Episode 119 – The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence
>> This bhiksu is like a fine horse. He can tame and subdue his own heart. He has eliminated all desires and is free from cyclic existence. His current body is the last one of his physical existence, an already-defeated army of evil.
>> A Pratyekabuddha is also called a solitary realizer or one enlightened through conditions. For those who sought to be Pratyekabuddhas, He responded with the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Because the law of interdependent origination suited them, He spoke according to what they desired.
>> In a constant cycle, an effect becomes a cause. This cause then becomes a condition, [which produces an effect]. By contemplating the truth of the Twelve Links, one is enlightened through conditions.
>> The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence：. Ignorance, Volitional Formation, Consciousness, Name and Form, Six Roots, Contact, Feeling, Craving, Grasping, Becoming, Birth, Old Age and Death 1. Ignorance: not understanding anything 2. Volitional Formation: taking action 3. Consciousness: delusional thoughts that lead us to rebirth 4. Name and Form: the intangible and tangible forming in the womb 5. Six Roots: the sense organs forming.
>> 6. Contact: After birth, sense objects connect with the sense organs 7. Feeling: the sensations we receive from outside 8. Craving: greed for the five desires 9. Grasping: continuously seeking the conditions of the sense objects 10. Becoming: never-ending cause and effect 11. Birth: taking the form of a body in the Five Realms 12. Old Age and Death: The body ages and decays.
Every day, we think about ways to clearly apply the teachings of the Buddha in our daily living, ․to connect our daily conditions with His Dharma. Since we want to hear the Dharma, we have to mindfully grasp the principles at the Dharma-assembly. Then the Dharma will truly enter our minds.
For example, in the Buddha’s lifetime, in the Jetavana Grove, He faced the fourfold assembly of disciples. As people were listening to the teachings, all of a sudden a new person arrived. When people saw him, they wondered how could a bhiksu have such a haggard appearance. His skin seemed pale and bloodless, and he was not at all dignified. How could he so brazenly come in like this and present himself before the Buddha, then reverently pay his respects and step to the side to sit down? Seeing this, everyone was suspicious of him.
The Buddha knew that no one regarded this bhiksu with respect, so He said, “Everyone sees this bhiksu’s haggard appearance. But you should not look down on him. You should know that he worked hard on his spiritual practice to experience, contemplate and then fully comprehend people, matters and objects. There is nothing he does not fully grasp and understand, In particular, when it comes to life and reincarnation, he can come and go freely. Now, this bhiksu you see here is like a fine horse. He has completely tamed his own heart. Furthermore, he has completely eliminated all his desires. He is free from cyclic existence and is no longer affected by the pull of karma. He has already attained the fruit of realization. So, he will ‘no longer enter the cycle of existence.'”
This bhiksu is like a fine horse. He can tame and subdue his own heart. He has eliminated all desires and is free from cyclic existence. His current body is the last one of his physical existence, an already-defeated army of evil.
The body that he had was “the last one of his physical existence,” an already-defeated army of evil. This bodily form was the “last one” of his physical existence, his very last body. Will he return to the human realm in the future? He already knew the answer. This bhiksu had been liberated from cyclic existence. This means that he had not only understood the Four Noble Truths, but he also comprehended the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.
If we can understand them one by one, we can eliminate all afflictions. So, the Buddha said that for Pratyekabuddhas, He expounded the Dharma of the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.
A Pratyekabuddha is also called a solitary realizer or one enlightened through conditions. For those who sought to be Pratyekabuddhas, He responded with the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Because the law of interdependent origination suited them, He spoke according to what they desired.
All Buddhas share the same path and teach people of all three capabilities, the great, average and limited capabilities. Those who just developed an aspiration are taught the Dharma for Hearers, which is the Four Noble Truths. Those of a slightly higher capability do not need to hear [teachings]; they can already understand the same principles by [observing] their external conditions. They are “ones enlightened through conditions” or “solitary realizers.” Some people already have certain understandings, but these are not yet complete. Therefore, He expounded the Dharma of the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence for them.
