THE CAUSAL CHAIN OF REBIRTH AND SUFFERING
“…Paticcasamuppada (Dependent
Origination) is a
Mahasthama Mindfulness Center Taman Ipoh Ipoh Perak , Malaysia
profound teaching,” the Buddha Shakyamuni said
to the
Venerable Ananda, one of his closest senior
disciples.
“Its characteristic feature is that it is
profound…” (1)
Shakyamuni discovered the Law of Dependent
Origination when he was a Bodhisattva shortly
before
his
enlightenment. And, he also said that sentient beings
must penetrate this Law to free themselves
from the wheel
of existence.
“…When the beings of this world don’t know the method
to free themselves from suffering, that is,
from old age and
death, how will they be able to escape that
suffering?” he
asked his great following of distinguished
and eminent monks.
He taught them that because of becoming (conditioned by and dependent on
as well as arisen from ignorance, craving and attachment), birth and
subsequently old age and death arise with “the whole mass of suffering.”
He
said to them: “Bhikkhus! Insight, meditative knowledge, wisdom, knowledge,
light concerning that which was never heard before arose in me, namely, that
this is the arising of the whole mass of suffering.” (2)
The Buddha instructed his disciples to acquire and develop skilful
understanding of the Law of Dependent Origination (the causal chain of rebirth
and suffering, the karma-bound wheel of samsaric existence), which he has
taught “for the great benefit of all mankind, for the well being of the world,
and for the advantage of great beings (mahasattvas and bodhisattvas) and human
beings …” (3) 21-22.9.2005 0052
As explained by Dr Walpola Sri Rahula:
“Everything is conditioned, relative, and interdependent. This is the Buddhist
theory of (phenomenal) relativity…
“On this principle of conditionality, relativity and interdependence,
the whole existence and continuity of life and its cessation are explained in a
detailed formula which is called Paticcasamuppada
‘Conditioned Genesis’, consisting of twelve factors:
- Through ignorance are conditioned volitional actions or karma-formations (Avijjapaccaya-samkhara)
.
- Through volitional actions is conditioned consciousness (Samkharapaccaya vinnanam).
- Through consciousness are conditioned mental and physical phenomena
(Vinnanapaccaya namarupa)
- Through mental and physical phenomena are conditioned the six faculties (the
physical
sense-organs and the mind) (Namarupapaccaya
salayatanam)
- Through the six faculties is conditioned (sensorial and mental) contact
(Salayatanapaccaya
phassa)
- Through (sensorial and mental) contact is conditioned sensation
(Phasapaccaya
vedana).
- Through sensation is conditioned desire, ‘thirst’ (Vedanapaccaya tanha).
- Through desire (‘thirst’) is conditioned clinging (Tanhapaccaya upadanam).
- Through clinging is conditioned the process of becoming (Upadanapaccaya bhavo).
- Through the process of becoming is conditioned birth (Bhavapaccaya jati).
- Through birth are conditioned
- decay, death, lamentation, etc. (Jatipaccaya jaramaranam…)
“This is how
life arises, exists and continues. If we take this formula in reverse
order, we come to the cessation of the
process: Through the complete cessation of ignorance, volitional activities or
karma-formations cease; through the cessation of volitional activities,
consciousness ceases; … through the cessation of birth, decay, death, sorrow,
etc., cease.
“It should be remembered that each of these factors is conditioned (paticcasamuppanna) as well as
conditioning (Visuddhimagga).
Therefore, they are all relative, interdependent and interconnected, and
nothing is absolute or independent; hence no first cause is accepted by
Buddhism…” (4)
The Buddha has said: “O bhikkus
(addressing the monks), this cycle of continuity is without a visible end, and
the first beginning of beings wandering and running round (Samsara), enveloped
in ignorance and bound down by the fetters of thirst is not to be perceived.” (Samyutta-nikaya II)
And, referring to ignorance which
is the main cause of the continuity of life, rebirth and suffering, the Buddha
has also said: “The first beginning of ignorance is not to be perceived in such
a way as to postulate that there was no ignorance beyond a certain point.” (Anguttara-nikaya V)
And, Rahula has commented: “Thus to us it is not possible to say that
there was no life beyond a certain definite point…” (5) Buddhists refer to life
and death, rebirth and suffering, in the expanse of the universe, from the
beginningless beginning…
Narada Maha Thera has also
commented: “This process of cause and effect continues ad infinitum. A beginning of this process cannot be determined as
it is impossible to conceive of a time when this life-flux was not encompassed
by ignorance. But when this ignorance is replaced by wisdom and the life-flux
realizes the Nibbana Dhatu (the
spiritual state marking the end of ignorance and suffering), then only does the
rebirth process terminate…” (6) 22.9.2005 0910
As recapitulated by Venerable
Acara Suvanno Mahathera: “Through ignorance in the past we do not realize that
we are the owners of rebirth producing kamma. With this kamma and the new
birth, there arises mind and body. These give rise to the senses, relationship
with the senses and the sensations we experience. Our sensations manifest
themselves as desires and attachments to things and ideas. These determine our
actions and therefore kamma, which in turn brings about rebirth.
