, the cycle of birth
& death is perpetuated. This cycle has no beginning, & no end. It's
like entering a stadium in which a football game has already begun,
& where neither the names of the teams, nor any of the rules are known.
By the time all that information has been established, & one feels
ready to settle down & enjoy the game, it's time to leave. Leaving
brings sadness & distress, so attached have we become to our knowledge
of the teams & the rules, so strong is our desire to know which team
won the game. After leaving the stadium, we spend all our time & effort
re-entering again. In the absence of greater understanding, we have
no choice. Liberation from the endless cycle of Rebirth & Death is
effected through the destruction of Ignorance, & the realisation of
an accurate view of the nature of Existence. This accurate or "Right"
view is the first step along the Noble Eightfold Path, which comprises:
1. Right View
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Contemplation
8. Right Meditation
It is through the realisation of this path that the endless chain
of births & deaths is broken, although the establishment of any one
"step" is the establishment of the whole path. Without Right View,
there could be no Right Thought. Without Right Thought, there could
be no Right View or Right Speech. Without Right Speech, there could
be no Right Thought or Right Action. Without Right Action, there could
be no Right Speech or Right Livelihood. Without Right Livelihood,
there could be no Right Action or Right Effort. Without Right Effort,
there could be no Right Livelihood, or Right Contemplation. Without
Right Contemplation, there could be no Right Effort, or Right Meditation.
Without Right Meditation, there could be no Right View.
The Buddha taught that all phenomena arise & come into being through
conditions & that once in appearance, these phenomena maintain a conditional
relationship with all other arisen phenomena. More than that, no one
phenomena is in any sense fully "separate" from any other since all
share a conditional existence, both in their conditions of origin,
& in their relationship one to another.
Despite a belief in our ability to "cause things to happen", essentially
the conditional process by which phenomena arise is impersonal, being
inherent in the process of "appearance". As far as the senses are
concerned they are the informants of consciousness, which, through
the process of contact with external phenomena, inform sensations:
sensations inform consciousness, contact informs sensations.
Contact with external phenomena therefore introduces an external
influence on the repeating cycle of Contact, Sensations & Consciousness,
but should not be considered as a mechanical, sequential process.
Rather, these varying internal & external contacts & sensations, together
with their impact upon consciousness, combine, arise & disintegrate
with bewildering speed. Neither is it a linear process; the events
in consciousness triggered by contact & sensations appear & disappear
rapidly & spontaneously, & may be likened, perhaps, to a firework
display, where explosions, eruptions & showers of lights & sparks
occur randomly throughout the night sky, with no indication as to
where the next outburst might take place. It should therefore be evident
that attempts to "manipulate" the process - by a deliberate act of
consciousness, an act that we believe we can separate from the perceived
process as a whole - is futile. Moreover, such an idea itself is but
another eruption in a constantly changing field of sensations & perceptions.
As with the firework display, the only means through which we might
participate in this process is through the observation & appreciation
of the spontaneous & random nature of the phenomenon. The method we
employ for this observation & appreciation is meditation.
The quality of spontaneity & randomness is applicable to the twelve
links of Dependent Arising as a whole. Although set out in "lists"
& formulae, The Buddha's teachings should never be considered as unfolding
in a mechanical or itemised order. There is no logical progression
from one stage of Dependent Arising to another; Ignorance, Mental
Formations & the rest, are not isolated units connected by a thread
of progression - they should not be thought of as stations on a railway
line. Without Mental Formations, there would be no Ignorance, & so
on - any "stage" is a point of origin, any stage is the completion
of a given cycle, & all permutations, as mentioned before, occur innumerable
times in a fraction of a second of conscious existence.
Our persistent belief in the validity of "I" - a separated self
capable of actions with an originating cause & an absolute will through
which external objects may be organised, draws a veil over our perception
of how phenomena arise, abide & dissipate. It is through the delusive
"I-idea" that Ignorance is expressed. Cutting through the veil is
the realisation of the delusion of the "I-idea", understanding that
Karma(Action) & Rebirth (the re-appearance of "I" in another delusive
identity) occur within actions themselves, & are not separate from
them. Actions & outcomes do indeed possess characteristics of "separateness"
but nevertheless, both arise in dependence, one upon the other. Actions
exist in dependence upon outcomes, & vice-versa. Neither actions nor
outcomes can be found to exist from their own side.
