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PowerPoint presentation on Bhikkhu Bodhi’s recorded lectures on ‘Buddha’s Teaching As It Is’. Materials for the presentation are taken from the recorded lectures (MP3) posted at the website of Bodhi Monastery and the notes of the lectures posted at beyondthenet.net

Originally prepared to accompany the playing of Bhikkhu Bodhi’s recorded lectures on ‘Buddha’s Teaching As It is’ in the Dharma Study Class at PUTOSI Temple, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.This series of weekly study begins in November, 2010.

Buddha’s Teaching As It Is – Bhikkhu Bodhi

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Dependent ArisingPaticca SamuppadaBhikkhu BodhiLecture 4

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa

Dependent Arising – Paticcasamuppada

‘Paticcas’ means dependent on, conditioned by.‘Samuppda’ means arising, interconnectedness or

interrelatedness that characterises the arisingA satisfactory translation for the term

paticcasamuppada would be dependent co-arising. The more general translation, ‘ dependent arising’ is used here. Other translations are dependent origination, conditioned co-production, conditioned genesis.

The doctrine of dependent arising is the dynamic counterpart of the doctrine of anatta (non-self).

Dependent Co-arising

Law of Conditionality


Imasmim sati idam hoti; Imassuppada idam uppajjati.Imasmim asati idam na hoti; Imassa nirodha idham nirujjhati.

No Single or First Cause

Wheel of Existence (Becoming) - Samsara

Such is the Arising of Sufferings

Past, Present & Future LivesTo clarify the working of the

twelve factors, the Buddha explained them as distributed over three successive lives. They can be applied to any three lives.

If we take the main portion from consciousness through to existence (No. 3 to 10) as applying to the present life, the first two factors pertain to the past life, to the immediately preceding life, and the last two factors, birth, and ageing and death represent the next life, our future existence.

Image from P.A. Payutto, Dependent Origination

Past, Present & Future Lives


Present Life is the Result of Past Life

i. Ignorance (Avijja)

The Buddha starts the sequence of factors with ignorance, 'Avijja'. In our past lives our minds were obscured by a basic ignorance. No first point can be found to this ignorance. No matter how far back we go through our past lives, one always finds that our minds have been obscured by ignorance. What is ignorance? The Buddha defines ignorance as not knowing, not seeing the Four Noble Truths; the truth of suffering, its origin, its cessation and the way to its cessation. Ignorance does not mean the mere lack of conceptual understanding of these, but spiritual blindness, not understanding the Four Noble Truths in their full depth and range.Through beginningless, times ignorance has led us to see things as being permanent, pleasurable, attractive and self, and prevented

i. Ignorance (Avijja)us from seeing them in their real characteristics of impermanence, suffering and selflessness. Out of this ignorance come all other defilements, such as greed, aversion, pride, wrong views, jealousy, selfishness etc.. It has to be emphasised that ignorance is not the 'uncaused' first cause of things. It also arises through conditions. As a mental factor it depends on the minds and bodies of these beings. Though it arises through conditions, ignorance is the most fundamental condition. Therefore the Buddha takes this as a starting point for explanation. This ignorance controls our mind until we are perfectly enlightened, leading us into actions which bring about renewed birth in the future. This brings us to the first proposition, which connects together the first two factors "Dependent on ignorance volitional formations arise."

ii. Volitional Formations (Sankhara)

Dependent on our spiritual blindness, ignorance, we engage in actions. We activate our will.

‘Sankhara’ means forming, constructing, creating, putting together and here it refers specifically to mental formations.

The factor of sankhara is equivalent to kamma.

