DEPENDENT ORIGINATION
By Nelson Gozah
Buddhism teaches that all life is interrelated. Through the concept of “dependent origination,” it holds that nothing exist in isolation, independent of other life. The Japanese term for dependent origination is Engi,literally “arising in relation.” In other words, all beings and phenomena exist or occur only because of their relationship with other beings or phenomena. Everything in the world comes into existence in response to causes and conditions. Nothing can exist in absolute independence of other things or arise of its own accord.”
The above excerpt implies that everything is truly interdependent. Although this might seem obvious, how this is interpreted makes all the difference. The following passage will show more on this matter.
“Put simply, dependent origination means that all phenomena arise as the result of conditions and cease when those conditions change. The general theory of dependent origination was taught by the Buddha as follows:
“When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases.” (Connected Discourses, p. 575).
So nothing exists as a static, isolated entity. Everything arises and ceases depending on causes and conditions which themselves arise due to causes and conditions. There is no ultimate ground or primordial cause, but a network of interrelated causes and conditions. This undercuts the view of a metaphysical self-hood, fixed entity, or substance underlying the constant change which is life.”
As we can see from the above, the profundity of this interdependence should not be underestimated. Beyond describing a simplistic reality that functions like pool balls bouncing off each other, where their “connection” is simply how these apparent fixed entities bump into each other, it is in fact describing a far more elusive and profound process. It is literally suggesting that ‘oneself’ and the ‘environment’ are a mutually co-arising phenomena of causes and conditions that simultaneously give rise each other. This transforms our basic understanding of cause and effect from one cause leading to an effect in a linear delineated fashion, to everything everywhere being both the cause and effect at the same time. This is also known as the simultaneity of cause and effect, which is in fact suggesting that there is no absolute start or absolute end to anything; everything is a borderless continuing process where all phenomena co-arise simultaneously ad infinitum as causes and conditions.
This ontological principle goes a long way to elucidate the truth that,
‘If all Effects are the result of previous Causes, then the Cause of a given Effect must itself be the Effect of a previous Cause, which itself is the Effect of a previous Cause and so on and so forth forming an infinite unfathomable logical chain of events that can have no absolutely independent beginning or end’’
This assertions reveal the supremacy of the law of Causation which cannot be compromised and with no exception. A hugely profound idea to wrap our heads around!
When we commonly hear the term “oneness of self and environment” it is not suggesting that there is a ‘self’ independently existing that interacts with the ‘environment’ out there, but rather that ‘self’ and the ‘environment’ are inseparable aspects of the same phenomena arising as the ever present moment. In other words, they are two sides of the exact same process. Again and to be clear, this is not suggesting that things do not exist or that things do exist, but rather that all “phenomena are the interplay of causes and conditions, and apart from causes and conditions one can not speak of anything.” As we can see then, Dependent Origination is trying to describe something fundamental about the nature of reality and that this fundamental truth is beyond the two extremes of “existence” and “non-existence”. It is a middle ground that is extremely difficult to see.
Some ways we have tried to visualize the implications of this is by looking directly at Life itself. From thisperspective, Life is not a mechanistic process of fixed component parts interacting individually. Life instead is an interdependent process of becoming. It is a verb, not a noun. A forest is not simply a grouping of fixed entities called “trees”; a “forest” is instead an intricate process of the universe “foresting”. In the same way, we as humans are an intricate process of the universe “humaning”
Another clear way to see this is to look at a seed. The seed doesn’t contain the full grown tree, but through certain causes and conditions like the right temperature, loamy soil, right nutrient, warmth, water and regular care, that are not “seed” or “tree” a 200 foot living process comes into being. What really is a “tree” then? Part of the difficulty with all of this we believe has to do with the influence of language on our perception and perhaps Ludwig Wittgenstein’s advice could come in handy when he suggests, “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
As I write this article , I am sitting on a chair which someone fashioned out of various materials; mostly it is made of wood and there is a cushioned seat to make it more comfortable and painted to make it more attractive. Each of these materials had a journey of its own before it was made into this useful artefact to make life a little easier. The wood for instance, came from a tree that needed conditions like sunlight , water, nutrient and other survival conditions. Then someone else, I imagined , then cut it down and transported them to the appropriate factory for it to be processed. The transportation also needed a vehicle truck with a driver which has to run on fuel to be able do the transportation to the designated site. Upon reaching the factory, I guess the wood was transformed into a chair by someone with the technical know-how and the ability to turn it into a reality. Then it was decorated and transported to a shop where it was sold . Here I am sitting on what seem like a simple item of furniture, although there are years of hidden prerequisite conditions. Again this chair is the result of countless different causes and conditions.