In a constant cycle, an effect becomes a cause. This cause then becomes a condition, [which produces an effect]. By contemplating the truth of the Twelve Links, one is enlightened through conditions.
What are the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence? They are expounded for those of average capabilities. After they learn about this Dharma, they can become open and understanding. We must pay attention to these 12 things.
The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence：. Ignorance, Volitional Formation, Consciousness, Name and Form, Six Roots, Contact, Feeling, Craving, Grasping, Becoming, Birth, Old Age and Death 1. Ignorance: not understanding anything 2. Volitional Formation: taking action 3. Consciousness: delusional thoughts that lead us to rebirth 4. Name and Form: the intangible and tangible forming in the womb 5. Six Roots: the sense organs forming.
In the Twelve Links, the first is “ignorance.” Exactly how did our “birth” come about? Everyone, do you know how you came to be born? We simply do not know. We came here out of confusion. After being born, we continue to live in a state of confusion. In the same way, we keep developing our ignorance and afflictions. In that state of mind, we repeatedly create and reproduce karma in this lifetime. This is because we lack understanding. So, this lack of clarity brought us to this current lifetime along with the connections we created with this set of parents. Thus, we were born.
This happened because of past ignorance, our lack of understanding. “An ignorant thought causes the Three Subtleties” refers to the original ignorant thought, which is the condition for “volitional formation.” Because of this ignorant thought, we begin to act foolishly and create [karma]. This is called volitional formation. In our past lives, we acted rashly because of ignorance. So, this created the conditions for volitional formation. Thus, ignorance leads to the conditions for these actions. In our past lives, we were guided by ignorance, so we experienced volitional formation, which created karma. Thus, “an ignorant thought causes the Three Subtleties,” which are three kinds of very subtle afflictions. These are very minute afflictions of the mind.
So, in our past lives, whether we were creating causes or conditions and so on, it was the result of a previous life. Similarly, we cannot control this “volitional formation.” We are guided by “consciousness.” Because of our “volitional formation,” we created causes and conditions in our past lives. Once we left those bodies behind, we were naturally guided by the conditions we had already created. In these causes and conditions, our ignorance and our volitional formation create conditions. Ignorance is the condition for volitional formation, which is the condition for consciousness.
Here, this refers to our mind-consciousness. We have eight or nine kinds of consciousness, but most ordinary people only reach their eighth; only the first eight are actually being used. Of these eight consciousnesses, we already know the first six, the eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- and mind-consciousness. First, the sensations of eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body are experienced in the sense organ of the mind. The eyes see, but happiness arises in the mind, not the eyes. When we see something and want to grasp it, the eyes are not doing the grasping; it is the mind. Then the body will take action.
In other words, the mind-consciousness is in charge of the five sense organs and sense objects. But when the mind [wants something] in the external environment, it feels happy when it can attain that thing, or frustrated and angry when it cannot. Will that thing remain in our minds? Things that leave a deeper impression will appear in the seventh consciousness. This is a level beyond “thinking”; it is “contemplation.” This “contemplation” lasts a very long time. Something may have happened many decades ago, yet hatred and vengeance remain on our minds. All those past appearances remain in our hearts; the seventh consciousness holds these memories.
Contemplation will drive the first six to act and create karma etc. But our afflicted mind-consciousness will store the causes and effects of the karma we have already created into the eighth consciousness. It is like a storehouse. Whatever we do, good or bad, is stored in the eighth consciousness. These fruitions of ignorance are deeply stored in the eighth consciousness. When we encounter conditions, [what is stored] in the eighth consciousness emerges and engages with the sixth consciousness.
So, when facing external conditions, ignorance is the condition for volitional formation, which is the condition for consciousness. “Volitional formation” creates [karma], then “consciousness” deludedly leads us to the womb after we leave our body. In the past, we already had these ignorant thoughts, committed these kinds of acts and created these kinds of conditions. By the time the conditions we have formed here are exhausted, our conditions there will already have formed. So, this “consciousness” is actually following our own orders to transport the “self” into another body. This consciousness is the delusional thoughts that lead us to rebirth. Because of our connection with these parents, our consciousness will be drawn into the womb.
