Chapter 27 - The Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-arising Flashcards
(89 cards)
1
Q
explain:
Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-arising
3
A
- foundation of all of Buddhist practice
- “this is because that is”
- beyond concepts of space and time
2
Q
enumerate:
Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-arising
A
- ignorance
- volitional action
- consciousness
- mind-body (or name and form)
- six ayatanas (sense organs)
- contact between sense organs, objects and consciousness
- feelings
- craving
- grasping
- coming to be (becoming)
- birth
- old age (decay) and death
3
Q
explain:
ignorance / 1st Link
A
- lack of light and understanding
i.e. blindness
usually listed first but misleading as birth/death could also be first causes
4
Q
explain:
volitional action / 2nd Link
5
A
- formations
- impulses
- motivating energy
- karma formations
- will to cling to being
anger, hatred, irritation, arise out of lack of understanding
5
Q
explain:
consciousness / 3rd Link
2
A
- i.e. whole of consciousness (individual, collective, mind, store, subject, object)
- unwholesome and erroneous tendencies born of ignorance cause suffering
6
Q
explain:
mind-body (name-form) / 4th Link
2
A
- mental and physical elements of our being
- mind and body = objects of consciousness ex: hand, anger, sadness
7
Q
explain:
six ayatanas / 5th Link
A
- (six) sense organs + objects ex: eye + object = sight
5th Link is extension of 4th Link (mind-body) and is there for clarity
8
Q
explain:
contact / 6th Link
A
- between sense organ, sense object, consciousness
basis for feelings (7th Link)
9
Q
explain:
feelings / 7th Link
2
A
- pleasant, unpleasant or neutral
- when pleasant, attachments may form
10
Q
explain:
craving / 8th Link
A
- aka desire … followed by grasping…
11
Q
explain:
grasping (or attachment) / 9th Link
A
- when we are caught in the thralls of an object
12
Q
explain:
coming to be / 10th Link
a.k.a. becoming
A
- because we desire something it comes to be
we have to look deeply to know what we really want
13
Q
How did the Buddha explain Interdependent Co-arising and what did Thay add?
4 + 1
A
This is because that is
This is not because that is not
This comes to be because that comes to be
This ceases to be because that ceases to be
Thay: This is like this because that is like that
14
Q
Do cause and effect co-arise or arise separately?
2
A
- they co-arise and inter-are
- everything is a result of multiple causes and conditions
15
Q
Did chicken or egg come first?
2
A
- Chicken in egg, egg in chicken
- They arise in mutual independence
16
Q
What does the one contain?
A
- the all
17
Q
What’s the difference between Interdependent Co-arising, Interbeing and Interpenetration?
2
A
- Different terminology, same meaning
- Appellations that reflect early vs later vs even later Buddhism
18
Q
How are the 12 Links empty?
A
- each would not exist without each of the others
19
Q
Why is ignorance often taught as the first of the twelve links?
A
- teachers often began with ignorance after Buddha’s lifetime to help prove why there is birth and death
the Buddha in fact taught that no first cause could be found
20
Q
Which of the Eight Noble Paths does Interdependent Co-arising relate to most closely?
A
- Right View
21
Q
Which two of the Three Dharma Seals are most useful to understand Interdependent Co-arising?
A
- Impermanence
- Non-self
22
Q
What tendency has caused the Twelve Links to be misunderstood?
A
- seeing the teachings of the Buddha as an explanation of how things are rather than as a support and guide to the practice
23
Q
What is the following list?
