- Dependent Origination
- The Buddhist Law of Conditionality
- P. A. Payutto
- Translated from the Thai by Bruce Evans
7
Dependent Origination
in Society
The longest Sutta dealing with Dependent Origination in the Pali Canon is the
Mahanidana Sutta [D.II.55-71]. There the Buddha explains the principle of conditionality
both on an individual basis, as it occurs within the mind, and also in a social context,
as it occurs in human relationships. So far we have dealt exclusively with the principle
of Dependent Origination as it occurs in individual human consciousness. Before passing on
from this subject it would therefore seem appropriate to mention briefly how Dependent
Origination works on the social scale.
The Dependent Origination cycle describes the arising of social ills
along the same lines as the arising of personal suffering, but from craving onwards it
diverges in to a description of external events:
"In this way, Ananda, conditioned by feeling is craving,
conditioned by craving is seeking, conditioned by seeking is gain, conditioned by gain is
valuation, conditioned by valuation is fondness, conditioned by fondness is
possessiveness, conditioned by possessiveness is ownership, conditioned by ownership is
avarice, conditioned by avarice is guarding,[*] conditioned by guarding
and resulting from guarding are the taking up of the stick, the knife, contention,
dispute, arguments, abuse, slander, and lying. Evil and unskillful actions of many kinds
thus appear in profusion."[19]
Below is a comparison of the way the principle of Dependent
Origination works on the personal and the community levels.
To study the above chain of events more clearly, let us look at some
of the examples described by the Buddha elsewhere, such as the cycle of nanatta
(variation), which can be briefly summarized thus:
Dhatunanatta (variations within the
elements) => phassananatta (variations of impingement) => vedanananatta
(variations of feeling) => saññananatta (variations of perception) => sankappananatta
(variations of thought) => chandananatta (variations of desire) => parilahananatta
(variations of agitation) => pariyesananatta (variations of seeking) => labhananatta
(variations of gain).[20]
The first section, from dhatu to sañña, can be
simply rephrased thus: because of the manifold proliferation of elements, there arises the
manifold proliferation of perceptions. In another place in the Pali the following sequence
of events is described:
Dhatunanatta (variations of the elements) => saññananatta
(variations of perception) => sankappananatta (variations of thought) => phassananatta
(variations of impingement) => vedanananatta (variations of feeling) => chandananatta
(variations of desire) => parilahananatta (variations of agitation) => pariyesananatta
(variations of seeking) => labhananatta (variations of gain). [S.II.140-149]
This sequence illustrates a process connecting individual mind
experience with external events, showing how the origin of social problems and suffering
lies within human defilements. The sequence is very basic, showing only an outline of the
unfolding of events. More detailed explanations, emphasizing more specific situations,
appear in other Suttas, such as the Aggañña [D.III.80-98], the Cakkavatti [D.III.58-79]
and the Vasettha [Sn.594-656] Suttas. These Suttas are the working models of the principle
of Dependent Origination on the social level. They explain the development of events in
human society, such as the arising of class structures, as the result of the interaction
between people and the environment around them. In other words, these phenomena are a
result of an interaction between three levels: human beings, human society and the whole
of the natural environment.
The feelings that we experience depend on sense impingement, which,
in addition to existing internal factors such as perception, depends on social and
environmental factors. Dependent on feeling, craving arises, resulting in the variations
of human behavior towards both other people and the world around them, within the
restrictions specified by social or natural circumstances. Results of those actions
further affect all other factors. Human beings are not the only determinants in social or
environmental development, and the natural environment is not the only determinant in
conditioning human beings or society. Rather they all constitute an interdependent process
of relationship.
One section of the Aggañña Sutta illustrates the sequence of
social evolution according to cause and effect thus:
People become lazy and begin to hoard rice (previously rice was
plentiful and there was no need to hoard it) and this becomes the preferred practice =>
people begin to hoard private supplies => unscrupulous people steal other's shares to
enlarge their own => censure, lying, punishment, and contention result =>
responsible people, seeing the need for authority, appoint a king => some of the
people, being disillusioned with society, decide to do away with evil actions and
cultivate meditation practice. Some of these live close to the city and study and write
scriptures; they become the Brahmins. Those who remain with their families continue to
earn their living by various professions; they becoming the artisans. The remaining
people, being vulgar and inept, become the plebeians. From among these four groups a
smaller group breaks off, renouncing tradition and household life and taking to the
'homeless life.' These become the samanas.
The aim of this Sutta is to explain the arising of the various
classes as a matter of natural development based on related causes, not as commandments
from an almighty God. All people are equally capable of good and evil behavior, and all
receive results according to the natural law; it follows that all beings are equally
capable of attaining enlightenment if they practice the Dhamma correctly.
The Cakkavatti Sutta shows the arising of crime and social ills
according to the following cause and effect sequence:
(The ruler) does not share wealth among the poor => poverty
abounds => theft abounds => the use of weapons abounds => killing and maiming
abound => lying abounds => slander ... sexual infidelity ... abusive and frivolous
speech ... greed and hatred ... wrong view => lust for what is wrong, greed, wrong
teachings, disrespect for parents, elders and religious persons, disrespect for position
abound => longevity and appearance degenerate.
It is interesting to note that in modern times, attempts to resolve
social problems are rarely attuned to their real causes. They seek to provide stopgap
solutions, such as establishing counseling for drug addicts and delinquents, but they do
not delve deeply into the social conditions which affect the emergence of such problems in
the first place, such as consumerism and mass media. In this respect, the Buddhist
teaching of Dependent Origination on the social scale offers an invaluable precedent for
intelligent and truly effective social analysis and reform.
Footnotes:
[*] The Pali words here are: pariyesana, labha,
vinicchaya, chandaraga, ajjhosana, pariggaha, macchariya
and arakkha respectively. [Back to text]
19. D.II.58; these nine conditions occur elsewhere
under the title of the nine conditions rooted in craving (tanhamulakadhamma),
such as in D.III.289; A.IV.400; Vbh.390. [Back to text]
20. D.III.289; Ps.I.187; the word
"elements" (dhatu) here refers to the eighteen elements: six internal
sense bases (sense organs), six external sense bases (sense objects) and six
consciousnesses. [Back to text]
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