The Twelve Nidānas are the best-known application of the Buddhist concept of pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), identifying the origins of dukkha (suffering) to be in tanha (craving) and avijja (ignorance). The doctrine has been through a series of interpretations and re-interpretations in the many centuries of Buddhist history, and in various Buddhist cultures, with a broad range of thematic concerns that now intersect in modern interpretations; influential sources are as diverse as Tibet's Je Tsongkhapa (15th century) and Thailand's Buddhadasa (20th century). This article begins by examining the most ancient (extant) sources.The Twelve Nidānas in Pali literature
In the Pali Suttapitaka (the most ancient canon of Buddhist writing preserved by Theravāda tradition) the first (partial) exposition of the twelve nidanas appeared in the Dīgha Nikāya (Long Discourses), Brahmajala Sutta, verse 3.71. The reference is partial because it does not cover all twelve links:
- "...they experience these feelings by repeated contact through the six sense-bases; feeling conditions craving; craving conditions clinging; clinging conditions becoming; becoming conditions birth; birth conditions aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, sadness and distress."
In this same Nikāya, Sutta 14 describes ten links instead of twelve, and in Sutta 15 the links are described, but without the six sense-bases (for a total of nine links in that Sutta).
Another account occurred in the discussion of conception and birth: "In the Mahānidāna [sutta]’s brief gloss on the term nāmarūpa... we have a very explicit reminder that the subject-matter being described in this sequence of stages is the development of the embryo... it is indisputably clear that we are reading about something that may (or may not) enter into (okkamissatha) the mother’s womb (mātukucchismiŋ). ...[T]he passage is wildly incongruent with attempts of many other interpreters to render the whole doctrine in more abstract terms (variously psychological or metaphysical).
In the commentarial literature of the Theravada tradition (attributed, at least mythically, to the author Buddhaghosa, and written many centuries subsequent to the Suttapitaka passages described above) the same doctrine is instead interpreted as a sequence of three lives, thus shifting the theme from a single conception (and birth) to a sequence of "incarnations" (roughly speaking).
Modern interpretations
The twelve nidānas have been employed in the analysis of phenomena according to the principle of Pratītyasamutpāda. The Twelve Nidānas reveal the origins of phenomena, and the feedback loop of conditioning and causation that leads to suffering in current and future lives. The basic principle of pratītyasamutpāda and the Twelve Nidānas is to see the conditioned causal connection of each state that supports the next in the cycle of our lives as we suffer in Samsara. It is explained in detail in the Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosa, the central text of the Mahāvihāra commentarial tradition.
The causal chain of analysis employed in this type of analysis appears to operate from the position that individual phenomena are caused or conditioned by only a single cause. This reflects not a blanket declaration by the Buddha Śākyamuni or the Theravāda commentators that individual phenomena can have only a single cause, but rather a simplifying assumption employed to make the analytical technique more useful to the practitioner.
 | This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (February 2011) |
Like many of the techniques and theories contained in the Visuddhimagga and other commentarial works, the Twelve Nidāna analysis was intended to be used as one of many techniques available to a student of meditation, and its form reflects both the needs and experiences of Buddhist meditation practitioners.
The chain of twelve phenomena leading to future births and suffering was variously presented by the Buddha; Buddhaghosa recounts four methods: working from "bottom to top", working from the "middle to the top", working from "top to bottom", and working from the "middle to the source" (Buddhaghosa compares the teaching of the Twelve Nidānas to a creeper vine that is seized and removed in one of four different ways).
The first method begins with ignorance and proceeds to sickness, old age, and death. The second method begins with attachment and proceeds to birth. The third method begins with birth and proceeds back to ignorance. The fourth method begins with attachment and proceeds to ignorance.
An interpreted list of the Twelve Nidānas
| |
- Avidyā (Sanskrit) or Avijjā (Pāli); Tibetan (Wylie transliteration) ma.rig.pa (marikpa), Eng. "ignorance".
Ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, the Three marks of existence, the Five Skandhas, Karma, and Pratītyasamutpāda results in a wrong assessment of reality. This narrowness of experience is the primary cause of duḥkha (suffering dissatisfaction, pain, unease, etc.)
Avidyā may be understood as "a continuous gradient characterizing not so much a particular state of being, but the quality or direction of situational patterning, experienced as a 'falling away from' the modality of pristine awareness."
- Saṃskāra (Sanskrit) or Saṅkhāra (Pāli); Tibetan du.byed (duche), Eng. "(mental) formations"
The impulse accumulations of saṃskāra are characterized by the energetic direction of the first motif, manifesting through body, speech, and mind as structuring forces of our being. This relationship forms the basis of our character and our personal karmic patterning.
- Vijñāna (Sanskrit) or Viññāna (Pāli); Tibetan rnam.par.shes.pa or rnam.shes (namshe), Eng. "consciousness"
Vijñāna represents the partially structured consciousness that results from the action of saṃskāra and the shaping of that energetic activity into a less flexible and more stagnant form.
"It is pictured as having a two-fold function: the cognition of objects that arise in our field of awareness and a structured stream that is being continually fed from the reservoir of energetic activity. The interplay between saṃskāra and vijñāna is seen as accounting for all the experiential data associated with the psychological notion of the unconscious, including memory, dreams, and the eruption of emotive complexes."
- Nāmarūpa (Sanskrit and Pāli); Tibetan ming.gzugs (mingzuk), Eng. "name and form"
Vijñāna has a quick grasping tendency, moving from sensory objects to objects of imagination rapidly. This energy may therefore crystallize and take shape into mental functions, called Nāma, or it may be represented as material forms, called Rūpa.
As a collective idea, the Nāmarūpa motif models the reciprocal relationship of bodily and mental functioning. Nāma is the naming activity of the discursive mind. Rūpa develops an internal representation of external objects, without which mind and body cannot exist.
"Nāma refers to three components of mental functioning. There is the sensation or tone-awareness of a mental situation. There is also an ideational or labeling function. And finally there is the component of dispositional orientation, the 'mood-energy' we bring to a situation."
"Rūpa refers to the four dynamic structuring operations of solidity, cohesion, heat, and motility. They are represented by the elemental symbols of earth, water, fire, and air. The operation of these elemental modes goes to make up what we experience as our physical world, including our body. Rūpa embraces the static aspects of embodiment such as cellular, tissue, and organ structures, as well as the dynamic aspect of body metabolism--electro-physiological pathways, membrane transport, etc."
- Ṣaḍāyatana (Sanskrit) or Saḷāyatana (Pāli); Tibetan skye.mched (kyemche), Eng. "six sense gates"
The close relationship of bodily and mental functioning is differentiated into the six-fold bases of awareness, which contribute to the arising of all sensory experiences that make up our interpretation of reality. The six-fold bases are divided into an internal grouping (ādhyātmika) with corollary external (bāhya) supports.
"The internal grouping refers to the integration of five sensory capabilities (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) and a sixth capability, termed non-sensuous or mental, which refers to the capability of all acts of memory, imagination, visualization, etc. These internal bases are not to be confused with the corresponding physical organs ... They are simply loci of sensitivity structured such that there arises the experience of seeing, hearing, etc."
"The six external bases, which always work in conjunction with the corresponding internal base, refer to the six types of possible object awareness. These bases are the means by which the differentiated aspects, which are fleeting stabilizations in the field character of our awareness, stand out long enough to be appropriated as this-or-that specific object. The external and internal bases should be pictured as working together in pairs. In any given moment there is the two-fold working of a particular modality of awareness (eye-sensitivity and color-forms, ear-sensitivity and sounds, etc.)."
- Sparśa (Sanskrit) or Phassa (Pāli); Tibetan reg.pa (rekpa), Eng. "contact"
The sparśa motif refers to the relationship or rapport between the internal and external āyatana. Impressions of tone arise in conjunction with the specific modality of awareness that is operating.
