R Chandrasoma

According to a leading expository work (Buddhist Dictionary edited by Ven. Nyanatiloka), the Doctrine of Dependent Origination (paticca samuppada) ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”is the doctrine of all physical and psychical phenomena ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a doctrine which taken together with anatta forms the indispensable basis for the real understandingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and realization of the Teaching of the BuddhaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. This is a great exaggeration. In the first instance, the Buddha never attempted to give a final and comprehensive explanation of all physical and psychical phenomena. The religious truths he announced were narrowly focused on the existential issue of the release from suffering of beleaguered mankind. A brief glance at the wording of the paticca sauppada shows that it is a description of the plight of man and the reasons which bind him to a remorseless cycle of life and death. It is not an explanation of how the world works. It is good to remember that man (and, indeed, life in general) is an insignificant part of the world treated as a physical system. Any explanatory schema which places man at the centre is religiously oriented and cannot be full and final in any objective sense. These remarks are not intended to belittle the standing of the doctrine. No religion outside Buddhism has a cogently argued foundational thesis that can match the paticca samuppada. Let us look at the canonical formulation. It takes the form of a deductive chain starting from a universally accepted premise and ending in an inescapable conclusion. There are twelve stepsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  viz. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”

AvijiaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  SankharaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  VinnanaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Nama-rupaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  SalayatanaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  PhassaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  VedanaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  TanhaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  UpadanaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  BhavoƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  JatiƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Jaramarana.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (IgnoranceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Mental FormationsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ConsciousnessƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Six-Fold SensoriumƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ContactƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  FeelingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  CravingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  BecomingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  BirthƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Decay and Death.)

A literal rendering of this jargon-filled formalism would be as follows: Ignorance (avijia) is at the very root of the samsaric cycle that traps and defeats all karmic beings. Here the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”ignoranceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ refers to the ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. Due to ignorance, oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Mental Formations (Sankhara) or drives, proclivities and attitudes – are corrupted. This leads to the emergence of consciousness (vinnana) in a karmic successor. This connecting consciousness generates an organized being, a successor (Nama-Rupa).This being acquires a Six-Fold Sensorium (Salayatana) and makes Contact (or has transactions) with the external world.(Phassa).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (Note – the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”heartƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ is here taken as a sense organ- hence he ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”six-fold sensoriumƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢). Based on ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”contactƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ there is responsiveness or feeling (Vedana) that excites grasping or Craving (Tanha) that leads to Clinging (Upadana)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  or love for life and its allurements. This creates the basis for continued becoming (Bhavo) and its sequel, the re-launching of life as a karmic being (Jati). Misery, decay and death (Jara-Marana) follow as they are inseparably connected with the dynamics of this cycle.

A great puzzle to an outsider is the linking of categorically different items ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Ignorance and contact for example ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” are not of the same epistemic status. How they can be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”linkedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in direct causal sequence is puzzling. There is also the problem of generationally different events being chained together as components of a single process. Much is left out ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” how can volitions in the mind of X influence the ontogenetic process in Y that yield a distinctive nama-rupa?

A more ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”learner-friendlyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ version of the Doctrine of Dependent Origination would be as follows : (1) life is an ever-present burden, sorrowful and unfulfilling (2) Birth is the cause of this doleful state ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” it traps the karmic being in a program that necessarily entails want, sorrow, disease, decay and death. (3) Ignorance leads to birth and all the misery that follows. (As noted above, ignorance is equated with the ignorance of the path of emancipation based on the Four Noble Truths.). These ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”declarationsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ are followed by statements on how a karmic being arises- (1) Karmic promptings from a predecessor (sankhara) induce a fresh lease of life and thereby causes birth. By its very nature, the carnal promptings of sankhara seek re-establishment in another life when its own decays and dies. (2) corporeality, personhood and sensory interaction with the external world follow as the necessary consequence of this re-establishment of a karmic life-form. (3) Craving and grasping arise due the essential nature of our karmic conditioning and there is no mitigation of our desire for the world except through true knowledge. (4) Sorrow, decay and death ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” far from extinguishing this misery ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” merely triggers a fresh round of the same in a karmic successor. (5) Radical extirpation of this ceaseless trans-generational misery is possible only if its root cause is removed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” ignorance of the path of release. Notice that in this formulation, the primacy of the person as a free moral agent is not clearly acknowledged. Life is a disease that spreads from generation to generation by the contagion of desire and greed. There is a universal remedy and it is its fatal ignorance that is the real cause of this spreading misery.

A skeptic can argue that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”ignoranceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ as a state of the mind cannot be root of all evil. Many learned men ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”BhikkhusƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  included – are well versed in the in the minutiae of the doctrine and are very far from being ignorant of the Four Noble Truths. Yet, they are sadly enmeshed in that round of activities that will see them re-born as harassed and perishable beings. What is missing is the conviction and the will to act that goes beyond mere knowledge and understanding. This pre-supposes an agent, an applier of knowledge ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” something ruled out by the foundational belief in anatta. In later developments in Buddhism this shortfall was partly addressed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” it was recognized that the Awakened Being was more than merely knowledgeable or prescient ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” he was energized with the paramisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (or paramita) – such things as resolution, loving kindness, equanimity and most significantly, energy (viriya) to act and to achieve. This dimension is missing in the paticca-samuppada.