We continue with a passage from the first teaching of the Buddha, this time about the second Noble Truth, the cause of unsatisfaction (SN 56:11):
“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.”
The Buddha also taught (DN 22):
“And where does this desire come from and take root? Wherever in the world there are pleasurable and enjoyable things, this desire arises and takes root. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and consciousness are pleasurable and enjoyable, that is where this desire comes from and takes root.”
“Visual objects, sounds, smells, taste, touch and mental objects are pleasurable and enjoyable, that’s where this desire comes from and takes root.”
“Consciousness, sensory impressions, feelings arising from the sensory impressions, perception, intention, craving, thinking and reflecting are pleasurable and enjoyable, that’s where this desire comes in and takes root.”
“This is the second noble truth.”
Desire in all its forms, nourished by ignorance about the true nature of things, is the great cause of all the suffering in the world.
Although we tend to think that desire always has something to do with wanting something, it is important to realize that desire also manifests itself in the form of not wanting something.
The most basic form of desire is sensory desire (kāma-taṇhā).
This is not just sensual or erotic desire, but all the forms of wanting or not wanting that arise from the contact our senses make with objects. Whether it is something beautiful or unpleasant we see, hear, smell, taste, feel or think about.
The latter deserves extra attention because Buddhism defines the mind and mental objects as the sixth sense in addition to the five senses we know in the west. Therefore, this desire also includes the desire arising from ideas, opinions, concepts and the like.
The longing for eternal existence (bhava-taṇhā), is more subtle than the above.
It is, in a superficial sense, the longing for an afterlife, rebirth or, for example, becoming one with Brahma.
In a deeper sense it is all the longing for ‘being’, right down to the most subtle level.
This last longing is only destroyed during the last step towards liberation, that is how persistent it is. It is an expression of an eternalistic view, the belief in an eternal and permanent self.
The last form of longing is the longing for self-destruction or not becoming, not being anymore (vibhava-taṇhā).
It stems from an annihilistic view, the belief that after death there is nothing left. This includes materialism as a view.
This longing can, for example, be a reason for suicide with the underlying idea that this is the way to put an end to suffering, now and in the future.
This form of desire should absolutely not be confused with the desire to put an end to rebirth in samsāra.
Indeed, the latter can only take place through the destruction of desire itself by seeing the true nature of things.
As long as there is desire, in whatever form, existence will continue, from moment to moment, from life to life.
Underlying this cyclic energy is the doctrine of dependent creation.
Dependent Origination – the Chain of Causal Relations
If we look at the cause of unsatisfactoriness, the second Noble Truth, we see that the Buddha mentions desire as the big problem.
Desire stems from ignorance. But how can this desire cause all the suffering and rebirth?
The answer is the teaching of dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda).
Together with the Four Noble Truths it forms the foundation of the Dhamma. Together they form the liberating insight the Buddha attained during the night of his enlightenment.
The Buddha emphasized this with the words (MN 28):
“He who sees the Dhamma, sees dependent origination. He who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma.”
We will start with a detour, namely by taking our everyday experience as a starting point.
Both mind and matter become distorted during our perception.
In our daily experience, for example, seeing something, knowing what it is, forming an opinion about it, wanting or not wanting it all seem to happen at the same time. In fact, this seems to happen simultaneously with hearing, smelling, tasting, touch and thinking.
When looking at matter, a rock for example, you see a permanent form that perhaps only slowly changes through wind and weather.
But this is a distorted perception of mental processes and matter as a result of ignorance, the result of not (yet) being able to look sharp enough.
It is comparable to a movie. If you have ever been to the cinema, you know that you can get completely absorbed in the story, the beautiful images and the moving music.
In reality, however, the movie consists of separate images that appear to our eye at a speed of at least 24 frames a second. That’s enough for the image to appear fluid. The sound is nothing more than loose tones that only form a whole when put together. And the story isn’t real but thought up, and we’re not really in the middle of it, although that’s what it feels like.
If you look at mental processes and matter with a high level of concentration, you can see that they consist of distinct moments that arise and perish.
These mental moments follow each other with an incredible speed, creating the illusion that perception is a continuous process.
These separate moments each have an object, and it always concerns one of the six senses. The senses do not work all at the same time, you see or hear or taste or smell or feel or think, one after the other, never at the same time.