All phenomena arise due to conditions conducive for their appearance,
whether they be the deluded I-identity, a cat, a motor-car, or any
other manifestation that is apprehended as an "object" & "separate".
A "thing" exists in relational dependence upon the conditions of its
appearance & other apparent "things". The existence of manifest phenomena
is itself a condition, giving rise to further appearing phenomena.
The mistaken apprehension of objects as separate & existing from their
own side is deeply-rooted in our perceptual existence, & the extent
to which actions are conditioned by this perceptual error is the extent
to which successive beings are reborn in Ignorance. According to the
Hinayana, Rebirth is itself Ignorance & the Suffering that flows from
it. The cessation of Suffering is therefore dependent upon the cessation
of Ignorance & the resulting cessation of Rebirth. The Hinayana interpretation
of Nirvana is therefore one of annihilation.
Buddhist Teachings are often referred to as "The Dharma". The word
"dharma" has a number of meanings & connotations, one of which is
"truth". Buddhist Teachings are referred to as "truth" because they
express the means through which the truth of the existence of apparent
phenomena may be apprehended. Complete realisation of The Four Noble
Truths is the means through which liberation from Ignorance is attained.
Buddhists in antiquity analysed mental & physical phenomena in terms
of "dharmas" developing the theory of Dependent Origination thereby.
They concluded that nothing existed independently, & that no matter
what the nature of the arisen phenomena, it nevertheless bore a conditional
relationship to everything else, & could not be completely & finally
separated. The world is stated to exist on both the physical & mental
planes, but just as those planes are themselves mutually & presently
conditioned & related, so too with mutually conditioned relationships
that have existed in a beginningless past. The whole field of interaction
is itself considered a collective dharma, which is expressed through
the presence of objects & sensate experience which, whilst having
characteristics that distinguish them one from another - human beings,
cats, motor-cars & so on, are nevertheless conditionally related,
& therefore never wholly separate & independent. In fact, without
their inherent dependence upon other phenomena & their conditional
existence, they themselves could neither be described as "existent"
nor indeed, "non-existent".
IN SUMMARY
The realisation of the false perception of existence through comprehending
the twelve links of Dependent Origination rends the veil that separates
us from an accurate or "Right View" of the world, & the true nature
of its existence. Desire lies at the root of our suffering, & with
reference to the twelve links, "Desire" may be grouped with Attachment,
Existence, Rebirth & Death, forming an "inner core" of suffering within
the sequence as a whole. Desire, Attachment, Existence, Rebirth &
Death succinctly describe the suffering nature of unenlightened existence,
& how the cycle is regenerated life after life, for as long as Ignorance
exists.
It must be borne in mind when considering the twelve-link chain
of Dependent Arising, that although Buddhist teachings are traditionally
presented as groups, lists & categories - four of this, eight of those,
six of something else, & so on - this is NOT the way in which these
elements arise in actual experience; the former are but models of
organic processes that are spontaneous, random, appearing & disappearing
constantly. As a result, it means that the twelve links of Dependent
Arising, like other articles of the BuddhaDharma, may be contemplated
both backwards & forwards, or, any point in any schema may be taken
as the point of commencement of that sequence. For example, when considering
the twelve links of Dependent Arising, Body & Mind might be taken
as the starting point, thence proceeding through Consciousness & Mental
Formations to an originating Ignorance, or proceeding through the
Six Senses, Contact, Sensation & Desire, leading ultimately to Death.
Every link is a "beginning" or an "end". It is said that The Buddha
attained to Enlightenment by meditating upon the twelve links of Dependent
Arising in just this fashion.
Copyright © 2004 by Nigel Edmonds. All rights reserved.