1. root cause
2. object
3. predominance
4. priority
5. continuity
6. co-nascence
7. mutuality
8. support
9. decisive support
10. pre-nascence
11. post-nascence
12. repetition
13. karma
14. karma-result
15. nutriment
16. faculty
17. dhyana
18. path
19. association
20. dissociation
21. presence
22. absence
23. disappearance
24. non-disappearance
A
Buddhaghosa’s 24 Conditions
24
Q
enumerate:
4 Kinds of Conditions + 6 Kinds of Causes (Sarvastivada)
A
- cause condition
- condition for development
- condition of continuity
- object as condition
1.motivating or creative force
2. concurrent condition
3 seed condition of the same kind
4. associated condition
5. universal condition
6. ripening condition
25
# explain:
cause condition / Sarvastivada
| or reed or root
* like how the seed is the cause condition of the flower
26
# explain:
condition for development / Sarvastivada
## Footnote
2
* can help or obstruct seed development
* a life with obstacles is useful, it teaches us our strengths and weaknesses
27
# explain:
condition of continuity / Sarvastivada
* moment-after-moment succession needed for something to exist
ex: daily practice needed to develop practice
28
# explain:
object as condition / Sarvastivada
* without object, there can be no subject
ex: to have confidence, there has to be an object of our confidence, despair is despair about something, anger is anger about something
29
# explain:
motivating or creative force / Sarvastivada
## Footnote
2
* each conditioned dharma is the general cause for all things except itself
* empowering function
30
# explain:
concurrent condition / Sarvastivada
## Footnote
2
* when 2 cause conditions have to be present at the same time
ex: lamplight
* coexistent dharmas mutually condition one another
31
# explain:
seed condition of the same kind / Sarvastivada
## Footnote
2
* similars cause similars
ex: rice produces rice
* wholesomeness causes wholesomeness
ex: faith/joy make stable practice possible
32
# explain:
associated condition / Sarvastivada
* when a wholesome and unwholesome seed support each other to give rise to something
ex: donating money to church when there is guilt through wrong livelihood
| applies only to mental events
33
# explain:
universal condition / Sarvastivada
* cause present everywhere, in every part of body and throughout universe
ex: 6 elements
34
# explain:
ripening condition / Sarvastivada
## Footnote
2
* not everything ripens at same time in our store consciousness
ex: bunched bananas, seeds of Dharma talk
* seed of one kind can also transform and ripen into something different
ex: blossom —> orange
ex: agitation —> successful sitting meditation
35
# define:
froglessness
* deciding to stay in one place until practice fully develops continuity
| illustrates Condition of Continuity
36
How does Nagarjuna link co-arising with emptiness?
## Footnote
2
* By saying all phenomena that arise independently are empty
* Words come to an end because their message is false and because there is a Middle Way
37
# enumerate:
**2 Ways to Understand Volitional Action**
1. to live in order to experience pleasure for oneself alone or to oppress others
2. to be present in order to help (boddhisattvas act here)
38
# enumerate:
**3 Times + 2 Levels of Cause and Effect**
1. past
2. present
3. future
1st level:
ignorance -> volitional actions (cause)
consciousness -> mind-body -> 5 ayatanas -> contact (effect)
2nd level:
feeling -> craving -> grasping -> coming to be (cause);
birth -> old age and death (effect)
39
How can the Twelve Links be likened to a tree’s leaves?
## Footnote
2
* leaves compost at the trees roots to nourish them
* each link conditions each other link
| “Leaves are not just the children of the tree but the mother”
40
What three things cause the continuation of the wheel of the Twelve Links?
* Craving
* Grasping
* Coming to be
41
How do our six sense organs and six objects of these contain ignorance?
* because they are present in contact, feelings, grasping, coming to be, birth, old age/death
## Footnote
“As soon as my perception gets caught in the sign in the flower, ignorance is there"
42
We might wrongly believe that when ignorance ends there is nothing, but what in fact is there?
* Clear Understanding
43
“Can we live in a way that helps us see the causes that are present in the effects and the effects that are present in the causes?” Which insight and which of the Eight Noble Paths does this question point to?
## Footnote
2
* Interdependent Co-arising
* Right View
44
Why do we invoke Boddhisattvas?
## Footnote
5
* to generate positive volitional action
* to offer consciousness to suit the present moment
* to express willingness to help
* to help us know how to alleviate world’s suffering
* to see how the quality of these Buddha’s consciousnesses are different from ours
45
# explain:
Avalokiteshvara, invocation of
* willingness and capacity of being there, listening, responding to suffering and helping beings
46
# explain:
Samantabhadra, invocation of
* willingness and capacity of acting mindfully and joyfully to serve others
47
# explain:
Manjushri, invocation of
## Footnote
2
* willingness and capacity of looking deeply, understanding and being the eyes of the world
* consciousness becomes an instrument of engagement in the world
48
How can we enjoy pleasant feelings like Boddhisattvas do?
* by recognising them as healing and rejuvenating without becoming attached
49
How do Boddhisattvas suffer?
## Footnote
3
* Like normal people do
* However feelings do not give rise to craving or aversion
* But rather than concern, a desire and willingness to stay in the midst of suffering and confusion and to act within it
50
Result Body
## Footnote
3
* fruit of deep practice
* body and mind contain clarity, boddhicitta, 4 Wisdoms, and no ignorance
* said to be marked by 32 signs
* see Sambhogakaya
51
How do we change hell into paradise?
* we only need to change the mind on which it is based
52
Why do boddhisattvas vow to come back again and again? And what does this mean for our own mindfulness practice
## Footnote
2
* not because of craving but because of a willingness to help
* mindful living is to serve
53
What is the inability to see the truth that there is nothing we can call self in the Five Aggregates?