And matter is not as permanent as it appears but is in a continuous flux of rising and perishing as well.
With high concentration it can therefore be concluded from your own experience that our normal day consciousness completely distorts reality.
The process that appears to be continuous actually consists of separate fragments that arise and perish in every respect.
This can be called the ‘analysis’ of reality, the division of reality, of mental processes and matter, into the smallest possible building blocks.
What dependent origination shows us is that these moments, although separate from each other, are nevertheless interconnected.
Dependent origination can therefore be seen as the ‘synthesis’, describing the mutual relationships of the separate building blocks.
This is an important point with which the Buddha distances himself from nihilism. It means that intentions and subsequent actions do have consequences.
If there would be separate moments without interconnection, then any behaviour could be justified.
This is the most important thing about dependent origination, the hope it gives. For it is the conditional relationship between moments that you can slowly but surely work with, with intention as the driving force of free will.
Before we go any further, let’s take a closer look at what the Buddha himself taught about dependent arising (SN 12:1):
“And what, bhikkhus, is dependent origination? With ignorance (avijjā) as condition, volitional formations (saṅkhāra’s) come to be; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness (viññāṇa); with consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality (nāma-rūpa); with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases (salāyatana); with the six sense bases as condition, contact (phassa); with contact as condition, feeling (vedanā); with feeling as condition, craving (taṇhā); with craving as condition, clinging (upādāna); with clinging as condition, existence (bhava); with existence as condition, birth (jāti); with birth as condition, aging-and-death (jaramaranam), sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This, bhikkhus, is called dependent origination. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact; with the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling; with the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving; with the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”
Here dependent origination is explained as the chain of causal relations.
It is a chain because it keeps us bound to samsāra. It is a circle from existence to existence driven by ignorance and desire.
To emphasize this, the twelve links of the chain are usually spread over three lives. The past, present and future life.
Ignorance and volitional formations are placed together in the previous life. They form the conditions for the arising of the present life, namely by serving as a condition for the linking of the results of consciousness, mentality-materiality, the six sensory bases, contact and feeling.
As a result of feeling we have craving, clinging and existence in this life, which in turn is a condition for the next life with birth, old age and death.
Although the three lives are often given as examples, this conditioning takes place from moment to moment in this present life as well. In daily life these conditions are not sequentially but intertwined.
To make it simpler just look at the chain in this life.
Because we are now ignorant of the true nature of mental processes and matter, we take the feeling that arises from the contact we make with objects through our senses very seriously.
As a result of this feeling, which can be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, we want something, or we don’t want it. Craving arises.
Driven by craving and clinging we perform good and bad deeds; we have wholesome and unwholsome mental states.
The attentive reader will have immediately seen that ignorance in the chain is followed by volitional-formations. Volitional-formations, which can also be translated as intention, is nothing less than karma (Pali: kamma) which we will consider later.
Through craving and clinging we have new intentions and so we make new karma, and on and on the round goes.
If the previously given formula in the form of “when this is, that is” causes the suspicion that the Buddha teaches a random dependency then consider (SN 12:20):
“And what, bhikkhus, is dependent origination? ‘With birth as condition, aging-and-death comes to be’: whether there is an arising of Tathagatas or no arising of Tathagatas, that element still persists, the stableness of the Dhamma, the fixed course of the Dhamma, specific conditionality. A Tathagata awakens to this and breaks through to it. Having done so, he explains it, teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyses it, elucidates it. And he says: ‘See! With birth as condition, bhikkhus, aging-and-death.’”
Note the words ‘specific conditionality’.
With this teaching the Buddha does not describe a general principle but an absolute law. A circular force that binds us.
It cannot be emphasized enough that the chain goes on and on, from moment to moment, day to day, year to year, from this life to the next.
Birth followed by sickness, old age and death, followed by birth, sickness old age and death, again and again and again.
Thus, we are trapped in samsāra, we wander around, resulting in ‘sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair, the unsatisfaction of existence’.
Momentary temporary pleasure, though tempting, offers no solution, no safe haven.
The only way to step out of the circle is to see the true nature of things by committing oneself to the way indicated by the Buddha and thus completely destroying the chain.
This is the hopeful message of the Buddha.
Because these are specific conditions, an end is possible. When ignorance is seen as it really is, the light of the Dhamma shines and the chain falls apart.
Liberation is possible.