- Vedanā (Sanskrit and Pāli); Tibetan tshor.ba (tsorwa), Eng. "sensation"
There are six types of feeling tone awareness that arise from contact of the āyatana. The feeling tone or sensation of each of the six āyatana is uniquely different. For example, the feeling tone and felt experience of sensations in the body are distinct from the feeling tones generated from experiencing sight or sound.
"Each modality is experientially separable on the basis of (a) the place of sensitivity (internal base), (b) the corresponding structure of its field (external base), (c) the manner of articulation or relatedness between (a) and (b), termed rapport, and (d) the resulting distinctive tone."
- Tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit) or Taṇhā (Pāli); Tibetan sred.pa (sepa), Eng. "craving" or "desire" or "thirst":
Following the arising of tone-awareness is an unconditioned or habitually patterned experience of craving or attachment. The type of craving or attachment that follows depends upon which of the six āyatanas is involved, and which of the following three "motivations" is present.
"The motivation of sensual gratification (kāma-tṛṣṇā) is perhaps the most common. It results in simple attachment to whatever arises in one's field of awareness. It is not an overt appropriation, one that we consciously activate. It refers rather to the habitual structuring of experience such that one is compulsively caught up in one situation after another through a process of identification and clinging.
"One can also be motivated with regard to the desire for 'eternals' (bhava-tṛṣṇā). It is the habitual structuring of any sensory impression, any momentary awareness, such that it might be the occasion for securing an eternal realm of peace and contentment.
"Finally there is the annihilatory motivation (vibhava-tṛṣṇā). It is the automatic structuring of experience such that any sensory activation might be the cause of a compulsive thirst to annihilate and destroy. What is commonly regarded as psychopathic behavior might be linked particularly with this type of motivation."
- Upādāna (Sanskrit and Pāli); Tibetan len.pa (lenpa), Eng. "attachment"
If the object of one's desires comes to fruition, then these craving desires of tṛṣṇā may solidify and manifest as the quality of attachment, or upādāna. This condition of fulfilled desires and attachment is always fleeting and momentary, as new cravings arise once old cravings are satisfied.
Attachment may take many forms, for example, emotional attachment to persons, to life, material comfort, routines, pleasant or unpleasant sensations, beliefs, thoughts, judgements, etc. We may not have attachment to things like wealth or success in society, but we are typically very strongly attached to our feelings and constructed identity of the self.
One may become fixated on a mental "story" or representation of reality, or a mental version of an object or event, preferring and craving for an unrealized internal version of external reality. Once this fixation shapes behavior in a way that internal desires are satiated, then the craving of tṛṣṇā may be said to have shifted to the attachment of upādāna.
- Bhava (Sanskrit and Pāli), Tibetan srid.pa (sipa), Eng. "becoming"
"Once the direction of situational patterning has proceeded to the point of overt clinging, a process of becoming, termed bhava, is initiated. It refers to the new formation of karmic tendencies."
This creation of new habits and karmic tendencies, called bhava, will come to fruition through future experiences. Bhava, therefore, differs from Saṃskāra in temporal nature. "Saṃskāra refers to tendencies from past situational patternings (lives) which act on the present situation."
- Jāti (Sanskrit and Pāli); Tibetan skyed.ba (kye wa), Eng. "birth":
The jāti motif refers to the process of karmic tendencies of bhava coming to fruition, through the birth of new patternings. That which was desired and conditioned now comes to be.
"In a psycho-biological model, jāti refers to the birth or emergence of a newborn being, appearing, according to the specific history of patterning, in one of six 'lifestyles'. These lifestyles indicate the general character of experience. They are symbolized by the terms gods, titans, hungry ghosts, animals, denizens of hell, and human. These embrace all the general ways of being-in-a-situation."