Next, the fourth [Link] is “name and form,” the intangible and tangible forming in the womb. Because it is not yet tangible, it is called “name and form.” There is already something forming in the womb, shaped by the father’s sperm and mother’s egg. Indeed, pregnancy is a “name and form.” [The fetus] is not yet completely there. Once something is in the womb, with the passing of time, as the second and third months pass, it gradually takes shape. Next, there are the Six Roots. Slowly, we can see eyes, ears and nose take shape.
So when a child is prematurely born at six months, he is very small, but he already has the Six Roots. By the seventh month, everything has taken shape. So, “name and form are conditions for the Six Roots.”
6. Contact: After birth, sense objects connect with the sense organs 7. Feeling: the sensations we receive from outside 8. Craving: greed for the five desires 9. Grasping: continuously seeking the conditions of the sense objects 10. Becoming: never-ending cause and effect 11. Birth: taking the form of a body in the Five Realms 12. Old Age and Death: The body ages and decays.
“The Six Roots are conditions for contact. Contact” happens when, after 40 weeks, or earlier if premature, children are born. The moment of birth is called “contact.” After being born, the [Six] Roots encounter the sense objects. That moment of initial contact with the air shocks the body of the naked baby. The first thing all children do when they are born is cry because the air of this world shocks their entire body, so they feel pain. Thus, we say that “birth is suffering.”
Right when they arrive in the human realm, the pain shocks them to their bones and provokes them to cry. Next is “feeling. Contact is the condition for feeling.” When we first come to this world, we feel hungry and want to eat. When a child is hungry, he will cry. The first time he wants to eat, he cries because he has these feelings. When his diaper is wet and he feels uncomfortable, he will also cry. Then he grows older and can then decide where he wants to go and what he wants to get etc. From the very beginning, when we encounter external conditions, we develop “feelings.” So, “contact is the condition for feeling.”
“Feeling is the condition for craving.” With “cravings” come greed. By the time we are adults, there are many things we crave. We crave for fame and sensual pleasure. Cravings and desire between men and women create continuous entanglements. The five desires of the human realm are thus produced over and over in this way. Thus, “feeling is the condition for craving. Craving is the condition for grasping.” When we want something, we immediately begin to actively seek it. When we begin grasping, we are creating karma.
Tenth, “grasping is the condition for becoming. Becoming” is never-ending cause and effect. Once we take an action, we have already created causes and conditions. We have formed good and bad causes, along with positive and negative karma. We have already begun “becoming.” What is becoming? Karma.
Eleventh, “becoming is the condition for birth.” Once we have karma, once we have created causes and effects, we bring them with us when we leave. Thus, we are born with these ten Links. Because of contact, feeling, craving and grasping, we create a great deal of karma. At the end of this lifetime, we bring this karma with us into our next one as we “take the form of a body in the Five Realms.” We may be born as a sentient being in any of the Five Realms. We may not be human again. We may be in the hell, hungry ghost or animal realm because we have acted out of contact, feeling, craving, grasping and becoming. This leads to suffering in our lives.
Next is the twelfth, “birth is the condition for old age and death.” This is the cycle of a lifetime, and not just one lifetime. The previous lifetime is the condition for being reborn into this one. Then when we come in contact with this world, we feel, crave, grasp and become. This leads to another birth, which then leads to aging, illness and death. This continues endlessly again and again.
So, we should all try to understand that this is the cycle of the causes and effects of a human existence, but we may not necessarily return to this world. Our affinities may lead us to transmigrate to one of the other five realms. So, in our daily living, we must consider what we are seeking to grasp. These are all things that we can control right now. So, let us not wait until “becoming,” until we have to face our karma. Then in our next lifetime, we will once again be in a state of confusion.
So, let us avoid clinging to people’s appearances. When we interact with any person, we should be respectful and remember the law of karma. Therefore, we need to always be mindful.