A human being requires even more sophisticated causes and conditions: including the right nourishment, appropriate shelter, education , and development. We are told no individual is an island and this is patently true. We were dependent on our parents for our birth, on our families and friends for nurturing, on society for providing us with food, water, warmth, stimulation, electricity , protection , entertainment and so on. So three examples in brief: a seed , a chair, and a human being. Each of those three phenomena ‘arose’ when the causes and conditions were appropriate..
On even a large scale, the principle of Dependent origination can vehemently assert that the so-called Big Bang occurred when the causes and conditions were appropriate and those prior causes and conditions also arose as result of causes and conditions and so on forming an infinite chain of logical causality that has no absolute beginning or end.
As modern cosmology posits, the chemical elements that make up the physical universe were forged through lengthy process which took the birth and extinction of stars elements such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus were formed. We have all those elements in our human bodies and we even have metals like iron, copper, and zinc inside us ,all created when stars collapsed. It is true that we are all made up of the materials formed through the birth, growth and decline of the stars in the sky. The principle of dependent origination therefore explains how all things are mutually related and dependent on each other, and while each phenomena maintains its own uniqueness and individual features, they all combine to create a dynamic and harmonious whole called the cosmos. This implies that , all phenomena are nothing but the manifestation of the universal law of dependent origination.
In addition ,our current global situation is also the result of causes and conditions. Whether the issue is the economic situation with its complicated web of financial relationships and mutual obligations, the current pandemic and other health problems as well can also be explained based on dependent origination.
“Dependent origination is the Middle Way between the extremes of existence and non-existence. The view of existence, or “eternalism,” imagines that fixed entities, independent of conditions and immune from change, can be found underlying the phenomena which do change. The view of non-existence, or “annihilationism,” imagines there is no continuity at all within change and the entities which do arise will eventually vanish completely without a trace. Dependent origination is the Middle Way which cuts through those views by pointing out the ceaseless interplay of causes and conditions, which is the process of becoming, rather than the eternalism of being or the nihilism of non-being. The Middle Way points out that while there are no fixed entities, there is a flow of continuity within the process of change…
Dependent origination, then, is the teaching that things do have a provisional (though not intrinsic) existence based on causes and conditions. Therefore, one who is following the Middle Way will think in terms of causes and conditions, and not existence or non-existence. For the follower of the Middle Way there are no longer any immutable categories or boundaries, nor is there any question of absolute identity or absolute difference between entities. Dependent origination is the awareness of cause and effect and the interdependence of all things which gives rise to an authentic sense of responsibility, genuine love and compassion.
With this being said, our individual responsibility in co-creating our existence cannot be stressed enough. Dependent Origination tells us not to be fooled by what appears to be permanent fixed entities i.e. ‘the self’ or our strong opinions about the world, but instead recognize them as impermanent processes co-arising out of causes and conditions. This is hugely liberating as it is essentially saying that by changing the causes and conditions we can change anything and everything. We are free to create the life we want as long as we don’t become attached to a fixed (limited) idea of “self” or the world that needs to be protected and reinforced as permanently existing. This is not to say that we are not affected by circumstances, but rather that we always have the ability to choose how circumstances are interpreted and then effect us. By letting go of our fixed ideas, our tendencies and patterns that keep us trapped in predictable behavior begin to dissolve. It is in this process that we have the opportunity to begin to perceive “problems” as opportunities to transform our lives. This “letting go” also has a hugely positive effect on the world because instead of basing our lives on worship of a fixed self in isolation from the world “out there”, we realize that our true identity is the co-arising of our relationships with everything else.
(COURTESY, SGI QUARTERLY 1999)