- Dependent Origination
- The Buddhist Law of Conditionality
- P. A. Payutto
- Translated from the Thai by Bruce Evans
Contents
Introduction
1. An Overview of Dependent Origination
Types of Dependent Origination found in the texts
1. The general principle
2. The principle in effect
2. Interpreting Dependent Origination
The essential meaning
3. Man and Nature
4. The Standard Format
The main factors
1. Ignorance and craving-clinging
2. Volitional impulses and becoming
3. Consciousness to feeling, and birth, aging
and death
5. Other Interpretations
Preliminary definition
How the links connect
Examples
An example of Dependent Origination in everyday life
6. The Nature of Defilements
7. Dependent Origination in Society
8. The Middle Teaching
9. Breaking the Cycle
Appendix
A note on interpreting the principle of Dependent Origination
Birth and death in the present moment
Dependent Origination in the Abhidhamma
A problem with the word "nirodha"
Introduction
The teaching of causal interdependence is the most important of Buddhist principles. It
describes the law of nature, which exists as the natural course of things. The Buddha was
no emissary of heavenly commandments, but the discoverer of this principle of the natural
order, and the proclaimer of its truth to the world.
The progression of causes and conditions is the reality which
applies to all things, from the natural environment, which is an external, physical
condition, to the events of human society, ethical principles, life events and the
happiness and suffering which manifest in our own minds. These systems of causal
relationship are part of the one natural truth. Our happiness within this natural system
depends on having some knowledge of how it works and practicing correctly within it,
through addressing problems on the personal, social, and environmental levels. Given that
all things are interconnected, and all are affecting each other, success in dealing with
the world lies in creating harmony within it.
The sciences which have evolved with human civilization, and which
are influencing our lives so profoundly today, are said to be based on reason and
rationality. Their storehouse of knowledge has been amassed through interacting with these
natural laws of conditionality. But the human search for knowledge in modern scientific
fields has three notable features: Firstly, the search for knowledge in these sciences,
and the application of that knowledge, is separated into distinct categories. Each branch
of science is distinct from the others. Secondly, human beings in this present
civilization are of the belief that the law of conditionality applies only to the physical
world, not to the mental world, or to abstract values such as ethics. This can be seen
even in the study of psychology, which tends to look at the cause and effect process only
in relation to physical phenomena. Thirdly, the application of scientific knowledge (of
the laws of conditionality) is applied solely to serve self interests. Our relationship
with the natural environment, for instance, is centered around trying to derive as much
resources from it as we can with little or no regard for the consequences.
Underneath it all, we tend to interpret such concepts as happiness,
freedom, rights, liberty, and peace in ways that preserve self interests and encroach on
others. Even when controlling other people comes to be seen as a blameworthy act, this
aggressive tendency is then turned in other directions, such as the natural environment.
Now that we are beginning to realize that it is impossible to really control other people
or other things, the only meaning left in life is to preserve self interests and protect
territorial rights. Living as we do with this faulty knowledge and these mistaken beliefs,
the natural environment is thrown out of skew, society is in turmoil, and human life, both
physically and mentally, is disoriented. The world seems to be full of conflict and
suffering.
All facets of the natural order -- the physical world and the human
world, the world of conditions (dhamma) and the world of actions (kamma), the material
world and the mental world -- are connected and interrelated, they cannot be separated.
Disorder and aberration in one sector will affect other sectors. If we want to live in
peace, we must learn how to live in harmony with all spheres of the natural environment,
both the internal and the external, the individual and the social, the physical and the
mental, the material and the immaterial.
To create true happiness it is of utmost importance that we not only
reflect on the interrelationship of all things in the natural order, but also see
ourselves clearly as one system of causal relationships within that natural order,
becoming aware first of the internal mental factors, then those in our life experiences,
in society, and ultimately in the world around us. This is why, of all the systems of
causal relationship based on the law "because there is this, that arises; when this
ceases that ceases," the teachings of Buddhism begin with, and stress throughout, the
factors involved in the creation of suffering in individual awareness -- "because
there is ignorance, there are volitional formations." Once this system of causal
relationship is understood on the inner level, we are then in a position to see the
connections between these inner factors and the causal relationships in society and the
natural environment. This is the approach adopted in this book.
I would like to express my appreciation to the Buddhadhamma
Foundation, to Khun Yongyuth Thanapura, who has undertaken the responsibility of having
this book translated into English, and also Bruce Evans, who has translated it with heart
as well as mind, making a number of adjustments to it in order to turn one chapter of a
larger book into a comprehensive whole.
May the good intentions involved in the production of this book
serve to play some small part in creating well-being, both individual and social, in the
world at large.
P. A. Payutto
Contents | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Appendix