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Dependent Origination i I know that I have hurt many people emotionally by my actions. I now realise that I have done so due to my ignorance of the teachings of the Buddha. Therefore, if I have hurt you in any way, please forgive me. ii Table of Contents Preface ................................................................................ v Chapter 1 ........................................................................... 1 THE WORLD OF THE WORLDING ........................................................ 1 Who is the Buddha? ............................................................................. 4 Chapter 2 ........................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION TO DEPENDENT ORIGINATION ................................. 6 Chapter 3 ......................................................................... 10 UNSATISFACTORINESS - DUKKHA .................................................... 10 Birth-Jati ............................................................................................. 10 Ageing ................................................................................................. 11 Illnesses .............................................................................................. 12 Death .................................................................................................. 12 Other Forms of Unsatisfactoriness - Dukkha ...................................... 13 Chapter 4 ......................................................................... 14 FORMATIONS, DHAMMA AND MIND .............................................. 14 Formations ......................................................................................... 14 Dhamma ............................................................................................. 21 Mind ................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 5 ......................................................................... 28 EXPERIENCE ..................................................................................... 28 Form ................................................................................................... 28 Experience - Origin ............................................................................. 30 Name & Form ..................................................................................... 31 Consciousness and Name & Form ...................................................... 37 Chapter 6 ......................................................................... 44 ORIGIN OF UNSATISFACTORINESS - DUKKHA SAMUDAYA ............... 44 Hatred and Delusion ........................................................................... 45 Craving for Sensual Pleasures, Existence and Extermination ............. 45 Chapter 7 ......................................................................... 48 GRASPING THE FIVE AGGREGATES - PANCUPADANAKKHANDHA .... 48 Four Types of Grasping ....................................................................... 51 True Nature of Aggregates ................................................................. 52 iii Chapter 8 ......................................................................... 56 EXISTENCE - BHAVA ......................................................................... 56 Chapter 9 ......................................................................... 59 REBIRTH .......................................................................................... 59 Athiraga Sutta (SN12.64) .................................................................... 59 Bhava Sutta (AN 3.76) ........................................................................ 62 Kukkuravatika Sutta (MN.57) ............................................................. 65 Cetana Sutta (SN 12.38) ..................................................................... 67 Bhavanetti Sutta (SN 23.3) ................................................................. 68 Chapter 10 ....................................................................... 70 COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXPERIENCE ................................ 70 Chapter 11 ....................................................................... 72 FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR .......................................... 72 Ignorance ............................................................................................ 73 Role of Language ................................................................................ 80 Futility Explained with a Zen Example ................................................ 81 Chapter 12 ....................................................................... 83 THE TWELVE LINKS OF DEPENDENT ORIGINATION .......................... 83 Chapter 13 ....................................................................... 97 THE AWAKENING - NIBBANA ........................................................... 97 Itivuttaka 43 ....................................................................................... 97 Aggivacchagotta Sutta (MN.72) ......................................................... 98 Malukyaputta Sutta (SN 35.95) ........................................................ 100 Lokantagamana Sutta (SN 35.116) .................................................. 102 Sara Sutta (SN 3.27).......................................................................... 103 Chapter 14 ..................................................................... 106 THE WAY TO CESSATION OF DUKKHA MAGGA .............................. 106 Aids to Awakening ............................................................................ 106 Chapter 15 ..................................................................... 112 GRADUAL TRANING ....................................................................... 112 Abbreviations ................................................................ 117 Bibliography .................................................................. 118 Appendix 1 ..................................................................... 119 iv Preface Although I was born a Buddhist I did not take a serious interest in the teachings of the Buddha until very late in life. At first it seemed daunting because of the sheer amount of materials available for study. Many years into my serious practice I realised rightly or wrongly that it was not necessary to read all the materials available because scholars who had carried out research with dedication had concluded that certain materials, such as the Abhidhamma, were not authentic teachings of the Buddha. Rather, they were later works of philosophers. Due to similar facts I was able to finally narrow down my serious study to just the discourses found in the Sutta Pitaka. The Buddha stated that anyone seeing the Dependent Origination sees the teaching. I understood this to mean that a majority of the discourses found in the Sutta Pitaka, if not all, related to Dependent Origination in some way or the other. Based on this understanding I began to read whatever material I could find on the subject only to realise that understanding Dependent Origination was no easy matter, because there were various interpretations which were conflicting with each other but written mostly by academics. This made me realise that I needed to come up with my own interpretation which made complete sense to me rather than accepting any of the available interpretations with various flaws. This writing is therefore a product of my personal understanding of Dependent Origination based on various other available interpretations and my own understanding of the discourses. However, this is not in any way intended to discredit the vast amount of interpretations available and I leave it to anyone who cares to read the material contained in this writing to make their own informed decisions the way they deem fit. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the late Venerable Katukurunde Nananada Thero whose sermons and writings immensely helped me to understand the discourses. Although controversial at times, his ability to recall discourses quickly and connect them with others is v commendable. Secondly, I thank everyone involved with Suttacentral.net for their dedication in maintaining the site with constant improvements. Its capability, in particular, to search for discourses with just one key word, amongst many other important features, helped me greatly in locating discourses. Mention must be made of my long time friend Kithsiri who gave me a USB containing hundreds of discourses at a time when I was beginning to take an interest in the teachings of the Buddha. I thank my wife Chitra for being patient with me when I was devoting all my time to study of discourses while she alone had to deal with the household chores. I also thank my two sons Sihanook and Tharindu for helping me with the cover page design and offering various suggestions for improvement. I dedicate this writing to my ageing mother who brought me up with love and affection under various hardships. May she be free of all discomforts in her old age and be able to realise awakening at the earliest. Nimal Fernando June 1st, 2019 vi Chapter 1 THE WORLD OF THE WORLDING Every living being interacts with the world from birth to death. A human being arrives at this world through the interaction of a father and a mother, and that arrival is the milestone known as birth. Once arrived, there are many other milestones that a human being encounters such as starting
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