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Patthana Light Paṭṭhāna light By Sayadaw U Ñāṇavaṁsa Preface Table of Contents Preface ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction: The Abhidhamma .................................................................................................. 4 1. Root Condition (Hetu Paccaya) .............................................................................................. 7 2. Object condition (Ārammaṇa paccayo) .................................................................................. 9 3. Predominance Condition (Adhipati paccaya) ....................................................................... 12 4+5: Proximity Condition and Contiguity Condition (Anantara paccaya and Samanantara paccaya) 16 6. Conascence Condition (Sahajāta paccaya) ........................................................................... 20 7. Mutuality Condition (Aññamañña paccaya) ......................................................................... 23 8. Dependence Condition (Nissaya paccaya) ........................................................................... 24 9. Strong Dependence Condition (Upanissaya paccaya) .......................................................... 27 10. Prenascence Condition (Purejāta) ...................................................................................... 31 11. Postnascence Condition (Pacchājāta paccaya) .................................................................. 33 12. Repetition Condition (Āsevana paccayo) ............................................................................ 35 13. Kamma Condition (Kamma paccayo) ................................................................................. 37 14. Resultant Condition (Vipāka paccaya) ............................................................................... 41 15. Nutriment Condition (Āhāra paccaya) ............................................................................... 43 16. Faculty Condition (Indriya paccaya) .................................................................................. 47 17. Jhāna Condition (Jhāna paccaya) ....................................................................................... 50 18. Path condition (Magga paccaya) ........................................................................................ 54 19+20. Association Condition and Dissociation Condition (Sampayutta Paccaya and Vippayutta Paccaya) ................................................................................................................................................... 58 21+22+23+24. Presence, absence, disappearance and non-disappearance conditions (Atthi, Natthi, Vigata, Avigata Paccaya) ...................................................................................................................... 63 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ 67 2 Preface Preface The title of this book ‘Paṭṭhāna light’ reflects its content very well. It is a book concerning what is called in Theravada Buddhism ‘Conditional Relations’, a profound Abhidhamma doctrine about the complex interrelationships between different phenomena that can be seen at the level of the ultimate realities. Canonical teaching of Paṭṭhāna is very deep and these days remains alive mostly only in Myanmar, and for the large part of it in Myanmar language. For this reason, it is not easy to get access to it for the one who is in other parts of the world. There is not so much literature available in English regarding the topic, and among what there is, the one who cannot give a full time to studies will find the texts quite complex and difficult to understand. This book is light. Although it does discuss the ultimate realities, it does so ‘lightly’ and the emphasis is mainly on throwing light on the practical application of the knowledge. The book is meant for a wide range of people with a varying knowledge of Abhidhamma – for those just getting introduced, for those with some more experience and for the experienced ones who are interested in different or new perspectives on that what they are already familiar with. A very rudimentary understanding of Abhidhamma will make the reading smoother, but still, some parts will go into the ‘deeper’ parts, which a beginner might find somewhat difficult to follow – in that case, it is perfectly fine to skip them. The main purpose of the teaching is to show different ways of how Paṭṭhāna knowledge can be applied in our day-to-day life making our lifestyles more wholesome and more beautiful. To fulfil this purpose, the book is packed with many inspiring and helpful examples and stories, some of which are known to the Myanmar public mainly, and have not reached outside Myanmar till now. We hope this book helps you to increase your knowledge and understanding of Dhamma, Abhidhamma and Paṭṭhāna, that it reveals their matchless beauty as well as inspires further studies of the subject, and by making clear some very important aspects of the path will assist you on the way to Nibbāna. 3 Introduction: The Abhidhamma Introduction: The Abhidhamma Our Lord Buddha taught the Dhamma for around 45 years after he attained enlightenment together with the power of omniscience (sabbaññutañāṇa): the power of knowing everything proper to be known, the power of knowing the proper way to present the teachings, and the power of knowing the needs of the listeners according to their faculties. His teachings can be divided into three groups, called piṭaka: the collections of the teachings or texts to be learned. The First collection, the Vinaya Piṭaka, is the book of discipline, its concern is morality. The Sutta Piṭaka, the second collection, consists of the Buddha’s discourses spoken by Him and sometimes his disciples on various occasions. And the third collection is the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, the basket of the Buddha’s extraordinary (visiṭṭha), exceeding (atireka), or highest (adhika) doctrine, which is more accurate and precise than the teachings of the first two Piṭakas. The Suttas and Vinaya are mostly using a direct, conventional, language (vohāra vacana), employing such terms as man, animal, body and mind, which are easy to comprehend. The Abhidhamma Piṭaka, on the other hand, makes use of philosophical, abstract terms, such as, consciousness, mental factors, matter, faculties, etc., which are true in the absolute sense (paramattha vacana). The difference between Suttanta and Abhidhamma is not so much in the objective, both aim to show the way to liberation from all the sufferings of the rounds of rebirth, but rather in the way they treat the subject. Every Sutta is orientated to the needs of a particular audience, to which the teaching is delivered, and the subject, the means of expression and the given perspective will differ in accord to that. So just taking the Sutta alone, without knowing the general background, however deep the discourse may be, may lead only to a partial understanding of the Dhamma. Moreover, because of originally being delivered to people with different temperaments and inner inclinations, sometimes Suttas may even contradict each other. At that time we have to look from a wider perspective, and Abhidhamma is exactly the place that provides the comprehensive view. Here the reality is treated not in the terms of individuals, their qualities, or possessions, but in the terms of ever-changing process of conditionally arising and passing phenomena. The conventional reality is broken down to the minute elements of ultimate realities (paramatthadhamma) explaining their characteristics, functions, manifestations and causes. A complex net of causal inter- relationships between the resulting realities is shown as well. Thus the picture one gets is all-inclusive and accessible to any person regardless his temperament, or inner inclination, provided, of course, he makes an effort to understand the doctrine. The scheme below shows how the reality is broken down in Abhidhamma. Reality Conventional Ultimate Concepts Consciousness Mental factors Materiality Nibbāna Conditioned Unconditioned Thus we have four ultimate realities (paramatthadhamma): consciousness (citta), mental factors (cetasika), materiality (rūpa) and Nibbāna, the first three are conditioned, of a momentary duration and the last one is the unconditioned element, which is out of time (kālavimutta). They are the main topics of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. The Abhidhamma Piṭaka consists of seven books. The first one, Dhammasangaṇī, breaks down the reality, and the last book, which is known as Paṭṭhāna, the ‘Book of Conditional Relations’, synthesize ultimate 4 Introduction: The Abhidhamma realities into a complex whole. This last book can also be called the ‘Great Treatise’ (mahāpakaraṇa). The purpose of the Paṭṭhāna is to apply its scheme of twenty-four conditional relations to all the phenomena incorporated in the Abhidhamma-Matrix. The following is the enumeration of conditional relations: 1. Hetu paccayo, Root condition; 2. Ārammaṇa paccayo, Object condition; 3. Adhipati paccayo, Predominance condition; 4. Anantara paccayo, Continuity condition; 5. Samanantara paccayo, Contiguity condition; 6. Sahajāta paccayo, Co-nascence condition; 7. Aññamañña paccayo, Mutuality condition; 8. Nissaya paccayo, Dependence condition; 9. Upanissaya paccayo, Strong-dependence condition; 10. Purejāta paccayo, Pre-nascence condition; 11. Pacchājāta paccayo,
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