- Jarā-maraṇa (Sanskrit and Pāli); Tibetan rga.shi (gashi), Eng. "aging (old age), decay and death"
"Once a new situation or a new being has emerged, it is inevitable that the conditions which brought about its appearance will change. This, the last of the twelve motifs, points to the inevitability of decay and death. Decay affects all structures, which are but fleeting stabilizations fed by the energy flow of habitual patterning. When the cessation of the continuity of experience occurs, we speak of death. It is the total breakdown and dissolution of experience and experiencer.
"The process of disintegration, destructuring, and entropic scattering yields a nexus of vibratory murkiness which is the condition of avidyā, the first motif. Thus the entire structure of patterning feeds back on itself, and is often pictured as a circle of twelve sections, called the Wheel of Life (bhavacakra, srid-pa'i-'khor-lo)."
Notes
Traditionally, the twelve nidānas describe a process that unfolds over at least three consecutive lifetimes. Contemporary teachers often teach that it can also be seen as a daily cycle occurring from moment to moment throughout each day. There is scriptural support for this as a tertiary explanation in the Abhidharmakosa of Vasubandhu.
Twenty-four types of conditions
Conditions, reason, source, are described by the Visuddhimagga as the same. Conditioning an agent means to cause it, being taken as an object by it, to occur in the same time. The full list helps to consider many sorts of conditions as the causal condition is only one of them. Examples are explained to understand these conditions, but they are included in the next section in order not to repeat them.
- Causal
- Both a condition and a cause. Each condition responds to this principle to be both a condition and something else. Note that a cause does not transmit any "substance" - see Three marks of existence.
- Object
- An agent that helps another one by being its object. All that can be known can be an object condition.
- Predominance
- An agent that helps another one by mastering it.
- Immediacy
- An agent that helps another one considering its immediacy.
- Full immediacy
- Same meaning as the immediacy condition.
- Simultaneity
- An agent that helps another one by appearing on the same time "as the lamp for the light".
- Reciprocity
- Agents that help themselves and consolidate themselves are one for the others "reciprocity condition".
- Support
- An agent that helps another one by being a basement for it.
- Strong support
- A strong basement.
- Anteriority
- An agent that helps another one by appearing before it.
- Posteriority
- A psychic agent that helps an older and physical one reinforcing it.
- Repetition
- A state of mind that conditions a following and similar state of mind.
- Karma
- An action that is an intentional effort.
- Result
- A serene state of mind helping another one to be serene.
- Intake
- The four "foods" : the food helps the body, but "psychic foods" helps associated factors.
- Faculty
- For example, the ocular faculty helps the ocular conscience.
- Jhāna
- The jhānas are said to be associated with some characteristics : vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha or on the contrary upekkhā and ekaggatā. Jhānas are conditioning these.
- Way
- The way to leave the saṃsāra. Some factors are associated with this way.
- Association
- The four non-physical skandhas help themselves by being associated to the same object.
- Dissociation
- Physical and non-physical agents helping themselves by not being associated to the same object. For example, a calm state of mind helping some physical aspects to be - but not always to appear, as the dissociation condition can be anterior, posterior or simultaneous...
- Existence
- An agent helping another, similar one by making it strong.
- Inexistence
- Non-physical agents, ceasing, help another one to appear.
- Disparition
- Same as the inexistence condition.
- Non-disparition
- Same as the existence condition.
The whole description
This section considers which conditions apply to which part of the dependent origination.
- Activities condition consciousness
- Consciousness conditions body and mind
- Body and mind condition the twelve domains
- During rebirth, the four psychic aggregates condition the sixth domain as simultaneity, reciprocity, support, association, result, existence and non-disparition.
- Twelve domains condition contact
- The five physical domains condition the five physical contacts as support, anteriority, faculty, dissociation, existence and non-disparition. The mental domain conditions the mental contact as simultaneity, reciprocity, support, result, intake, faculty, association, existence and non-disparition. The visible domain conditions contact with the eye as object, anteriority, existence and non-disparition. The other exterior domains represent the same conditions : for example sound for the contact with the ear.
