Part 6: The Twelve Links of Dependent-Origination:
This concludes the explanation of the four noble truths, but I'd like you to remember, above all, that the first of the four noble truths is the truth of existence being marked by duḥkha, or suffering. Buddhism's perspective lies in recognising this fundamental proposition.
Having said this, it is natural to feel a repulsion when you hear something like 'Life is suffering'. This derives from all kinds of things, including the desire for comfort. As I have already mentioned, however, this is mere fantasy and does not turn boldly towards reality. We have already looked at the skandhas as a way of investigating the reality of suffering. Next, we will look at the doctrine of the twelve links of dependent-origination, which investigates and clarifies the cause of suffering from the standpoint of interdependent causes and conditions. The term 'dependent-origination' (縁起; engi) in everyday Japanese is usually used to refer to a bad omen ("縁起が悪い - "engi ga warui") but this usage completely deviates from its original meaning grounded in Buddhist thought.
The first character in 'engi' (起) means to arise, to manifest, to emerge, as in a 'cause'. For this reason 'the twelve links of dependent-origination' (十二縁起; juniengi) are also referred to as 'the twelve links of dependent-arising (十二因縁; juni-innen). In short, this theory looks at what kinds of causes and conditions must come together in order to bring about the result of suffering. First, lets line up these twelve processes of suffering:
① Ignorance (無明; mumyo) [avidya]
② Impulse/Activity (行; gyo) [saṃskāra]
③ Sense-consciousness (識; shiki) [vijñāna]
④ Mentality and Form (名色; myoshiki) [nāma-rūpa]
⑤ The six sense gates (六入; rokusho) [ṣaḍāyatana]
⑥ Contact (觸; soku) [sparśa]
⑦ Sensation (受; shu) [vedanā]
⑧ Craving (愛; ai) [tṛṣṇā]
⑨ Clinging/Grasping (取; shu) [upādāna]
⑩ Becoming (有; u) [bhava]
⑪ Birth (生; shou) [jāti]
⑫ Aging, sorrow, distress and death (老死; roushi) [arā-maraṇa]
Here, the term 'old age and death' should be seen as representative of life. It should also be noted that the root cause of suffering is number one, that is, ignorance. If we start in order we begin with ignorance and eventually see decay and death. That is to say, one leads to the other. This perspective is termed 'the perspective of continuity [of rebirth amidst samsara]' (流轉門; rutenmon). However if we are looking at these twelve with the intention of understanding wakefulness, it is better to understand them in the sense of 'without ignorance there is no impulse, without impulse there is no sense-consciousness', and so on. As this direction leads us to wakefulness this is termed 'the perspective of extinguishment' (還滅門; genmetsumon).
For those looking into Buddhism for the first time this list may seem like nothing more than a list of meaningless terms. It might be a good idea then to start looking at these twelve links in reverse, that is, starting with the result and working back to the cause, just as we did with the four noble truths. Once we have recognised the reality of 'existence being marked by duḥkha', we can think of existence and life corresponding to the final link of 'old age and death'. There are many kinds of suffering in life and even with the thought of 'old age', things may not go as expected. At the heart of it all, however, we are guaranteed to die. What is the cause of the suffering of 'old age and death? Needless to say, it is 'birth' (生; sho). When then are the causes and conditions that give rise to being born a human being? Traditionally, it is recognised as link number ⑩, that is, 'becoming' (有; u). Becoming can also be written as karma (業; gō), as in, karmic existence (業有; gōu). Karma refers to conditioned activity (行爲; gyōi) and karmic existence refers to the accumulative effects of past actions. That is, the conditions for the birth in the twelve links come as a result of our actions from our previous existences (前世; zense).
What about ⑧? Where does craving arise from? If the external world is not held on to in the heart-mind through the three poisons, then craving and repulsion cannot arise. Just as we may experience deep craving at the sight of something beautiful, this feeling cannot arise unless this kind of 'contact' (seeing, hearing, touching and so on) is made with external phenomena. This is what is meant by 'craving'. It is through the five aggregates that we receive the external world and in Buddhism the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, mind and body are called the 'six roots of sense perception' (六根; rokkon). With these six sense roots, we emerge into this world born from our mother's womb. This is ⑥ contact. These sensory organs are referred to as ⑤ the six sense gates. These six sense gates are formed through ④ mentality and form. The cause of name and form is the undifferentiated state between body and mind. This is ③ sense-consciousness.
If we look for the cause of conception in the mother's body, the same chain will be repeated. The fruition of past karma is ② impulse/activity. When you think about your current situation, you will see that it is caused by the accumulated action of many generations. So what is the root of this activity? It is nothing but ① ignorance. This is the root of our suffering, because we lose sight of truth through the fundamental afflictions of the kleśās.
If you look at these twelve links carefully, you will see that they are repeated moment by moment. ① Ignorance refers to delusion, that is, a delusive understanding of self and phenomenon. This causes ② impulse and activity based on ignorance which gives rise to suffering in the chain of ③ consciousness, ④ mentality and form, the ⑤ six sense gates, ⑥ contact and ⑦ sensation. Given that these have arisen through ignorance, ⑧ craving and ⑨ clinging (the kleśās) give rise to ⑩ becoming which is the basis of karmic-cause (業因; gōin). As a result, birth, old-age and death are established. In this understanding, ① ignorance, ⑧ craving and ⑨ clinging/grasping all refer to the delusion of the kleśās. In another way, we can also see both ② impulse/activity and ⑩ becoming as karmic-cause. Further, we can see ③ sense-consciousness, ④ mentality and form, ⑤ the six sense gates, ⑥ contact, ⑦ sensation and ⑫ aging, sorrow, distress and death as all being the same.
From another perspective, ⑩-⑫ can be described as the 'present' and ③-⑩ can be described as the 'past'. Although I have also discussed ① and ② as the past, if we consider ③-⑩ as the present then ① and ② become the past and ⑩-⑫ become the future. In this interpretation, the twelve links are viewed in terms of spanning across three 'lifetimes'.
