Dhammapada 124

Pâúimhi ce vaúo nâssa
hareyya pâúinâ visaè;
nâbbaúaè visamanveti
natthi pâpaè akubbato

If there is no wound on the hand,
one may handle poison;
Poison does not affect one who has no wound,
there can be no evil for one who has no evil intention.”

Translation by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

5 Minute Dhamma – Dependent Origination/Arising

We often hear the phrase “When this is, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that also arises” and other variations. Oddly, I’ve seen it applied by some people to other teachings of the Buddha, but really it’s just a succinct statement describing conditionality, or more specifically Dependent Origination/Arising (paíiccasamuppâda). The second of the Four Noble Truths states that the cause of dukkha is craving/desire. DO/A answers the question of how this craving/desire arises. Although the formula begins with ignorance, this does not mean this is the first cause, the beginning of everything, as it were. It does suggest, however, that because we are ignorant (note that this means “lack of knowledge”, not stupid), all the rest springs from this ignorance. Once the ignorance is eradicated, or for that matter any other link in the chain is broken, we have successfully stopped this terrible cycle. We achieve this wisdom through meditation, to “see things as they really are”.

While the list is linear, we have to be careful not to get into the trap of believing that there is necessarily only one condition that gives rise to the subsequent link in the chain; it may be the dominant condition, but not necessarily the only one. For example, while feeling is a condition for craving, ignorance and formations are also conditions for the arising of craving. So it would not be wrong to also say, “ignorance conditions craving” or “formations condition craving”, although they are not the predominant conditions. The only metaphor I could come up with is a sports one. Take the passing of a ball, for example. While “passing the ball” is a condition for “catching the ball”, so is “running to the spot” and “dodging the interceptors” and “blocking the defenders”, in addition to all the other activity on the field/court.

Moving along, this is only a 5 Minute Dhamma after all, the formula is:

Ignorance conditions formations,
Formations condition consciousness,
Consciousness conditions mind and matter,
Mind and matter condition the six sense bases,
Six sense bases condition contact,
Contact conditions feeling,
Feeling conditions craving,
Craving conditions clinging,
Clinging conditions becoming,
Becoming conditions birth,
Birth conditions aging, death, physical and mental suffering, grief and lamentation” (and back to ignorance)

Avijjâ paccayâ saàkhârâ,
Saàkhâra paccayâ viññâúaè,
Viññâúa paccayâ nâmarûpaè,
Nâmarû papaccayâ saéâyatanaè,
Saéâyatana paccayâ phasso,
Phassa paccayâ vedanâ,
Vedanâ paccayâ taúhâ,
Taúhâ paccayâ upâdânaè,
Upâdâna paccayâ bhavo,
Bhava paccayâ jâti,
Jâti paccayâ jarâmaraúaè sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupâyâsâ”

1. Ignorance (avijja) – this is the lack of knowledge of the Four Noble Truths: 1. dukkha; 2. cause of dukkha is craving (taúhâ); 3. cessation of dukkha; and 4. the Noble Eightfold Path.

2. Formations (saàkhâra) – in this case, this Pâéi word is a synonym for kamma, intentional action, bodily, verbal and mental, unwholesome and wholesome. This is the seeds of our previous kamma.

3. Consciousness (viññâúa) – in the lifetime to lifetime model of DO, this represents the very first consciousness that arises called the rebirth linking consciousness (paíisandhicitta) and co-arises with materiality at the time of conception (this is called co-nascence condition, or sahajâta paccayo, but getting a bit Abhidhammic here).

4. Mind and Matter (nâmarûpa) – matter here refers to our bodies. Mind refers to mental factors (cetasika), like feeling, perception, volition, contact, one pointedness, life faculty, and attention that accompany every mind moment (citta), as well as others – more Abhidhamma.

5. Six Sense Bases (saéâyatana) – these are the sense organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind.

6. Contact (phassa) – this link is the description of the moment the six sense bases touch the object, be it a visible object for eye, audible for ear, olfactory for nose, sapible for tongue, tangible for body and ideational for mind.

7. Feeling (vedana) – this is the immediate sensation that arises resulting from the contact, either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. This is not to be confused with feeling as emotion, like happiness or sadness, etc., which is a really complicated mix of many other mental factors.

8. Craving (taúhâ) – ah, the cause of dukkha, the second Noble Truth. When contact is made with a pleasant object, we desire more; when the object is unpleasant, we desire its opposite; when the object is neutral, because of delusion we say “oh, this isn’t unpleasant, so it must be pleasant”, and desire more of it.

