Vajradhara
One of Many
Namaste all,
this concept is a foundational teaching within all Buddhist schools, as such, i feel that it would be of some benefit for discussion and explanation.
nothing i post is new, it's all be said before. i post to sustain my own understanding. if you derive any benefit from this it is due to your own good karma ripening.
IMHAO!
The 12 Interdependent Co Arising Links:
The Buddha said that there are twelve links (nidanas) in the "chain" of Interdependent Co-Arising.
The first is ignorance (avidya). Vidya means seeing, understanding, or light. Avidya means the lack of light, the lack of understanding, or blindness. Although ignorance is usually listed as the first link, it does not mean that ignorance is a first cause. It is also possible to begin the list with old age and death.
The second link is volitional action (samskara), also translated as formations, impulses, motivating energy, karma formations, or the will to cling to being. When we have a lack of understanding, anger, irritation, or hatred can arise.
The third link is consciousness (vjiñana). Consciousness here means the whole of consciousness -- individual and collective, mind consciousness and store consciousness, subject and object. And consciousness here is filled with unwholesome and erroneous tendencies connected with ignorance that are of the nature to bring about suffering.
The fourth link is mind/body, or name and form (nama rupa). "Name" (nama) means the mental element and "form" (rupa) means the physical element of our being. Both mind and body are objects of our consciousness. When we look at our hand, it is an object of our consciousness. When we touch our anger, sadness, or happiness, these are also objects of our consciousness.
The fifth is the six ayatanas, which are the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) accompained by their objects (forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects and objects of mind). These six ayatanas do not exist separately from mind/body (the fourth link), but are listed separately to help us see them more clearly. When a sense organ comes into contact (the sixth link) with a sense object, there has to be sense consciousness (which lies within the third link). We are beginning to see how the Twelve Links interare, how each link contains all the other links.
The sixth link is the contact (sparsha) between sense organ, sense object, and sense consciousness. When eyes and form, ears and sound, nose and smell, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and object of mind come into contact, sense consciousness is born. Contact is a basis for feelings. It is a universal mental formation, present in every mental formation.
The seventh link is feelings (vedana), which can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. When a feeling is pleasant, we become attached (the ninth link).
The eighth link is craving (trishna), or desire. Craving is followed by grasping.
The ninth link is grasping or attachment (upadana). It means we are caught in the thralls of the object.
The tenth link is "coming to be" (bhava), being, or becoming. Because we desire something, it comes to be. We have to look deeply to know what we really want.
The eleventh link is birth (jati).
The twelfth link is old age (or decay) and death (jaramarana).
Ignorance conditions volitional actions. Volitional actions condition consciousness. Consciousness conditions mind/body. And so on. As soon as ignorance is present, all the other links -- volitional actions, consciousness, mind/body, and so on -- are already there. Each link contains all the other links. Because there is ignorance, there are volitional actions. Because there are volitional actions, there is consciousness. Because there is consciousness there is mind/body, and so on.
In the Five Aggregates (skhandas) (Form, Feelings, Perceptions, Mental formations and Consciousness), there is nothing that we can call a self. Ignorance is the inability to see this truth. Consciousness, mind/body, the six senses and their objects, contact, and feeling are the effect of ignorance and volitional actions. Because of craving, grasping, and coming to be, there will be birth and death, which means the continuation of this wheel, or chain, again and again.
The interbeing of leaf and tree is parallel to the interbeing of the Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-Arising. We say that ignorance conditions volitional actions, but ignorance also conditions consciousness, both through volitional actions and directly. Ignorance conditions mind/body as well. If there were no ignorance in mind/body, mind/body would be different. Our six organs and the six objects of these organs also contain ignorance. My perception of the flower is based on my eyes and on the form of the flower. As soon as my perception becomes caught in the sign "flower," ignorance is there. Therefore, ignorance is present in contact, and it is also present in feelings, craving, grasping, coming to be, birth, and old age and death. Ignorance is not just in the past. It is present now, in each of our cells, and each of our mental formations. If there were no ignorance, we would not become attached to things. If there were not ignorance, we would not grasp the objects of our attachment. If there were no ignorance, the suffering that is manifesting right now would not be there. Our practice is to identify ignorance when it is present. Grasping is in volitional actions, feelings, coming to be, birth, old age and death. Our infatuations, our running away from this or toward that, and our intentions can be seen in all the other links. Every link conditions every other link and is conditioned by them.
With this understanding, we can abandon the idea of a sequential chain of causation and enter deeply the practice of the Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-Arising. Although it says in the sutra that consciousness brings about mind/body, that mind/body brings about the six ayatanas, and so on, we must understand this as a way of speaking and nothing more. We have to see the Twelve Links in a broad, open way.
Consider, for example, craving as the fruit of feeling. Sometimes a feeling does not lead to craving, but to aversion. Sometimes the feeling is not accompanied by ignorance, but by understanding, lucidity, or loving kindness, and the outcome will not be craving or aversion. To say that feeling brings about craving is not precise enough. Feeling with attachment and ignorance brings about craving. We must link each of the Twelve Links with all the other links. This is what the Heart Sutra means when it tells us, "No Interdependent Co-Arising." The Twelve Links are "empty," because each of them would not exist without all the others. Feeling cannot be without craving, grasping, coming to be, birth, old age and death, ignorance, volitional actions, and so on. In each of the twelve links, we see the presence of the other eleven. Feeling can lead to craving, non-craving, or equanimity.
this concept is a foundational teaching within all Buddhist schools, as such, i feel that it would be of some benefit for discussion and explanation.
nothing i post is new, it's all be said before. i post to sustain my own understanding. if you derive any benefit from this it is due to your own good karma ripening.