Kamma means volitional formations or acts of will, which are expressed outwardly through the body and speech; or thoughts (in the mind).

ii. Volitional Formations (Sankhara)

Whenever there is a volitional action that arises in the mind encompassed by ignorance, that action leaves an imprint in the mind, a formation with the capacity to mature, to fructify in the future. It is deposited in the mind as a seed with a potency, a power of germinating in the future and of producing results. In the context of dependent arising, the most important aspect of volitional formations is their power to generate a new existence in the future, its power to bring about rebirth. These volitional formations, depending on whether they are wholesome or unwholesome volitions, will bring about a good or bad rebirth.Now we come to the next link in the series:"Dependent on volitional formations as condition consciousness arises."

iii. Consciousness (Vinnana)If volitional formations are accumulated in the mind and ignorance is still present, when death occurs, a new moment of consciousness will be generated following death. This is the first moment of consciousness of the new life. From the Buddhist perspective, consciousness is not regarded as a single persisting entity, a self or a soul which continues unchanged. Consciousness is rather a series of acts of consciousness, each one arising and breaking up like the waves of the ocean. When death occurs the last act of consciousness in this life arises and passes away. But through the force of ignorance and volitional formations, the final act of consciousness generates a new act of consciousness which springs up in the mother's womb, links up with the fertilized ovum, and thus starts the new existence.

iii. Consciousness (Vinnana)This first act of consciousness occurring at the moment of conception is called the 'patisandhicitta', the "relinking consciousness", because it links together the past life with the present life, the new being with his entire past.This rebirth consciousness springs up because of the wholesome or unwholesome volitions performed and stored up in the past life. If the kamma that determines rebirth is a wholesome one, then there will follow a favourable type of rebirth with a superior type of relinking consciousness. If the kamma that determines rebirth is an unwholesome one, then there will take place a lower type of rebirth with an inferior type of relinking consciousness. Whether it would be a high or low rebirth, that rebirth would be conditioned by the volitional formation that is underlaid by ignorance, the spiritual blindness.

DEPENDENT ARISING – PART II

iii. Consciousness (Vinnana)

When the rebirth consciousness arises it lasts for a brief moment and breaks up.

But immediately after the rebirth consciousness, the same basic type of consciousness begins to flow as a series of mental acts throughout the entire life. It flows as a passive flow of consciousness underlying all our active states of mind, continuing all the way to death. This passive stream of consciousness is called 'bhavanga', the stream of existence or the life continuum. This bhavanga is also determined by the volitional formation of the past life.

iv. Materiality-Mentality (Nama-rupa)

"With, consciousness as a condition mentality-materiality arises."

Mentality-materiality is a term for the psycho-physical organism. When the rebirth consciousness springs up at the time of conception it does not arise in isolation. It arises in association with the totality of the psycho-physical organism, which also comes into being at the time of conception. A living being is a compound of five aggregates, the material factor being form and four mental factors being feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness. In the case of a human rebirth the materiality or form is the body of the new-born organism, the single fertilized egg. On the mental side, associated with the consciousness, are the other three factors - feeling, perception and mental formations. These five aggregates continue all the way to death dependent on each other.

v. Six Sense Bases (Salayatana)

"With mentality-materiality as condition the six sense faculties arise."

As the psycho-physical organism grows and evolves, the five physical sense faculties appear; the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body. There is also the sixth, the mind faculty (faculty of cognition), the organ of thought, which coordinates the other sense data and also cognizes its own objects - ideas, images, concepts, etc. At the moment conception there are present the body faculty and the mind (rebirth consciousness) faculty. The other four sense faculties develop later as the embryo develops.The six sense faculties serve as our means for gathering information about the world. Each faculty can receive the type of sense data appropriate to itself. The eye receives form, the ear sounds, nose smells etc. Thus we come to the next link.

vi. Contact (Phassa)"With six sense faculties as condition contact arises.“

Contact means the coming together of the

consciousness with the sense objects through the sense

faculty, e.g. the eye consciousness contacts form

through the eye.

The six kinds of contact correspond to the six sense

faculties.

vii. Feeling (Vedana)"Dependent on contact as a condition feeling arises."

Feeling is the “affective tone" with which the mind

experiences the object. There can be six kinds of feeling

as determined by the organ through which the feeling

arises e.g. there is feeling born of eye contact, feeling

born of ear contact, etc. By way of its affective quality,

feelings are of three types; pleasant or agreeable,

painful or disagreeable and neutral feelings. It is

through these feeling that our past kammas work

themselves out and bring their fruits.

viii. Craving (Tanha)"Dependent on feeling as a condition craving arises."

