• • • • Dependent Origination (

pratītyasamutpadā/ paṭiccasmuppāda

) is the Buddhist doctrine of causality.

This system of thought maintains that everything has been

caused

into existence. Nothing has been created

ex nihilo

. This is useful in understanding how there can be rebirth without a belief in a soul. When a person is alive they generate

karma

, this does not simply disappear at death. Instead, due to the remaining

karmic

seeds a new being is caused into existence so that remaining

karmic

results may take place. In relation to rebirth, the Buddha taught a

twelvefold formula

for Dependent Origination in many suttas such as the

Mahānidāna Sutta

(which can be viewed here )

•

Dependent Origination is linked to other Buddhist ideas such as the

Middle Way

,

saṃsāra

and

karma

.

•

Before looking at Dependent Origination in depth it is worth having a quick look at

saṃsāra

and

karma

as it will make it easier to understand.

• • •

Saṃsāra

is not a place, instead it is the type of existence experienced by all unenlightened beings.

Unenlightened beings are caught in perpetual cycle of life, death and rebirth.

Saṃsāric

existence is conditioned by three marks:

impermanence

(

anitya/ anicca

),

not-Self

(

anātman/ anattā

), and

dis-ease

(

duḥkha/dukkha

).

• • As there is no permanence there is no stability.

Saṃsāric

existence is in a constant state of flux and change.

The teaching of

anātman

outlines that there is nothing that has a permanent Self, there is no underlying consciousness or sense of person that is carried from life to life.

• There is no being that can be classed as immortal, even the gods (

devas

) that are found in Buddhist thought will one day die.

Within

saṃsāra

there is nothing that is immortal. Everything is impermanent. This photo is of a coffin being prepared for a funeral in Laos (2007). Beings will have many lives and deaths.

• •

Karma

or

kamma

can be translated as ‘action’.

In the

brahmanical

society it was initially understood in terms of ritual action. If one performed a certain ritual action correctly, it would have a specific desired result. If the conditions were not right, no result would occur.

• Ideas concerning

karma

evolved and in the Upanishads we find the beginnings of an ethicisation of

karma.

All intentional actions (good or bad) were understood to cause an effect (good or bad). Actions performed by an individual would cause some sort of effect on the individual in this life, or even in a later life.

• In Buddhist thought

karma

has a causative nature. The actions that are intentionally performed by the individual will have a particular

karmic

result. Well-intentioned good deeds will result in a pleasant and favourable

karmic

result whilst malicious and hurtful misdeeds will result in a poor and unfavourable

karmic

result. •

Karma

does not always have immediate results, but can take many lifetimes to have an effect.

Listening to a

dharma

talk, like these lay people in Myanmar (2009), can help generate good

karma

.

• • • • Dependent Origination is a system of causality.

This means that within because of a prior cause.

sa ṃsāra

everything exists An example of this would be the link between milk and curd. Milk, due to a certain cause, is turned into curds.

Milk and curd are not the same, but they have a causal link.

Sa ṃsāra

is a ceaseless series of cause and effect.

Although there might be the appearance of stability this is not the case.

• • As everything has been caused to some condition it means that there is nothing eternal. Likewise it shows that things do have an existence meaning that Buddhist doctrine is not nihilistic. It is evidence that Buddhism is the Middle Way between two extremes. It also points the way towards the cessation of

sa ṃsāra

. New existents only arise if there is a cause. If there are no causes then nothing will arise. • It also provides an explanation as to why there can be rebirth without a permanent self, an

ātman

.

The Buddha, through his enlightenment, stopped generating the kind of

karma

that would lead to another rebirth. (Hong Kong, 2011).

• When a person dies the reborn being is not the same as the deceased but at the same time is not completely different.

• • The two beings (A and B) are linked through a causal process. The now deceased A had performed

karmic

actions and these past actions are factors in the cause that created B.

As A and B are connected by a shared

karmic

causality they cannot be completely different from each other.

• There is a twelvefold formula for Dependent Origination which explains rebirth.

Offerings of food left for the dead in Laos (2007). By giving food and generating merit the families of the dead hope to improve the next life of their deceased relative.

• “conditioned by formations is

ignorance

are

consciousness formations

, conditioned by , conditioned by consciousness is

mind-and-body

, conditioned by mind-and-body are the

six senses

, conditioned by the six-senses is conditioned by sense contact is

feeling sense contact

, conditioned by feeling , is

craving

, conditioned by craving is

attachment

, conditioned by attachment is

becoming

, conditioned by becoming is conditioned by birth is

old age and death

”

birth

, Saṃyutta Nikāya II 2 Translation from Rupert Gethin,

Foundations of Buddhism

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp 141-142 (full text of Paticcasamuppadavibhanga Sutta can be found here )

• • • • • The twelvefold formula of dependent origination appears to be in chronological order, but is actually seen as taking place over three lifetimes.

The first two links represent a past life. The actions of a previous life set in motion the causation of a new life.

The next eight links represent the present life. It starts with the arising of a new being in the mother’s womb, the physical body and mind. Then there are sense experiences and the resultant sensations of pain and pleasure. This leads to craving and clinging which lead to the creation of habits.

The last two links represent a future life. The acts of the present life time mean that there will be future births and deaths.

Edward Conze argues that the formula was originally used to show basic mental functions. This can be seen the

Abhidharmakośa

which is a treatise on the

Abhidharma

by Vasubandhu. They do not follow a chronological order but instead they occur simultaneously.

Twelvefold Formula 3 Lifetimes Scheme Mental Process Scheme

Ignorance Formations Consciousness Mind and Body Six Senses Sense Contact Feeling First Life First Life Second Life Second Life Second Life Second Life Second Life Ignorance Volition Discriminating Consciousness The four

skandhas

co-existing with consciousness Activity of sense organs Contacts involved in their activity Experience of the contact Craving Grasping Second Life Second Life Greed Obsessions associated with greed Becoming Birth Death and Old Age Second Life Third Life Third Life The physical and vocal acts that proceed The production of all of the above

dhammas

The maturity and breaking up of the

dhammas

Please see Edward Conze,

Buddhist Thought in India

(London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1962), p157 .

• • • The teaching of Dependent Origination shows that

saṃsāric

existence is governed by a system of causality.

Everything is caused into being and in turn causes more existents to arise.

The Buddha’s teaching of Dependent Origination also highlights that there is a way to stop further arising from occurring. This is done by reversing the causes of arising. One must not be guided by ignorance, but instead cultivate wisdom. One must not cling and crave, they should be aware of impermanence and act accordingly.

Understanding Dependent Origination is to understand the true reality, how things really are.

• This is perhaps most succinctly put in the following verse:

‘this existing, that exists; this arises, that arises; this not existing, that does not exist; this ceasing , that ceases’.

Majjhima Nik āya

iii 63 . Translation from Rupert Gethin,

Foundations of Buddhism

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p 141.