9. Clinging (upâdâna) – clinging, or attachment, is one of these close-but-no-cigar type of translations, like “suffering” for dukkha. This link is actually an intensified form of craving and is akin to throwing logs onto the fire, as opposed to tightly holding something in hand. So when people say “we shouldn’t attach”, they are correct in as much as we don’t want the fire to burn harder and longer, but it doesn’t extinguish the fire altogether. In order to do that, we need to eradicate craving altogether, and that happens by severing the link between feeling and craving. If there is no fire to feed (craving), there will be no clinging, or an adding of fuel to a non-existent fire.

10 Becoming (bhava) – our current kamma, intentional action, bodily, verbal and mental, unwholesome and wholesome. The moment this action is complete, it becomes the previously mentioned formations (saàkhâra).

11. Birth (jâti) – self-explanatory.

12. Aging and death, physical and mental suffering, grief and lamentation (jarâmaraúaè sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupâyâsâ) – again, self-explanatory.

Oooo, so doom and gloom. Yeah, because that’s how it is, to believe so otherwise is the beginning of the chain. However, as mentioned above in #9, when we cut the link between feeling and craving, craving doesn’t arise, we don’t add fuel to that raging fire, we no longer act unwholesomely, and so on. The chain is broken, we enjoy happiness in the here and now and have stopped the seemingly endless cycle of rebirth.

5 Minute Dhamma – Right Livelihood

The last factor of the morality division of the Noble Eightfold Path is Right Livelihood. This is the factor that is concerned with how one earns one’s living – legally, honestly, and ethically, without coercion, dishonesty, or violence, basically using the Five Precepts, at a minimum, as our guideline*. The five traditional prohibitions are: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. in living beings (slavery, prostitution, raising animals for slaughter), 3. in meat production, 4, in poisons, and 5. in intoxicants (AN 5:177).

Frankly, I feel things are a little more complicated today than they were during the time of the Buddha. For example, at the time of the Buddha, the guy who killed and butchered the animal was probably also the one who sold the meat. The entire supply chain involved one person, and/or maybe a few others too. Today, however, are all the employees, including the vegetarian organic hair care products buyer, in the grocery store chain who are not at all involved in the “Meat Production Business Unit”, yet also earn a portion of their salary from that business, in violation of this factor? What about the Real Estate company that leases the space to the business? Or the parking lot snow removal company?Ah, what a complicated web this becomes!

What about sales and marketing positions? At a job interview, I was once asked if I could lie. I said no, there are other ways of presenting the truth without having to lie. Yeah right. It was much harder and time consuming being clever than in telling a white lie, so eventually, that’s what I ended up doing.

On the other hand, maybe I am just making it more complicated than it really it. In the end, it really boils down to, once again, understanding Right View (kamma and dukkha) and Right Intention (renunciation, good will and non-harm) and how we choose to apply them in our own lives.

* Abstaining 1. from taking life, 2. from taking what is not given, 3. from sexual misconduct, 4. from false speech and 5. from taking intoxicants.

5 Minute Dhamma – Right Action

The second factor of the morality division of the Noble Eightfold Path is concerned with our bodily actions, the physical expression of our thoughts. Traditionally speaking, Right Action is a triad of abstentions, namely from taking another life, from not taking what is not given, and from sexual misconduct. My guess as to why there are no specific “do this’s”, like in Right Speech, is simply because there are so many “right” actions that itemising them would be prohibitively long. In any case, it is implied and understood that right actions are to be guided by wisdom and intention (see Right View and Right Intention).

The first Right Action is the abstention from intentionally taking life. This is also the first of the Five Precepts, the basic moral guidelines for a lay practitioner. “Life” here is defined as a being with consciousness, so this would include not only humans, but also animals, and insects. Understanding that all beings desire to be free from suffering and to be happy as much as we ourselves do, we not only refrain from taking life but also from inflicting any kind of physical harm. Accidentally killing another being, like unknowingly stepping on an insect, is not a violation of this factor/precept. As violence is always preceeded by a mind filled with aversion, this precept not only prevents us from acting out, but also towards abandoning further cultivation of that unwholesome mental state.

The second abstention, and second precept, is from taking what is not given, or stealing. This action is driven by greed, desire, and craving, which we all know from the Second Noble Truth is the cause of dukkha for ourselves and undoubtedly for others. Taking something that has no ownership is not a violation of this precept, but before laying claim to something, at least one takes pause and considers one’s mental state before acting – “do I REALLY need this?”