With this link we take a major step forward in the movement of the wheel of existence. All the factors we have mentioned so far - consciousness, mentality-materiality, the six sense faculties, contact and feeling - represent the results of past kamma. They arise through the maturation of kamma from our past, from volitional formations. But now with the arising of craving experience moves from the past to the causes operating in the present, those causes which generate a new existence in the future. When we experience pleasant feelings we become attached to them. We enjoy them, relish them, crave for a continuation of them. Thus craving arises. When we experience painful feeling, this pain awakens an aversion, a desire to eradicate its source, or to flee from them.

viii. Craving (Tanha)But this pattern, by which feeling leads to craving, does not occur as a necessity. This is a very important point. Between feeling and craving there is a space, a gap which can become a battlefield where the round of existence is brought to an end. The battle fought in this space determines whether bondage will continue indefinitely into the future or whether it will be replaced by enlightenment and liberation. For if, instead of yielding to craving, we contemplate our feeling with mindfulness and awareness and understand them as they really are, then we can prevent craving from arising and from generating renewed existence in the future.

ix. Clinging (Upadana)"Dependent on craving as a condition, clinging arises." Now we are dealing with the forward movement of the round. Clinging is the intensification of craving.

There are four types of clinging:(a) clinging to sense pleasures.(b) clinging to views, theories and beliefs.(c) clinging to rituals, rules and observances.(d) cling to the notion of a self within the five aggregates

The difference between craving and clinging is illustrated by a simile. Craving is like a thief extending his hand to grasp an object that he intends to steal. Clinging is like the thief taking possession of it.

x. Existence (Bhava) "Dependent on clinging as a condition existence (birth) arises."

Bhava is the "kammically" accumulative side of existence, the phase of life in which we act and accumulate kamma, in which we generate more volitional formations, in which we build up these formations, accumulate them in the flow of consciousness. When these kammas are accumulated after death they bring about a new existence.

ageing , Death - Jaramarana

Dependent on birth as a condition ageing and death arises."

Because we take birth in the future, we pay the inevitable price with ageing and death, and also sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair.

xi. Birth (Jati), & xii. Aging & Death (Jaramarana)

Three links

1. Link between past causes and present effects: connection between volitional formations as the cause and consciousness as the effect;

2. Link between present effects and present causes: connection between feelings as the present cause and craving as the effect – most important;

3. Link between present causes and future effects: connection between existence or becoming as the cause and birth as the effect.

12 factors arranged into 4 groups with 20 modes

Four groups in 20 modes

12 factors arranged into 4 groups with 20 modes in the psychophysical process:

1. Five Causal factors of the Past – ignorance, craving and clinging, volitional formations =and existence or becoming (kamically active phase);

Image from Mahasi Sayadaw, Paticcasamuppda


2. Five Present Effects = consciousness, nama rupa, sense faculties, contact and feeling (subject to birth, aging and death)

1. Five Present Causes = craving, clinging, ignorance, existence, volitional formations;



3. Five Present Causes = craving, clinging, ignorance, existence, volitional formations;

4. Five Future Effects = birth, aging, death, consciousness, nama rupa

Whole sequence repeats itself endlessly


Three Phases That Drive Samsaric Existence

Defilement or kilesa vatta or phase: ignorance, craving and clinging; lead to kamma phase

Kamma phase: engage in action that accumulates kamma that leads to future existence – volitional formations and existence (becoming); lead to resultant phase

Resultant (Vipaka) phase: consciousness, mind and matter, sense-bases, contact, and feeling; lead to defilement phase

Defilements kamma (causes) results


Discovery of Enlightenment

Applying the Theory of Dependent Arising

Additional Illustrations on dependent origination, downloaded from various websites on 12 DECEMBER, 2010.

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Source: S Chinawaro Bhikkhu, http://dhammabum.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/graphic-buddha-teaching.jpg

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