- Contact conditions sensation
- This description considers only the 32 sensations associated to resulting states. Contact with the eye, the nose, the ear, the mouth or the body conditions the sensations which are supported by the associated sensibilities as simultaneity, reciprocity, support, result, intake, association, existence and non-disparition. Contact with the eye, nose, ear, mouth and body also conditions the other sensations as strong support.
- Sensation conditions lust
- The only case is the resulting and nice-to-have sensation conditioning craving as a strong support.
- Desire conditions attachment
- Sensorial lust conditions as strong support sensorial attachment. Sensorial lust conditions other attachments as simultaneity, reciprocity, support, association, existence, non-disparition and causal conditions.
- Attachment condition becoming
- Every attachment conditions every becoming. The four attachments condition pure physical becoming and non-physical becoming ( see dhyana and arupajhanas ) as strong support. Attachment conditions beneficial physical becoming as strong support. Attachment conditions pernicious becomings as simultaneity, reciprocity, support, association, existence, non-disparition and causal conditions.
- Becoming conditions birth
- Becoming conditions the birth as a karma and strong support condition.
- And birth conditions sickness, old age and death
- Birth conditions both old age, sickness, death, sorrow as an extreme strong support condition.
9.1 What is the Law of Dependent Origination?
The Law of Dependent Origination is one of the important laws of the universe discovered by Shakyamuni Buddha (through enlightenment). It simply states that 
- It is produced; therefore the other is produced.
It is extinguished; therefore the other is extinguished.
It exists; therefore the other exists.
It does not exist; therefore the other does not exist.
It is an elaboration of the Principle of Cause and Effect, highlighting the concept of inter-dependency of existence, and also the duality/non-duality. It looks simple. But in fact, it is very deep and profound, especially when it is applied to our daily life.
Basically, we can understand the Law of Dependent Origination in three ways: 
9.1.1 Related to Cause and Effect
One reaps what one sows. It is very simple, and is agreed upon and accepted by most people. Every effect has its cause. However, if we talk about cause and effect without considering the condition, we are a fatalist. Buddhism rejects it. An effect can only arise depending on condition(s). Cause is primary while condition is secondary. In other words, a wholesome deed at present can be a cause of a good retribution/effect in future. However, a wholesome deed at present can also be a condition for preventing the bad retribution (evil effect due to the evil cause in the past), as a bad retribution usually comes in effect under adverse/unwholesome conditions. Even if it really comes, the effect is generally less severe, particularly if we sincerely repent of our evil deed in the past. Moreover, since cause cannot come in effect without condition(s), it is important to note that although one cannot change the cause and effect, one can change the conditions. This is why Buddhism emphasizes to change our fate by changing the condition.
If we cultivate the wholesome causes, we have good retribution. Thus, we should have a strong belief and deep understanding of the law and act in accordance with it, in order to have a better living with happiness and blessings.
9.1.2 Related to Inter-dependency
Literally, interdependency means one cannot exist without the other. Its existence depends on the other. In other words, "it" and "the other" are co-existent, for instance, up and down, right and wrong, good and evil, bright and dark, subject and object, you and I, etc. There is no independent existence. Nothing has its own nature of existence. It deduces the non-existence of an independent "I". By definition, the existence of an independent "I" is (1) independent (2) permanent (3) self-sovereign. Buddhism does not reject a convenient designation named "I", but rejects the belief in a real, independent and permanent entity ! Buddhism also rejects the belief of the Creator of Universe as there is no exception to the law. This will be further elaborated in The Three Universal Truths in the next section.
9.1.3 Related to Profundity
This is a very profound way to understand the Law of Dependent Origination. It reveals the reality of the nature. Dependent origination is further described to be the momentary inter-dependent existence. That means, for all phenomena, their existence are inter-dependent (dependent upon a number of causal factors), and also impermanent (transient, ever-changing and momentary). Again, this will be further elaborated in The Three Universal Truths in the next section.
There is no existing phenomenon that is not the effect of dependent origination. All phenomena arise dependent upon a number of casual factors, called conditions. This is a very simple way to express the Law of Dependent Origination.
