THEORY OF DEPENDENT ORIGINATION Introduction The first point is that Pratiya Samutpada applies to all phenomena whatever.

As Sagharakshita says, When you really think about the principle of Pratiya

Samutpada in what ever from it is put when you meditate on it. When you really follow thought its implications you begin to understand the extraordinary impact. It has had on the world. Whatever comes in to existence on whatever level does so in dependence on conditions and in the absence of those conditions cases to exist. This is all it says but if anything is Buddism. This is Buddhism. What it is saying is that from the view point of the enlightened mind the outstanding feature of all phenomena whether physical or psychical is what they are conditioned. The unceasing circumstance of things, both material vents and states of mind is a process of inter dependent stages each of which comes about through the presence of conditions & in its term conditions the stages succeeding it. Rainfall, sunshine & the nourishing earth are the conditions from which arises the Oak Tree, whose fallen leaves rot and from the rich humus from which the bluebell grows. A jealous attachment will have consequences which may lead to murder. Nothing phenomenal is spontaneously produced without preceding conditions or it self fails to have consequences & it is the process of becoming aware of his law of conditionality that gradually liberates us from all conditions leading to the freely functioning spontaneous creativity of enlightenment. This means that the implications of Pratiya Samutpada can be confidently applied in any Situation in that all phenomena fall

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under its sweep. In different natural laws known in Budhism as the five Niyamas. The five Niyamas are a very useful formulation because they draw together strands which are otherwise rather loose & disconnected as we find them in the original status. The word Niyamas is the term common to Pali & Sanskrit meaning a natural law a cosmic order. According to this teaching there are five of hem showing the law of cause & effect at work on five different levels. The first three are straight forward enough as they can be related to western science. Firstly, there is Utu-Niyama. Utu means non leaving matter, now a days people are beginning to doubt whether there is any such thing as non-living matter. But lets call it that for the time being in other word. This is the physical inorganic order of existence; uto-Niyama is therefore the law of cause & effect as operative on the level of inorganic manner. Secondly, Niyama is Nija-Niyama. Nija means seed so BijaNiyama deals with the world of living matter. The physical organic order whose laws constitute the science of Biology. Thirdly, Chitta-Niyama. Chitta is mind. So chitta Niyama is

conditionality as operative in the world of mind. The existence of this third Niyama implies that mental activity & development are not haphazard. But governed by laws & it is important that we understand what this means. We are used to the idea of laws operating of the level of physics, chemistry & Biology but we are not to be used to the idea not similar laws might govern mental events. So Buddhism however in this teaching of ChittaNiyama the law of cause & effect as operative in the world of mind & we may say that it is a concept which corresponds to the modern science of Psychology.

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Fourthly, Karma Niyama is of course more popularly known in its Sanskrit form karma & it means action. But in the sense of deliberately willed action, so it is traditionally & paradoxically said sometimes that Karma is equivalent Chittana that is that action equals volition for as soon as volition arises one class the action whether by body, speech or mind Karma-Niyama therefore pertains to the world of ethical responsibility. It is the principle of conditionality operative on the moral plane. It is much the same on the moral plane. Good Karma naturally results in happiness & Bad Karma naturally results in misery. This is the Karma or Niyama. Fifthly, the last Niyama is Dharma Niyama. Dharma which is a world with a number of different possible applications, here means simply spiritual or transcendental as opposed to mudane. So the principle of conditionality operates on this level too. The first four Niyamas including Karma Niyama are all types of conditionality in the cyclical sense. In sense of action & reaction between pairs of opposites but dharma Niyama corresponds to the spiral type of conditionality. As such it constitute the sum total of the spiritual laws which govern progress through the stages of the Buddhist path. Buddha deals the Way Philosophically Pratitya Samutpada enables Buddhism to steer famous way between the extremes of eternalism & ribilism. It is not that things exist not that all phenomena are perpetually in a process of becoming a traditional analogy for this is the form that appear from the water at the top of a human. Because all phenomena what over fall under the way of Pratitya Samutpada the spiritual path does not consist in seeking some escape from the world around us in to some divine & eternal heaven world. In a very real sense there is now here else to go
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true happiness or Enlightenment if it is to be found any where must be sought & found in the here & now. Chineese & Japaneese Buddhist inspired poetry makes this point again & again. As the Zenrin says, Nothing whatever is hidden From of old, all is clear as day light, The old pine tree speaks divine wisdom The secret bird manifests eternal truth. Mountain & rivers, the whole earth, All manifest forth the essence of being The voice of the mountain torrent is from one great tongue; The lines of the hills, are they not the pure body of Buddha. The doctrine of Pratitya Samutpada or the dependent