“Rebirth provides the condition
for continuing mind and body, senses and cravings, kamma and further rebirth.
So the chain (of rebirth and suffering) goes on and on. It will go on and on,
but only if we do not find the (master) key to break the chain and bring it to
an end…” (7)
What is life? And, what is
death?
In Buddhism, life and death
arise respectively from the initial coming together and bundling of the five
corporeal and mental aggregates and from their subsequent separation and
dissolution.
Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda
has written: “Death, as defined in Buddhist texts, is the dissolution of Khandhas. The Khandhas are the five aggregates of perception, sensation, mental
formations, consciousness and corporeality or matter. The first four are mental
aggregates or nama, forming the unit
of consciousness. The fifth, rupa is
the material or physical aggregate. This psycho-physical combination is
conventionally named an individual, person or ego…
“We do not see the five
aggregates as phenomena but as an entity because of
our deluded minds, and our innate desire to
treat these as a self in order to pander to our self-importance (and egocentricity,
self-attachment, self-centeredness)…” (8)
In the Sati Patthana Sutta, the Buddha has taught us to look deeply into
our own minds and practice mindfulness to reach a stage when we can see these
five aggregates not as an entity (a self) but as a series of physical and
mental processes always in a state of flux, and always in an existential
condition of becoming.
“In brief, the combination of
the five aggregates is called birth. Existence of these aggregates as a bundle
is called life,” Dhammananda has written “Dissolution of these things is called
death. And recombination of these aggregates is called rebirth…” (9)
When the Buddha of
history passed away in parinirvana,
his close disciple and cousin broke down and wept. Ananda was then only a Sotapanna, being in the first stage of
sainthood.
Ven. Anuruddha, who was already an Arahant,
a fully accomplished saint at the highest stage of spiritual perfection, did
not weep and said to him: “Has not the Buddha told us, Ananda, that what is
born, what comes to being, and what is put together, is subject to dissolution?
That is the nature of all conditioned formations to arise and pass away. –
Having once arisen they must pass away – And when such formations cease completely,
then comes the Peace Supreme (Nibbana)…”
(10) 22-23.9.2005 0101
In the lengthy and indeterminate interim
before the final cessation of beginningless becoming, the cyclic process of
rebirth continues on its unrelenting course, fuelled by ignorance and craving.
Rahula
has written: “Will, volition, desire, thirst to exist, to continue, to become
more and more, is a tremendous force that moves whole lives, whole existences,
that even moves the whole world. This is the greatest force, the greatest
energy in the world.
“According to Buddhism, this force does not
stop with the non-functioning of the body, which is death; but it continues
manifesting itself in another form, producing re-existence which is called
rebirth…” (11)
To quote Suvanno: “The craving for
existence is an exceptionally strong energy that dominates a man’s subconscious
mind. Science tells us that energy is never lost or destroyed and the craving
to go (on) living is so strong as to be able to exist in another being at the
right condition.
“The energy that
leaves the body at death does not disintegrate, but is reformed into another
new being ready for rebirth. At the last thought moment of a dying being this
single most powerful kammic energy will grasp at the opportunity to relive in
another being ready to be born when right conditions prevail (the Buddha has
cited the three necessary conditions: the union of the mother and father, the
mother’s season (the fertile period of ovulation), and the presence of the
being to be born).
“This is not a
phenomenon to be marveled at as this is a natural law (of conception). Just as
nature abhors a vacuum, so the kammic energy will find the nearest right condition
(right set of conditions) to enter its new home (body) and thus a new being is
born, which is not the same being as before and yet not any different as it is
the same kammic stream that is flowing along till conditions arise for its
cessation (with the total eradication of ignorance and craving)…” (12)
The Buddha and
other spiritually liberated and enlightened beings have shown that this
remorseless cycle of rebirth can be broken.