Finally, one abstains from sexual misconduct, as committed to in the third of the Five Precepts. Folks, I’ll be honest with you. While I know myself to be open minded on this subject (think infinite of space!), any attempt to articulate my understanding makes it appear to be a one cubic meter steel box! But I cannot leave it hanging (no pun intended!), so will say a few, wholly inadequate words.

Sexual desire is the strongest desire we as humans experience. According to Buddhism any sexual activity is adding fuel to this fire, which leads to clinging/attachment. Clinging/attachment then lead to our seemingly endless round of death and rebirth (OK, OK, I skipped “becoming”, but this is a 5 Minute Dhamma!) The ideal is celibacy, being the epitome of the renunciation part of Right Intention. But that is not realistic for the majority of lay practitioners (or is it?!) So, again in a wholly inadequate way, sex should be non-exploitative, consensual, empowering, non-harmful to anyone involved in the act or even not involved, loving, giving, and caring.

The important point of Right Action is first that we know the underlying motivation for the action, be it based on greed and/or aversion, or their opposites, non-greed and/or non-aversion; secondly that we understand that our actions will plant the seed for a future result, unwholesome leads to unwholesome, wholesome leads to wholesome; and finally, that we are striving not only to reduce, if not completely eliminate our own suffering, but in the process not inflict harm and suffering on other living beings and perhaps help to alleviate their suffering as well.

5 Minute Dhamma – Right Speech

The Buddha teaches us that “mind is the forerunner of all action (bodily and verbal)”, so clearly understanding the law of kamma and the Four Noble Truths (Right View), and purposively inclining our actions towards renunciation, good-will and harmlessness (Right Intention), we can now move onto the morality section of the Noble Eightfold Path, or outward expression of our thoughts.

The first factor of the morality division is Right Speech. The fourth precept, abstaining from false speech, is directly related to this factor. The Buddha’s definition of false speech is much broader than just dishonesty, but also includes abusive, slanderous, and meaningless (chit chat) speech.

Dishonesty is easy enough to understand. This is speech that does not convey the truth; speech that intentionally misleads and creates delusion. Even “white lies” are included here. Abusive and harsh speech are using words that are not pleasant to the ear, like curses and such, as well as angry, sarcastic, and offensive speech intending to harm another being (yes, words can kill!*). Slanderous speech is speech which creates rifts in otherwise harmonious communities or societies by disparaging one, or many members, of that community. Chit chat, or meaningless speech, is speech with has no depth, does not really convey any ideas that lead directly to the cessation of suffering.

Their opposites are honest, pleasant, and empowering speech, and in the strictest sense of this factor, speaking ONLY about Dhamma. Starting with honesty, this does not mean that one need fully open the tap, speaking every single honest thought that comes to mind. One does so with “wisdom”, knowing what to say and when to say it, endeavouring to not even tell a white lie, and when speaking, to speak only the truth. Telling someone that the clothes they are wearing are ugly might be honest, but not particularly “wise” speech. So, when being honest, one must also take into consideration the person to whom one is speaking.

Pleasant speech is using words that don’t offend others. This can be somewhat difficult given our personal, subjective standards for speech. However, there are cultural and societal norms and most of us are mature enough to know what is proper in various settings. And should one unintentionally use a crass word, be gracious enough to admit fault and apologise for the offense.

For the opposite of slanderous speech, I use the term “empowering”. As opposed to breaking apart and tearing down a community, or even an individual, this is language that attempts to unify, motivate and support, especially when it comes to the alleviation of suffering and practicing Dhamma.

Finally, avoiding chit chat, talking about mundane, worldly affairs. While it is seemingly impossible not to talk about politics, work, the weather, etc, we can at least know when the appropriate time is and not just chat to fill up the space. Strictly speaking, this means speech that contributes to the cessation of suffering, or only Dhamma. There was a Burmese monk named Ye Ngon Sayadaw, “ye ngon” in Burmese means “holding water in the mouth”. Apparently, as part of his discipline, he would hold a mouthful of water all the time to prevent himself, or at the very least, to allow him pause for consideration, whether the words he wanted to utter were in the cause of teaching Dhamma!

While we don’t need to keep a mouthful of water, we should pause and think before speaking, not always the easiest of tasks, but then following Dhamma is about developing discipline.