* ignorance
54
How/when do we know that the object of our perception resides within our own consciousness?
## Footnote
2
* when we perceive the object or sign of a phenomenon
* all phenomena are objects of mind
55
sense consciousness
## Footnote
2
* whenever sense organ comes into contact with sense object
* ex: eyes + cloud
| born of sparsha / contact / 6th link
56
lucid consciousness
* consciousness full of understanding, care and love
ex: pointing out to a friend what is lovely to look at
57
Why did the Buddha not want us to aspire to non-being?
* because being and non-being are creations of the mind
* wrong view: the purpose of practice is to destroy being to arrive at non-being
58
Where is the place beyond birth and death?
* in the midst of birth and death
59
# enumerate:
**2 Kinds of Mind**
1. true mind
2. deluded mind
60
# define:
True Mind
## Footnote
3
* wondrous nature of reality
* built in sanghas
* converting 12 Links with True Mind = peace and joy
61
# define:
deluded mind
## Footnote
2
* suffering and affliction
* on its basis, the world, society, individuals have been formed by a cycle of conditions
62
What does equanimity mean we should do, knowing it is not indifference?
## Footnote
2
* we should see those we love and hate equally and try to make both happy
* we should not let go or abandon when it causes suffering
63
The Great Aspiration
* desire to act with love and compassion
64
Where is reality?
* somewhere in between being and non-being
65
What four things have consciousness as their base?
* Distinguishing
* Planning
* Helping
* Good work
66
From where do the conditions come from for us to exist and to change?
* from what is not us
67
How was the Buddha’s misguided practice of austerity favourable to the development of his path?
* having undertaken and failed in these practices, he later learned and taught the Middle Way
68
What does our store consciousness become after Transformation at the Base?
* Great Mirror Wisdom
69
# enumerate:
12 Kinds of True Mind
1. Clear Understanding
2. Great Aspiration
3. Four Wisdoms
4. Transformation Body
5. Result Body
6. Mindfulness of Contact
7. Mindfulness of Feeling
8. Four Immeasurable Minds
9. Freedom
10. Wondrous Being
11. Wisdom of No Birth
12. Wisdom of No Death
70
# enumerate:
deluded mind : ignorance
true mind : ?
Clear Understanding
71
# enumerate:
deluded mind : volitional action
true mind : ?
Great Aspiration
72
# enumerate:
deluded mind : consciousness
True Mind : ?
Four Wisdoms
73
# enumerate:
deluded mind : mind-body
True Mind : ?
Transformation Body
74
# enumerate:
deluded mind : 6 ayatanas
True Mind : ?
Result Body
75
# enumerate:
deluded mind : contact
True Mind : ?
Mindfulness of Contact
76
# enumerate:
deluded mind : feeling
True Mind : ?
Mindfulness of Feeling
77
# enumerate:
deluded mind : craving
True Mind : ?
Four Immeasurable Minds
78
# enumerate:
deluded mind : grasping
True Mind : ?
Freedom
79
# enumerate:
deluded mind : coming to be
True Mind : ?
Wondrous Being
80
# enumerate:
deluded mind : birth
True Mind : ?
Wisdom of No Birth
81
# enumerate:
deluded mind : old age and death
True Mind : ?
Wisdom of No Death
82
Transformation Body
| Nirmanakaya
* the bright side of mind/body
* no longer ignorance, volitional actions or wrong consciousness
* awakens and liberates living beings
see also “Nirmanakaya”
83
We may mistake the Buddha for a philosopher. How should we consider him instead?
* as a spiritual guide who wanted to help us put an end to our suffering
84
Can you find Nirvana in birth and death?
## Footnote
3
* yes, it is birth and death
* don’t abandon either to find it
* birth and death are waves on which Boddhisattvas ride
85
At what point will we be guided by our insight and not lose our practice?
* once the deep and subtle nature of interdependent co-arising is seen
86
How can we understand the arrows of the 12 links?
* One thing conditions the next
Ex: ignorance conditions volitional actions, volitional actions condition consciousness and so on
87
# enumerate:
**4 Invokable Boddhisattvas**
1. Avalokiteshvara
2. Manjushri
3. Samantabhadra
4. Kshitigarbha
88
# define:
Clear Understanding
## Footnote
2
* absence of ignorance
* desire to act with love and compassion
89
# enumerate:
**6 Ayatanas**
1. eyes and form
2. ears and sound
3. nose and smell
4. tongue and taste
5. body and touch
6. mind and object of mind
| eye consciousness = vision, etc