“If this cycle of existence is to be stopped,
it can be cut off only at the stage of impurities, viz. Avijja (Ignorance) and Tanha
(Craving). – These are the roots in this cycle of births and have to be
exterminated,” Dhammananda has explained.
“Therefore, if we cut off Craving and
Ignorance – birth is overcome, Samsara (the
cycle of rebirths) is transcended and Nibbana (spiritual liberation and bliss)
attained…” (13)
Narada has further explained: “Ignorance (avijja) of the truth of suffering, its
cause, its end, and the way to its end (the Four Noble Truths), is the chief
cause that sets the wheel of life in motion. In other words, it is the
not-knowingness of things as they truly are, or of oneself as one really is. It
clouds all right understanding (the first factor in the Noble Eightfold Path of
spiritual liberation and enlightenment…” (14)
The Buddha has said: “Ignorance is the deep
delusion wherein we here (in Samsara)
so long are circling round.” (15)
On the need to root out craving as well as
ignorance, the Buddha has taught:
Just as a tree,
though cut down,
sprouts up again if its roots
remain uncut and firm,
even so, until the craving
that lies dormant is rooted out,
suffering springs up again and again. (16)
The eradication of both ignorance and
craving leads to the total disruption of the cycle of samsaric existence, and
to the end of existential suffering.
Immediately after attaining the complete and
perfect enlightenment, the Buddha jubilantly declared:
Through many a birth I
wandered in samsara, seeking, but not finding, the
builder of the house. Sorrowful (full of suffering) is it to be born
again and again.
O house-builder! Thou are
seen. Thou shalt build no house again. All thy
rafters are broken. Thy ridge-pole is shattered.
My mind has attained the
unconditioned (Nibbana). Achieved is the end of
craving. (17)
As the
late Ven. Nanamoli has put it: “The Buddha verily is the Blessed One who had
put an end to all sorrow and suffering, the Perfect (Perfected) One, worthy of
homage, who had attained supreme wisdom and enlightenment, who had proclaimed the way of right knowledge and good
conduct, who found peace and happiness, who realized the truth about the world,
who is unrivalled as a guide and friend to those who seek his guidance, who is
a teacher of gods and men.” (18)
What the Buddha has achieved spiritually, we
can strive to do as well. This is the gist of the Buddha’s highly persuasive
message. We too can break the causal chain of samsaric existence, rebirth and
suffering. Follow faithfully and diligently what The Fully Enlightened One has
taught us to do.
May all beings be liberated from suffering
May
all beings be free and happy.
Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!
NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA
25 Selasar Rokam 40
Telephone: 05-3134941
9 pages 3,117
words 23.9.2005 0821 24.9.2005 1144 11.10.2005 0233
11.10.2005 0829 12.10.2005 0214
NOTES: THE CAUSAL CHAIN OF REBIRTH AND SUFFERING
- Quoted in PATICCASAMUPPADA: Practical Dependent Origination, a talk
delivered by the Venerable Buddhadasa, a Thai Theravada monk, in 1978, and
translated by Steve Schmidt in Bangkok in 1986, published by the
Vuddhidhamma Fund in Nonthaburi, Thailand, 1992, and subsequently
reprinted for free distribution by W.A.V.E. (Wisdom Audio Visual
Exchange), Malaysia, Jan 2002, p. 3
In THE BUDDHA
AND HIS TEACHINGS (published by the Buddhist Missionary Society , Malaysia
- Ibid., pp. 46-48
- Ibid,, p. 2
- Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, first published by Gordon Fraser,
“This twelvefold chain of causality constitutes the
core of original Buddhism,” F.C Hsu (born 1909), a professor in Chinese
literature, Sanskrit scholar, prolific
author, and a multi-lingual research fellow in the Institute for Research on
World Religions in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has written in a
booklet On The Theory Of Pure
Consciousness (published by NEW WORLD PRESS, Beijing, China, 1990, p. 37).
On Gautama Buddha, Hsu has written (pp. 38-39): “…His
main effort was focused on deliverance of suffering humanity from distress, and
he found the causes of suffering to be a chain beginning from ignorance (avidya) and leading finally to senility
and death (jaramaranam), grief (sokah), lamentation (parideva), pain (dukkham) and mental affliction (daurmanasyam)…
“The contrary of ignorance is enlightenment, and
Buddha taught ways and means to that such as the Eightfold Noble Path (Aryastangamarga).* Consciousness (the
fifth link) remained as an important link in the chain, and no thinker since
has improved on the idea of this chain of causation.