* “Kill” here does not mean to take a life, but “false speech” can definitely do enough injury to the vast majority of listeners’ mental states that wholesome thoughts are “killed” and replaced with unwholesome thoughts. Indeed, “Mara”, the embodiment of Buddha’s nemesis at the time of His enlightenment, means “to kill”. So, while not necessarily physically assaulting the Buddha, the armies of Mara could be aversion, his daughters a metaphor for greed, both blitzkreiging the soon-to-be Buddha’s mind, killing the positive states leading to liberation and cultivating negative states that, had Mara been successful, would have continued to bind Siddhartha to samsara.

5 Minute Dhamma – Right Intention

The Buddha taught that “mind is the forerunner of all action”, bodily and verbal. As such, the second factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Intention is the vital link between thought and action. Right View determines Right Intention and through the proper application and cultivation of Right Intention, an intuitive, penetrative understanding of Right View arises. Right Intention is understood and practiced in three ways: intention of renunciation, good-will, and harmlessness.

Renunciation does not mean to give up all of one’s worldly goods (although this is the ideal in the monastic life), but to keep greed/craving/desire in check. As we know from the second of the Four Noble Truths, craving is the origin of dukkha. The intention of renunciation is a restraint on action rooted in greed. Some kinds of desire manifest in universally agreed upon unwholesome action, like theft, but even seemingly harmless craving, like buying that extra pair of shoes or the slightly more expensive car that one can barely afford anyway, can lead to clinging and attachment, which in turn add fuel to the fire of rebirth and the continuation of dukkha. Thinking twice, one refrains from exercising on that impulse and perhaps leans towards a more generous and charitable action, slowly allowing the super glue grip of attachment to let go.

The intention of good will is the opposite of ill-will, or hatred, anger, aversion, fear. There are three ways in which one can deal with ill-will, letting it out, repressing it, or replacing it. In letting it out, the venting of ill-will, or the blowing off of steam, might make us feel a little better in the present, but we can easily see the disharmony it creates in society. For example, look at the current US election process. This contentiousness will probably spill over into the next administration, making it difficult to pass legislation by the winning party, no matter how meritorious and beneficial to society that legislation is. On the other hand, the repression of ill-will doesn’t eliminate it altogether, but leads to a different kind of internal festering that can lead to self hatred and depression. So we turn to the third option, cultivating loving kindness. The healthiest, most moral and ethical of the three, this is a selfless love that is extended to all beings. All religions seem to teach this type of love, so one need not be a Buddhist to understand this concept.

At worse, greed and ill-will can develop easily into violence – war, crime, environmental destruction, etc. When we understand that ALL beings are subject to dukkha, no matter how hateful they are to us personally, we feel compassion for their suffering and desire their release from the cycle as much as our own.

5 Minute Dhamma – Right View

Right View consists of two components, at a mundane level, having the correct view of the law of kamma, and at a higher level, having the correct view of the Four Noble Truths.

In having the correct view of the law of kamma, one knows that for every action there is a result. Moreover, for every wholesome action there is a wholesome result and for every unwholesome action there is an unwholesome result. Action refers to bodily, verbal, and mental action.

On a higher level, Right View is the correct view of the Four Noble Truths, 1. life is dukkha, 2. the origin of dukkha is craving, 3. there is a cessation to dukkha, and 4. the Path.

Dukkha is “birth, aging, illness, death, separation from what one loves, association with what one doesn’t love, not getting what one wants, and the five aggregates of clinging (matter, feeling, perception, formation and consciousness).

There are three kinds of craving: craving for sensual pleasures (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind), craving for existence, and craving for non-existence. Craving for existence is the desire to continue living, not only in this life but also in others (this is related more to the false belief in a self/soul, but can also have a greedy component for continued physical existence). Craving for non-existence is either the belief that this is the one and only life and that at the end of this physical existence, there is no more, so, grab all the pleasure one can, or it can also mean a desire merge or unite with some transcendental entity; the nihilistic part is the disbelief or misunderstanding of the law of kamma and the “merge with the eternal” part is a false belief in a self/soul. Not all craving is inherently unwholesome or bad, like desiring to have a nice meal, but all craving, wholesome and unwholesome, leads to clinging and attachment.

The cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. We can divide them into three sections: wisdom, (View, Intention), morality (Speech, Action, Livelihood), and concentration (Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration).  They are not practiced sequentially, but holistically. Right View is particularly important though, as it is the starting point for the rest of the Path and determines where our steps are placed. Indeed, it is so important, that the first Sutta/Agama in the Digha Nikaya (not sure of the name of the section in the Agamas), or Long Discourses, is the Brahmajala Sutta, a teaching on the 62 Wrong Views.

Right View comes in two stages, intellectual, which is probably what brought most of us to Buddhism in the first place, and intuitive, which is acquired through practical experience.