Karma and Rebirth
The doctrine of karma (in Pali: kamma) and rebirth is often misunderstood.
You sometimes hear people say fatalistically “it’s my karma” or with the desire to give meaning to their suffering “it’s probably good for something”.
When talking about karma like this it seems like an inescapable destiny or a greater power at play, a judge who assigns karma to punish or teach.
The essence of rebirth is often buried under the image of reincarnation, the (according to the Buddha wrong) idea that there is a soul that migrates from one life to the next. Sometimes it is even said that a person has an old soul, or one soul is older than another.
In addition, it is striking that Western Buddhist writers regularly reject the teachings of karma and rebirth altogether.
They argue that this teaching is not appropriate in the otherwise so logical and experience-based teaching of the Buddha, nor would it be necessary to think about this at all for progress on the path.
In the light of such images and claims, it is very important to reflect on the teachings of karma and rebirth.
First, let us consider the meaning of the word karma.
Contrary to how the word karma is often used in the West, it does not mean ‘consequence’. The Buddha said (AN 6:63):
“Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one makes kamma by way of body, speech and mind.”
So, karma is much more of a driving force.
The Pali word for consequence or reaction is vipāka. Kamma-vipāka therefore means as much as action-reaction, but a nicer translation is ‘intention and its fruit’. Fruit because vipāka also has the meaning of ‘ripening’.
We know the expression “you reap what you sow”, this is a description of kamma-vipāka.
Just as the ripening of what is sown depends on water, sun and nutrients among other things, the ripening of karma also depends on several factors.
Karma is not always expressed proportionally in a neat one-to-one relationship with the result. There are different degrees, different strengths of karma that each interact with other karma from the near or distant past and it also depends on current effort.
For example, the fruit of karma can sometimes be stronger due to other supporting karma, weakened by opposing karma, or held back by destructive karma.
Furthermore, just as with the ripening of a fruit, which requires not only the growth of the fruit tree through sun, rain and nutrients, but also the right season for bearing the fruit, karma must have the right conditions for it to ripen.
For example, certain karma might not be able to cause results because the right conditions are not in place, so there is more time for other karma to be generated that might oppose it if it is unwholesome or strengthen if it is wholesome.
This is important because it gives just enough space to make spiritual growth possible.
In a strict one-to-one relationship, the inexhaustible karma from the infinite past would bring about infinite results in the future.
Precisely because this is not the case influence can be exerted by directing intention and liberation is possible.
Karma can be classified into ethical quality, i.e. wholesome karma or unwholesome karma.
Wholesome karma are the intentions that result in the expansion of consciousness, rebirth into higher worlds and ultimately Nibbāna.
Unwholesome karma are the intentions which result in the narrowing of consciousness, rebirth into lower worlds and turning away from Nibbāna.
When we speak of rebirth, two points are important. The first is that there is no “I”, no “person” or “soul” that passes from one existence to another.
Rebirth is the result of conditions.
An example that is often given to clarify this is the flame from a candle that is used to light another candle. The flame of the second candle is not the same, but also not completely different from that of the first candle. The flame of the second candle is there because of, depending on, the first candle.
A more modern example is the billiard ball that has its direction and strength as a result of the ball that touches it, which in turn gives strength and direction to the next ball. The balls are not the same, but their movement cannot be seen as separately from each other.
Likewise, rebirth is not a transmigration of the soul, but the continuation of mind-moments based on conditions.
The teachings of kamma-vipāka and rebirth are deeply interwoven with paṭiccasamuppāda, dependent origination which we explained in the previous chapter.
When speaking about dependend origination the Buddha said that it is equivalent to the Dhamma itself.
Therefore, the choice of some Western writers to completely ignore karma and rebirth appears to be a very selective personal choice that does not correspond to the words of the Buddha.
Of course, it is not necessary to believe blindly in karma and rebirth, but it is advisable to keep an open and inquiring mind.
Do not immediately reject karma but recognize the limitations of your own undeveloped mind and only dare to draw conclusions slowly, after gaining your own insights from the steady training of the mind through morality, concentration and wisdom.
Ahba repeats it over and over again, not only when speaking about things like karma, but also in other situations where something is beyond our Western frame of mind:
“Now your mind isn’t powerful enough, that’s why you don’t see it. If you develop concentration and your mind becomes more powerful, you’ll see it by itself.”
Simple.