“The chain of causality,
otherwise called the Wheel of Existence (Bhavacakra)
begins with
ignorance (avidya). When ignorance is gotten rid of, then the samskaras (volitional actions) are
abolished… Then consciousness (vijnanam), the six fields of operation
of the senses (sadayatana)
-- in Chinese “six entrances”
contact (sparsa), feeling (vedana), desire (trsna), being (bhava),
birth (jati) and decay and death (jaramaranam)
are annihilated as they are produced in this
sequence.
‘This seems to be a profound
analysis based on human experience. Obviously there is a
lot to be explained about the
second, third, fourth and fifth links, which the Mahayanists made
substantial use of in later
ages.”
*The Eightfold Noble Path: Samyagdrsith (right understanding), Samyaksainkalpah (right
thought), Samyagvak (right speech), Samyakkarmantah
(right action), Samyagajivah
(right
livelihood), Samyavyayamah (right effort), Samyaksmrtih (right mindfulness),
Samyak samadhih (right
concentration). 24.9.2005 1059
- Ibid., p. 27
- Narada, THE BUDDHA AND HIS TEACHINGS, p. 432
- Bhante Suvanno, KAMMA, DEATH & REBIRTH, edited by Jinavamsa, published for
free distribution by INWARD PATH,
- Article Life is Uncertain, Death is Certain by Ven. Dr. K. Sri
Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera, collected in GEMS OF BUDDHIST WISDOM, published by the Buddhist Missionary
Society, Kuala Lumpur, 1983 (first edition), 1996 (second edition), pp.
249-250
- Ibid., pp. 251-252
- Ibid., p. 247
- What the Buddha Taught, p. 33
- KAMMA, DEATH & REBIRTH, pp. 42-43
- GEMS OF BUDDHIST WISDOM, p. 256
In A Manual of
Abhidhamma (translated and edited by
Narada Maha Thera, originally published by the Buddhist Missionary Society,
Kuala Lumpur, 1956, and subsequently reprinted for free distribution by The
Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan, May 2002), Narada
has explained (p. 364):
Ignorance is shown as the past cause that
conditions the present, and Craving as the present cause that conditions the future.
Asavas or
Defilements, latent in all worldlings, are cited as the cause of ignorance.
Narada has also noted (p. 358):
Ignorance and craving should be understood as
the two roots (of cyclic existence)
By the
destruction of these roots does the Round (of “this entangled, beginningless
existence…”) cease…
- THE BUDDHA AND HIS TEACHINGS, p. 420
- Sutta Nipata
v. 730, as quoted by Narada, ibid., p. 420
- Dhammapada,
translated by Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita and published for free
distribution by Sukhi Hotu Dhamma Publications,
As explained by this Indian scholar-monk (p. 272), the
three principal cravings are for sensual pleasure, for perpetual existence (or
simply attachment to life), and for annihilation (nihilism).
- THE DHAMMAPADA
translated with notes by Narada Thera, originally published in 1963 and
subsequently reprinted for free distribution by The
Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan
Narada has commented (pp. 141-142): “Here the Buddha
admits his past wanderings in existence which entails suffering, a fact which
evidently proves the belief in rebirth. He was compelled to wander, and
consequently to suffer, as long as he could not discover the architect who
built this house, the body.
“In His final birth He discovered by His own intuitive
wisdom the elusive architect dwelling not outside but within the recesses of
His own heart. The architect was Craving or Attachment (tanha) a self-created force (based and conditioned on ignorance), a
mental element latent in all (human beings). The discovery of the architect is
the eradication of craving by attaining Arahantship (the final stage of
sainthood, marking the eradication of the karmic roots of ignorance and
craving) which, in this utterance, is alluded to as the end of craving.
“The rafters of this self-created house are the
defilements (kilesa). The ridge-pole
that supports the rafters is ignorance (avijja),
the root cause of all defilements. The shattering of the ridge-pole of
ignorance by wisdom results in the complete demolition of the house. The
ridge-pole and the rafters are the material with which the architect builds
this undesired house.
“With their destruction the architect is deprived of
the wherewithal to rebuild the house which is not wanted. With the demolition
of the house the mind attains the uncondition(ed) which is Nibbana.” 23.9.2005 0747
- As quoted by Dr. G. P. Malalasekera in
his article published in GEMS OF
BUDDHIST
WISDOM, p. 341
23.9.2005 0823 11.10.2005 0232 11.10.2005
0828
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