THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

Let us now deal with the twelve factors of the Paticca Samuppàda, one by one, in due order. The first point for discussion is Avijjà (Sanskrit avidyà), Ignorance. Moha and Abhijja, or delusion and non-acknowledge, are synonyms. for Avijjà. What is avijjà? it is the non-knowledge of Enlightenment, Supreme Wisdom (Bodhi). In other words, not knowing the four Noble Truths. It is also not-knowing of the Pañicca Samuppàda, or conditionality, which teaches, 'This being, that becomes'. Owing to this nescience, the uninstructed entertain wrong views. They regard the impermanent as permanent, the painful as pleasant, the soulless as soul, the godless as god, the impure as pure, and the unreal as real. Further, Avijjà is the non-perception of the conglomerate nature of the five aggregates (pancupdanakkandha), or mind and body.

Ignorance or delusion is one of the root causes of all unwholesome actions, all moral defilements (akusala). All conceivable wrong notions are the result of ignorance. Independently of this crowin corruption no ill action, whether mental, verbal or physical could be performed. That is why ignorance is enumerated as the first link of the chain of the twelvefold Paticca Samuppàda. Nevertheless, ignorance should not be regarded as a prima causa, a first beginning, or an ultimate origin of things. It is certainly not the First Cause; there is no conception of First Cause in Buddhist thought.

 The doctrine of Paticca Samuppàda can be illustrated by a circle; for it is the cycle of existence, bhava cakka in a circle any given point may be taken as the starting point. Each and every factor of the Paticca Samuppàda can be joined together with another of the series, and therefore, no single factor can stand by itself nor function independently of the rest. All are interdependent and inseparable. Nothing is independent, or isolated. Dependent Origination is an unbroken process, in this process nothing is stable or fixed, but all in a whirl. It is the arising of ever changing conditions dependent on similar evanescent conditions. Here, there is neither absolute non-existence nor absolute existence, only bare phenomena roll on: Suddha Dhammà Pavattanti.

Ignorance, the first factor of the series, therefore, is not the sole condition for volitional formations, the second factor (samkhàrà). A tripod, for instance, is supported by its three legs; it stands upright because of the interdependence of the legs. If one gives way, the other two fall to the ground unsupported. So, too, the factors of this Paticca Samuppàda support one another in various ways.

By Piyadassi Nayake Thero