origination is the foundation of all teachings of Buddha. It is contacted in the second Novel truth which gives the cause of suffering. In the Novel Thruth Budha says we shows us the causation of suffering by saying that it is possible to stop suffering, Birth is painful, Death is painful, Dice is painful to maintain individuality is painful. Everything is painful in life. Buddha establishes that nothing is permanent itself for Atman is considered to be permanent then there is no self. Everything is an Atma all things are in permanent with this situation. Buddha says man is helpless. Neither entering in to the converse of mounting nor in the high sky nor in the deep ocean man can dwell without being over fowerd by death Terminated by thought created by chance defined by massive weight of duty man can not help him self out saying. Let me escape Let me die

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Pratitya Samutpada tells us that in the empirical world dominated by the intellect. Everything is relative conditional, dependent, subject to birth & death. Therefore everything is impermanent suffering & sation is suffering Niramya both are only accept. Suffering same reality Pratitya Samutpada viewed from the point of relative is Sankar why. It is niarvana the causual formula is vity behind Pratitya Samutpada is this being. Present that arise this being absent that senses. Origination is Pratitya (after something) this very object of thought is necessarily relatively. Since it is relative it is neither absolutely real nor absolutely unreal. All phenomenal things hang between reality & nothingness avoiding both the extremes. They are like, vedantic Avidya or maya. In this sense Buddha calls that doctrine as pratipat which avoids both eternalism & nihilism. Here Buddha compare Pratitya Samutpada with a note which only will meet melodious sounds when it streams are trenched neither two light nor to lose. Buddha identifies if it Budhi the enlightenment which he has God. He also identifies Pratitya Samutpada with Dharma. Dharma Means the law. He says He who sees the Dharma. He sees Pratitya Samutpada. Pratitya Samutpada failure to grasp. It is the cause of misery. Its knowledge leads to the causation of misery. Pratitya Samutpada is the solution which Buddha good found leads us to final out the real cause of misery why do we suffer from old days & death? Because we are born, Why we are born? Because there is a will to be born, Where from will comes? Because we ding to the objects o the world for its enjoyment. The cause of sense-enjoyment of the object of the world. The cause of that the first for sense enjoyment.

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The cause of sense enjoyment is the sense experience. The cause of sense experience the sense object contact what is the cause of sense-object contact? The cause of sense object contact is six-sense organs. Contact where from six-sense organs comes? They develop from psycho-physical organism. What is the cause of Psycho-Physical organism? Because the initial conciseness of embryo gives birth to psycho-physical organism. Why do we have his conciseness, because of our predispositions or impression of Karma of past life. Ignorance cause Sankara hence ignorance is the root cause of al suffering if thus in this chain of causeation twelve links. 1. Ignorance (Avidya) 2. Impressions of Karmic Forces (Sankara)
3.

Initial conciseness of the embryo(Vasana)

4. Psycho-physical organism (Nama-riya) 5. Sic-sense organs including mind (sadayatana) 6. Sense-object contact (sparsha) 7. Sense experience (Vedana) 8. Thirst for sense enjoyment (Trasna)
9.

Dinging to this enjoyment (Vpadana)

10. Will to be born (Bhava) 11. Birth or Re-birth (Jati) 12. Old age & death (Jara & Marana)

Its relation with the past & future

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Out of these twelve links the first two are related to past life the last two are related future life and the rest are the present life. This is known as wheel of causation Dharmachakra. This chain of causation can be destroyed only when its root-cause. Ignorance is destroyed. Ignorance is bandage and its destroyed which can be destroyed only by knowledge. The doctrine of dependent origination the central teaching of Budha theories is a theory of Karma is derived from this doctrine. Our present life is due to the impressions of the Karma of the past life. Our present life is due to the impressions of the Karma of the past life & it will shape our future life. Again the theory of momentariness derived Ksana Vhangavada is also derived corollary dependent origination as a corollary No soul theory is also derived as a corollary from doctrine of dependent origination the Central Teaching of Buddhism.

Conclusion In conclusion, many pointers have been given above as to the attitudes we may adopt in seeking to live in harmony with Pratiya Samutpada. More specifically, perhaps we will want to know how to go about deciding exactly, what to do in any situation. This must be a mixture of educating ourselves so that we can make informal choices, purifying ourselves so that we are not swept blindly along by our appetites and adopting to the time being appropriate and wise precepts in the absence of our own insight or specific knowledge. Elsewhere in this website we offer five Eco-precepts & many examples specific environmental initiatives taken by one.

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