Dependent origination is essentially and primarily a teaching to understand suffering and cessation of suffering. It is not a description of the evolution of universe.
The twelve links of dependent origination provide a detailed description on the problem of suffering and rebirth. They are: ignorance, mental formation, consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging and death.
| 1. | Ignorance | is the condition for mental formation. |
| 2. | Mental formation | is the condition for consciousness. |
| 3. | Consciousness | is the condition for name and form. |
| 4. | Name and form | is the condition for the six senses. |
| 5. | The six senses | are the conditions for contact. |
| 6. | Contact | is the condition for feeling. |
| 7. | Feeling | is the condition for craving. |
| 8. | Craving | is the condition for clinging. |
| 9. | Clinging | is the condition for becoming. |
| 10. | Becoming | is the condition for birth. |
| 11. | Birth | is the condition for aging and death. |
| 12. | Aging and death | is the condition for ignorance. |
All twelve links are inter-related and dependent on each other. Each one does not have its own nature. Thus there is no starting point nor ending point. They are cyclic phenomena. Each link is a cause on one hand, and an effect on the other. The occurrence of cause and effect may come about in a moment or over a period of three life-times.
There are two main ways to interpret the twelve links.
9.2.1 Sequential Interpretation
Over a period of three life-times, i.e. past life, present life and future life.
- 1. Past life - ignorance, mental formation represent the conditions that are responsible for the occurrence of this life.
- 2. Present life - The eight links, consciousness, name and form, six senses, contact, feeling, craving, clinging and becoming constitute the process of evolution within this life.
- 3. Future life - birth, old age and death belong to the conditions for the future life.
9.2.2 Cyclical Interpretation
Dividing the twelve links into three groups:
- 1. Defilement (Klesha) - ignorance, craving and clinging.
Ignorance is the main cause of suffering. It is because ignorance that we crave for pleasures of the senses, for existence and for non-existence. We also cling to pleasant experience, to ideas, and most significantly, to the idea of an independent and permanent self. Ignorance is the cause of actions. Defilement is the impurities of mind, resulting in actions.
- 2. Action (Karma) - mental formation and becoming
Mental formation refers to the impressions or habits that we have formed in our stream of conscious moments. They are formed by repeated actions, just like the formation of river by repeated flows of water in the streams. In the same way, our actions become habitual. These habits become part of our personality and we take these habits with us from life to life in the form of habitual energy. Becoming is the actions that we perform in this life. In other words, the habits developed over countless lives combined with new actions performed in this life result in rebirth and suffering.
- 3. Suffering (Duhkha) - consciousness, name form, the six senses, contact, feeling, birth, old age and death
All these links are the effects of defilement and actions.
Ignorance means the lack of right understanding. In our world, one is ignorant to take Five Desirous Pleasures (wealth, sex, fame, eating, sleep) as the ultimate happiness. One is also ignorant to take oneself as a real, independent, permanent entity of "I". We do not really understand what our lives are and what the universe is. That is why we are in trouble, in anger, in illusion, in anxiety, in fear, etc. If we understand more about the universe and our lives, then we will live in accordance with the way it goes (not against it). Then we will be happy, free and comfortable.
Many people live, act and behave in accordance with their traditions, customs and habits, without knowing what they really are (just like the Five Desirous Pleasures). It is the ignorance which leads them to suffer. Many people are born and then die without understanding what they really are. That is why they undergo rebirth from life to life. In Samsara, ignorance can be regarded as the blockage to our own Buddha's nature which is yet to be developed and enlightened. Ignorance is an incomplete and imperfect understanding, illusion and unconsciousness, defilement and impurities of the mind. It is the primary cause of suffering and rebirth. Ignorance is a condition for mental formation.
9.3.2 Mental Formation
Mental formation arises from ignorance. The mental impurities (the result of actions done in the previous lives) have resulted in the formulation of habitual energy and actions done in the present life which are generally liable to conform to the patterns established in previous lives. All are governed by the Law of Karma. That is why some people live better than the others in this world.