IMHAO!
The 12 Interdependent Co Arising Links:
The Buddha said that there are twelve links (nidanas) in the "chain" of Interdependent Co-Arising.
The first is ignorance (avidya). Vidya means seeing, understanding, or light. Avidya means the lack of light, the lack of understanding, or blindness. Although ignorance is usually listed as the first link, it does not mean that ignorance is a first cause. It is also possible to begin the list with old age and death.
The second link is volitional action (samskara), also translated as formations, impulses, motivating energy, karma formations, or the will to cling to being. When we have a lack of understanding, anger, irritation, or hatred can arise.
The third link is consciousness (vjiñana). Consciousness here means the whole of consciousness -- individual and collective, mind consciousness and store consciousness, subject and object. And consciousness here is filled with unwholesome and erroneous tendencies connected with ignorance that are of the nature to bring about suffering.
The fourth link is mind/body, or name and form (nama rupa). "Name" (nama) means the mental element and "form" (rupa) means the physical element of our being. Both mind and body are objects of our consciousness. When we look at our hand, it is an object of our consciousness. When we touch our anger, sadness, or happiness, these are also objects of our consciousness.
The fifth is the six ayatanas, which are the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) accompained by their objects (forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects and objects of mind). These six ayatanas do not exist separately from mind/body (the fourth link), but are listed separately to help us see them more clearly. When a sense organ comes into contact (the sixth link) with a sense object, there has to be sense consciousness (which lies within the third link). We are beginning to see how the Twelve Links interare, how each link contains all the other links.
The sixth link is the contact (sparsha) between sense organ, sense object, and sense consciousness. When eyes and form, ears and sound, nose and smell, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and object of mind come into contact, sense consciousness is born. Contact is a basis for feelings. It is a universal mental formation, present in every mental formation.
The seventh link is feelings (vedana), which can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. When a feeling is pleasant, we become attached (the ninth link).
The eighth link is craving (trishna), or desire. Craving is followed by grasping.
The ninth link is grasping or attachment (upadana). It means we are caught in the thralls of the object.
The tenth link is "coming to be" (bhava), being, or becoming. Because we desire something, it comes to be. We have to look deeply to know what we really want.
The eleventh link is birth (jati).
The twelfth link is old age (or decay) and death (jaramarana).
Ignorance conditions volitional actions. Volitional actions condition consciousness. Consciousness conditions mind/body. And so on. As soon as ignorance is present, all the other links -- volitional actions, consciousness, mind/body, and so on -- are already there. Each link contains all the other links. Because there is ignorance, there are volitional actions. Because there are volitional actions, there is consciousness. Because there is consciousness there is mind/body, and so on.
In the Five Aggregates (skhandas) (Form, Feelings, Perceptions, Mental formations and Consciousness), there is nothing that we can call a self. Ignorance is the inability to see this truth. Consciousness, mind/body, the six senses and their objects, contact, and feeling are the effect of ignorance and volitional actions. Because of craving, grasping, and coming to be, there will be birth and death, which means the continuation of this wheel, or chain, again and again.
The interbeing of leaf and tree is parallel to the interbeing of the Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-Arising. We say that ignorance conditions volitional actions, but ignorance also conditions consciousness, both through volitional actions and directly. Ignorance conditions mind/body as well. If there were no ignorance in mind/body, mind/body would be different. Our six organs and the six objects of these organs also contain ignorance. My perception of the flower is based on my eyes and on the form of the flower. As soon as my perception becomes caught in the sign "flower," ignorance is there. Therefore, ignorance is present in contact, and it is also present in feelings, craving, grasping, coming to be, birth, and old age and death. Ignorance is not just in the past. It is present now, in each of our cells, and each of our mental formations. If there were no ignorance, we would not become attached to things. If there were not ignorance, we would not grasp the objects of our attachment. If there were no ignorance, the suffering that is manifesting right now would not be there. Our practice is to identify ignorance when it is present. Grasping is in volitional actions, feelings, coming to be, birth, old age and death. Our infatuations, our running away from this or toward that, and our intentions can be seen in all the other links. Every link conditions every other link and is conditioned by them.
With this understanding, we can abandon the idea of a sequential chain of causation and enter deeply the practice of the Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-Arising. Although it says in the sutra that consciousness brings about mind/body, that mind/body brings about the six ayatanas, and so on, we must understand this as a way of speaking and nothing more. We have to see the Twelve Links in a broad, open way.
Consider, for example, craving as the fruit of feeling. Sometimes a feeling does not lead to craving, but to aversion. Sometimes the feeling is not accompanied by ignorance, but by understanding, lucidity, or loving kindness, and the outcome will not be craving or aversion. To say that feeling brings about craving is not precise enough. Feeling with attachment and ignorance brings about craving. We must link each of the Twelve Links with all the other links. This is what the Heart Sutra means when it tells us, "No Interdependent Co-Arising." The Twelve Links are "empty," because each of them would not exist without all the others. Feeling cannot be without craving, grasping, coming to be, birth, old age and death, ignorance, volitional actions, and so on. In each of the twelve links, we see the presence of the other eleven. Feeling can lead to craving, non-craving, or equanimity.
That is so funny. I never would've expected a "bumpity bump" in this forum, and the fact that Vaj is the bumpity bumper makes it even more amusing.