The
Evolution of the Doctrine of Dependent Origination
(Pratitya-samutpada)
The Doctrine of Dependent Origination was a
respond by the Blessed One to refute the doctrine on the existence
of a Soul theory. The Buddha replaced the Soul by the theory of a
mind-continuum, conditioned, governed by causal law, with each
succeeding state good or bad been the result of the previous state.
Rebirth does not mean that the Soul transported itself from one
place to another. It only means that a new series of states is
generated, conditioned by the previous states. Nothing is lost, and
the new birth is a result of the previous. There is no element
which migrates from this world to the other. I declare, said the
Buddha, the perpetrator of these deeds does not exist at all. They
appear and disappear according to the formulas, ‘This being, that
appears, they appears in interdependent of each other’. There is
action, but the agent does not exist. The five skandha are the
burden, attachment to them is carrying of the burden, detachment
from them is laying down the burden, and the burden-bearer is the
empirical individual. It becomes a fundamentally important doctrine
of Buddhism.
The early Buddhists have two different
theories of dependent origination, a Special One and a General One.
The special theory is mention in the Suttas, and the general theory
is contained in the Abhidhamma philosophy
treatises.
The special law of Dependent Origination,
which has a mainly moral bearing are describe as different spheres
of existence. The individual lives, i.e. the assemblages of
elements form themselves in these spheres according to the good and
bad acquired in the former lives. It
assumes a moral law, but there is no subject of this law. There is
a state of Bondage and a state of Final Deliverance. But there is
no one who commits these deeds, no Soul, no Ego, and no
Personality. There are only group of separate elements, both
physical and mental, which form and unformed themselves which are
subjected to a Moral Law, the law of a progressive development
toward Nirvana.
The whole of phenomenal life is represented
as the wheel of 12 links. The whole series is conditioned by the
central element of Ignorance. (1) Due to our Ignorance, we cling on
to a self, (2) Our pass karma then, provide the conditioning
factors for the next life, (3) Consciousness arises, which again
carries the sense of self, (4) It give rise to name and form, the
individual mental and physical constituents, (5) Follow by our six
senses, (6) Accompany by our sensations, (7) And the Feeling of
pleasant, unpleasant and neutral states, (8) Which give rise to our
Desires, (9) Allowing free actions of clinging, grasping, (10)
Which brought about future becoming again, (11) New birth in the
six realms, (12) Follow by old age and death. The whole series of
process is only interrupted, when the element of Ignorance is
extinct, and Nirvana is reached. The special law of moral causation
is developed in this context.
The Generalized Theory in the Abihdhamma is
a later development of the Special Theory. It is a detail
enumeration, classification, and definition of all elements of
existence follow by explanation of their interdependence according
to different lines of causation.
Nagarjuna, the founder of the Madhyamika
system, said ‘One who perceives truly the Pratitya-samutpada
(dependent Origination) realizes the four noble truths – pain, its
cause, cessation and the path. The Madhyamika system is thus a
re-interpretation of the doctrine of dependent Origination. It is
equated with Emptiness (Sunyata) and emerged out of a sustained
criticism of the Abhidharmika schools, which themselves grew as the
rejection of the Soul doctrine of the Brahmanical systems. The
Madhyamikas system is also a criticism of both the Soul and No Soul
theories, as both are considered to be at opposite extreme. The
middle between these two is the Inexpressible, which is the direct
outcome of the awareness of the conflict in Reason. It is an
attempt to transcend the duality of Reason, to go beyond the sphere
of human reasons to a higher faculty; The Intuition
(prajna).
The moment our senses attention is fixed to
a external point, our thought too, stop running, and we internally
start to produce an intellectual judgment on the external point;
such as the judgment ‘this is yellow’. At that moment, we have
separated the universe into two half, i.e. the yellow from all that
is non-yellow. There is nothing ‘yellow’ in the yellow itself. The
two parts are relative to each other only. Every conscious thought
of ours, begins with a division into two separate parts on an
external point instant of what our senses first perceived.
Our thought is thus beset with
contradiction. To think actively, to think constructively, is to
think in a dichotomize way. We can only cognize or determine a
thing only by opposing it to what it is not. Without knowing what
is ugly, we would not know, what would be considered
beautiful.
The Madhyamika argues that things have no
independent existence, for things are mutually dependent having no
reality of their own, they are unreal, empty, because they are
relative and dependent and also lacking in essence; mutual
dependence is a mark of the unreal. With that conclusion, the
earlier interpretation that dependent Origination is a phenomena
sequence of origination and cessation of momentary entities was
transformed, to a doctrine of the unreality of things
(Emptiness).
The Madhyamika method is to
de-conceptualize the mind. It believes that the Real is been
overlaid with our notions and views, most of which are knowledge
obtained by our intellect deduction. The Real can only be known by
uncovering this overlaid. It is primarily a path of purification of
the intellect and when perfected, with it, moral defilements as
well. It is the removal of all restriction which conceptual
patterns necessarily impose. When the Intellect becomes so pure and
transparent that no distinction can possibly exist between the Real
and the Intellect apprehending it, when the Real is devoid of all
determinations, it is the inexpressible ground of all phenomena;
Intellectual Intuition (Prajna-Paramita) is also devoid of the two
extremes of Soul and No Soul theories. Prajna, is the intellect
freed of conceptual restrictions, it is the universal nature of the
mind.
The Yogacara Idealism is made possible by
the doctrine of Emptiness of the Madhayamika. The Yogacara
criticizes the Madhyamika for denying the reality of Consciousness.
Everything may be dialectically analyzed away as illusory; but
illusion itself implies the ground on which the illusory
construction can take place. The Yogacara give substance to the
doctrine of Emptiness by identifying it with Pure Consciousness
that is devoid of duality.
It believes that bondage and deliverance
are not the properties of someone who is being bound up and then
delivered. The elements of ignorance, of birth and death produce
the run of phenomenal life, they are the bondage; when these
elements disappear in the face of absolute knowledge, the ensuring
pure consciousness is called deliverance, it is said,
'Consciousness itself, polluted by passions and ignorance, is
phenomenal life, that very Consciousness when freed from them is
deliverance’.
We do read and heard often times, that the
Mahayanist teachings are not the true representation of the Lord
Buddha words, because its teachings did not originate directly from
the Blessed One. But if we look at how the teaching of the
Pratitya-samutpada developed over the centuries, taking on new
meanings as it is re-interpreted, we would have noticed that the
seeds of the Mahayanist teachings were already planted in the early
words of the Abhidharmika. The Dialectic of the Madhayamika can
only be made possible, when two view points, completely opposed to
each other, in this case; the Soul and no Soul theories were well
developed enough for the Dialectic to be used.
The scripture did says, that whosoever
perceives the real nature of dependent Origination perceived the
Dharma; and whosoever perceived the Dharma perceives the
Buddha.