Mental formation is a condition for consciousness.
9.3.3 Consciousness
Consciousness arises from mental formation. Literally, it means perceiving, comprehending, recognizing, differentiating etc. Usually it is interpreted to be our mind.
In the twelve links, mental formation is then condition for consciousness, as our personalities belong to our internal mind.
Our personalities can only be realized upon (1) the subjective differentiating mind (consciousness) and (2) the objective matter (name and form).
Consciousness is a condition for name and form.
9.3.4 Name and Form
It is the combination of spirit and matter, mind and body. It refers to Five Skandhas, i.e. form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness. Form has its colour and shape, and the other four do not. Therefore, they are called "name". Name and form is a condition for the six senses.
9.3.5 The Six Senses
The six senses arise from name and form. They are eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. These six organs are the tools used to get in contact with the external objects and to be aware of the existence of an objective matter. They are also organs to express our characters and personalities. The six senses are the conditions for contact.
9.3.6 Contact
Contact arises from the six senses. It is the psychological process created by the six senses, the objects and the consciousness. Therefore contact is the condition for feeling. Without contact, we will have no feeling. It is the very first link where suffering begins.
9.3.7 Feeling
Feeling arises from contact. It is the feeling towards a matter. There are three kinds of feeling, namely, suffering, pleasure, no-suffering-no-pleasure.
Feeling is a condition for craving.
9.3.8 Craving
Craving arises from contact. It is the sensuous desire, pursuit for pleasures, attachment to gain and fear of loss.
Craving is a condition for clinging.
9.3.9 Clinging
Cling arises from craving. It is an attachment to a matter. We have the desire to keep it and possess it permanently. However, all phenomena are impermanent. We are bound to suffer because of our ignorance. Clinging is a condition for becoming.
9.3.10 Becoming
Becoming arises from clinging. It means to give birth, create and exist. Since we are so attached to all phenomena, including matter and self, we assume that there is an existence. However, the existence is void because it is not real. It is conditioned, impermanent and transient.
Becoming is a condition for birth.
9.3.11 Birth
Birth arises from becoming. Birth implies life. It is an effect of all mental activities, which make the life to happen.
Birth is a condition for old age and death.
9.3.12 Old Age and Death
Old age and death arises from birth. It is a life "cycle". Death is one of the greatest affliction and fear of the layman beings, but none of them is exempted from old age and dying.
Only Arhats and Bodhisattva who are enlightened, have liberated themselves from the fundamental errors that imprison them within the cycle of birth and death in Samsara.
Ordinary beings die, leaving with the ignorance, which carries to next life, i.e. rebirth, so on and so forth. Old age and death is a condition for ignorance.
The Buddha said there are twelve links (nidanas) in the "chain" of Dependent Origination. Dependent Origination is the Buddhist teaching on how things come to be, are, and cease to be. According to this teaching, no beings or phenomena exist independently of other beings and phenomena.
The Twelve Links show us how Dependent Origination "works." Please note that there is no first link. The "numbering" could begin anywhere. Although they are described in a linear way, in fact each link connects to all the other links.
1. Ignorance (Avidya)
Avidya means lack of light or lack of understanding. In Buddhism, "ignorance" usually refers to ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, in particular that life is dukkha (unsatisfactory; stressful).
Ignorance also refers to ignorance of anatman, a teaching that there is no "self" in the sense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existence. What we think of as our self, our personality and ego, are temporary creations of the skandhas.
The twelve links are illustrated in the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life). Ignorance is depicted as a blind man or woman.Ignorance conditions the next link in the chain, volitional action.
2. Volitional Formation (Samskara)
Ignorance links to samskara, which can be translated volitional action, formation, impulse, motivation, or karma formation. Out of ignorance come thoughts, words and actions that sew the seeds of karma. Samskara are the impulses that come before action, and action creates karma.
In the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), samskara usually is illustrated as potters making pots.
