Illustration by Yeshi Pelden
Illustration by Yeshi Pelden
Suffering does not arise independently. It arises based on certain conditions, and when those conditions are eliminated, it ceases. This, in short, is the teaching of dependent origination, and it leads to the complete elimination of ignorance, the cause of suffering. As long as ignorance is there, suffering is there. As long as greed, hatred, and delusion are there, suffering is there. If you want to get rid of your suffering, remove greed, hatred, and delusion from your mind.
The Buddha’s teachings guide us to study ourselves in the minutest detail to understand accurately what is going on within us. Studying dependent origination leads us to self-exploration, to observing within our own body and mind the dependent arising and dependent ceasing of our psychosomatic responses to our experiences in the world. It is very applicable to our daily lives, but what exactly does the term dependent mean? When asked, for instance, if it is going to rain today, we would answer, “It depends.” But universal causation states that everything has a cause and an effect produced by that cause, and therefore the arising of one thing (the effect) depends upon the arising of another thing (the cause). And conversely if the cause does not arise, the effect also cannot arise. According to Buddhist scriptures, while sitting under the Bodhi tree on the night of his enlightenment, the Buddha investigated the cause of suffering and saw how suffering arises and the way leading to its complete cessation. In the first watch of the night, he saw the sequences of causes and conditions leading to suffering, in the second watch the causes and conditions leading to the cessation of suffering, and in the third watch the ascending and descending order of the causes and conditions.
The general belief during the Buddha’s lifetime, just as today, was that suffering just happened by accident or that it was created by oneself, others, or a combination of these. But dependent origination demonstrates that everything is conditioned, that nothing comes into existence independently, without causes and conditions. Conditioned means that the existence of whatever is observed, felt, experienced, and inferred depends upon another thing and that everything is interdependent and interconnected. The very word conditioned implies the dependent origination formula, which presents the causes and conditions leading from the root cause of suffering to its manifestation in twelve steps, connected by eleven links.
However, merely memorizing these twelve steps is neither knowing nor understanding dependent origination. It is a deep, elaborate, and comprehensive teaching that leads us to a profound understanding of ourselves and ultimately a state of absolute inner peace and serenity. In the broadest sense it applies to anything in the universe, for everything exists depending on something else: the formation of the earth is due to the formation of clumps of rocks from swirling gas and dust brought together by the force of gravity. No system in the universe can exist by itself but rather in dependence on other systems and natural phenomena that themselves occur based on natural causes and conditions. Dependent origination is a universal law that applies to nature as a whole.
The formula of dependent origination presents a causal relationship of origination and is presented following a forward order, a backward order, and a combination of both forward and backward orders.
In the forward order, the formula is “This being, this is; from the arising of this, this arises.” Note that the formula states this and not that, because this is what is happening now, in this present moment. It refers to what is happening at this very instant in our own body and mind. Understanding the distinction between this and that in the formula is of the utmost importance. This indicates a thing or a situation that is close, in the present moment, while that points to something that is farther away or out there in some future time. This is all right here and right now.
We can observe the dependent origination formula at any time within ourselves. Take the example of anger. When we are angry, how do we feel? We get all hot and bothered, don’t we? It happens right now, doesn’t it? It is not something out there in a different time and place, where you get angry one day and then wake up the next morning agitated. Our bodies respond to anger right away: when anger rises, so does our blood pressure. From the arising of this, this arises.
In the reverse order, the formula is “This not being, this is not; from the ceasing of this, this ceases.” This order presents the sequence leading to the ultimate destruction of ignorance and as a result the total liberation from suffering.
One should examine all this for oneself. Just watch what happens to desire. Watch it arising and slowly fading away. Then, the second obstacle comes: discontent and dissatisfaction with the practice. This comes and slowly fades away, too. Hunger and thirst come and fade away. And then cravings arise and fade away, first for sense pleasures, which are pleasures enjoyed through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. When this vanishes, this vanishes. Not one single aspect of this dependent origination stays the same. So, in short, what the Buddha saw is rising and falling—that is, impermanence.
From Dependent Origination in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana and Veronique Ziegler, ©2024 by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. Reprinted by permission of Wisdom Publications, www.wisdom.org
Bhante Gunaratana was ordained at the age of twelve as a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka, earned his PhD in philosophy from The American University, and has led meditation retreats, taught Buddhism, and lectured widely throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. He is the president of the Bhavana Society in High View, West Virginia, where he lives.
Veronique Ziegler earned her doctorate degree in experimental high-energy physics from the University of Iowa working on the BaBar experiment at SLAC National Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. She then took a research assistant position at the same lab and later a staff scientist position at Jefferson National Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, where she currently works full time and is involved in the lab particle spectroscopy experimental program. In 2018, she started attending Bhante Gunaratana’s Dhamma classes. She has been an avid Dhamma student ever since.
Yeshi Pelden developed a passion for art while assisting his uncle, a painter, during a winter vacation. Inspired by this experience, he joined the National Institute for Zorig Chusum (NIZC) in Thimhpu, Bhutan, where he learned from esteemed teachers such as Tshewang Tenzin. He served as the student leader and was awarded the Best Outgoing Student medal in 2014. Yeshi is now a painting instructor at NIZC, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting Bhutan’s traditional arts and cultural heritage. See his work @yeshipaldhen
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