What are the consequences of the concept of
interdependence on cosmological ideas in Buddhism? The
concept of interdependence implies that the elements of the
conventional reality we are all familiar with do not possess an
existence that is permanent and autonomous. This thing exists
because something else exists, that happens because this has
occurred. Nothing can
exist by itself and be its own cause.
Everything depends on everything else. Suppose that there is an
entity that exists independently of all the others. This implies
that it is not produced by a cause, that is, either it has always
existed or it does not exist at all. Such an entity will be unchanging
since it cannot act on others and others cannot act on it. The
world of phenomena could not function. Thus
interdependence is essential for phenomena to manifest
themselves.
Because the concept of
interdependence implies that nothing can exist by itself and be its
own cause, it goes against the idea of a creative principle, a
First Cause or a Creator that is permanent, all-powerful, that has
no other cause than itself, and which created the universe.
In the same vein, Buddhism rejects the idea that the universe can
be born out of nothing - a creation ex-nihilo - because the universe has to depend on
something else to emerge. If the universe was created, it is
because there was a potentiality already present. The coming into
being of the universe is merely the realization of that
potentiality. One can thus interpret the Big Bang as the
manifestation of the phenomenal world emerging from an infinite
potentiality already in existence. In a poetic language, Buddhism
speaks about of particles of space which carry
in them the potentiality of matter. This is strongly reminiscent of
the vacuum filled with energy that is thought to have given birth
the material content of the universe in the modern Big Bang theory.
Material phenomenon and things are not created in the sense that
they go from a state of non-existence to one of existence.
Rather they go from an unrealized state to a realized
state. Once it has come into existence, the universe goes
through a series of cycles, each composed of 4 stages: birth,
evolution, death and a state where the universe is pure
potentiality but has not manifested yet itself. This cyclic
universe has no beginning nor an end.
Origin of the world vs No beginning No end
Recycled Universe: Theory Could Solve Cosmic