Volitional formation conditions the next link, consciousness.
3. Consciousness (Vijnana)
Vijnana usually is translated to mean "consciousness." In Buddhist teaching there are many kinds of vijnana. Very generally, vijnana is what happens when one of the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) reacts to or becomes aware of one of the six external phenomena (visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and ideas and thoughts). The third link includes all kinds of vijnana.
In the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), vijnana is represented by a monkey. A monkey leaps thoughtlessly from one thing to another, easily tempted and distracted by sensations. Monkey energy pulls us away from ourselves and away from the dharma.
Vijnana conditions the next link, name and form.
4. Name and Form (Nama-rupa)
Nama-rupa is name and form, corporeality and mentality, the joining of the five skandhas into an individual existence. With name and form also come sensory perception.
In the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), nama-rupa is represented by people in a boat, traveling through samsara.
Nama-rupa works together with the next link, faculties and objects, to condition other links.
5. Faculties and Objects (Shadayatana)
The Vijnana, or consciousness, link described above involves the the six faculties or sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) and six corresponding external phenomena, or objects (visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and ideas and thoughts). The faculties and their corresponding objects are the shadayatana.
Of course, the sense organs do not exist separately from the previous link, physical form. If you reflect on the links, you see that each link connects to every other link.
The Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life) illustrates shadayatana as a house with six windows.
Shadayatana relates directly to the next link, which is the contact between faculties and objects.6. Contact (Sparsha)
Sparsha is contact with environment, or the contact with the faculties and object discussed of Shadayatana. The Wheel of Life illustrates sparsha with an embracing couple.
The contact of faculties and objects leads to the experience of sensation, which is the next link.
7. Sensation (Vedana)
Vedana is the recognition and experience of sensations. These experiences are pleasurable or painful, which leads to desire and aversion.
The Wheel of Life illustrates vedana with an arrow piercing an eye to represent sense data piercing the senses.
Sensation conditions the next link, craving.
8. Craving (Trishna)
The Second Noble Truth teaches that trishna -- thirst, desire or craving -- is the cause of stress or suffering (dukkha).
If we are not mindful, we are perpetually being jerked around by desire for what we want and aversion of what we don't want. In this state we heedlessly create karma, which keeps us entangled in the cycle of rebirth.
The Wheel of Life illustrates trishna with a man drinking beer, usually surrounded with empty bottles.Desire and aversion conditions the next link, clinging.
Ads
Meditation - Free MP3sAbove the clouds, The sun is always shining.www.ramatalks.com
Lost Direction in Life?God-centered spiritual growth to recenter yourself.www.newchurch.org
9. Clinging or Grasping (Upadana)
Upadana is a grasping and clinging mind. We cling to sensual pleasures, mistaken views, external forms and appearances. Most of all, we cling to ego and a sense of an individual self, a sense reinforced moment-to-moment by our cravings and aversions. Upadana also represents clinging to a womb and the beginning of rebirth.
The Wheel of Life illustrates Upadana by picturing a monkey, or sometimes a person, reaching for a fruit.
Upadana conditions the next link, becoming.
10. Becoming (Bhava)
Bhava is new becoming, set in motion by the other links. The Wheel of Life illustrates bhava by picturing a couple making love or a woman in an advanced state of pregnancy.
Becoming conditions the next link, birth.
11. Birth (Jati)
The cycle of rebirth naturally includes birth. In the Wheel of Life, a woman in childbirth illustrates jati.
Birth inevitably leads to old age and death.
12. Old Age and Death (Jara-maranam)
The chain comes to old age and death, or the dissolution of what came to be. The karma of one life sets in motion another life, rooted in ignorance (avidya). A circle is closed.
In the Wheel of Life, Jara-maranam is illustrated with a corpse.
The Four Noble Truths teach us that release from the cycle of samsara is possible. In the resolution of ignorance, volitional formations, craving and grasping there is liberation from birth and death and the peace of nirvana.
No comments:
Post a Comment