CAUSES AND CONDITIONS | Zen Wisdom

QUESTION:
Please elaborate on the Buddhist concept of causes and conditions, and explain its relationship to dependent origination, to self and illusion, and to causes and consequences.

SHIH-FU:
The principle of causes and conditions is fundamental to Buddhadharma. It is this principle which distinguishes Buddhism from other religions, philosophies and spiritual disciplines. In short, all dharmas, whether they are worldly (phenomenal) dharmas or transcendental (beyond worldly phenomena) dharmas, are part of, and influenced by, causes and conditions.

The principle of causes and conditions explains the phenomenal relationship between events happening at different moments in time, and different points of space.

First, I will address the temporal relationship. Simply put, something happens in one moment, and in the next moment something else happens. The relationship and interaction of these two events we call the condition.

It might be easy to confuse the principle of causes and conditions with that of causes and consequences. In fact, the two principles are intimately connected with each other, and it is difficult to talk about one without mentioning the other. From the standpoint of causes and conditions, we have said that one event happens now, and another event happens later. From the standpoint of causes and consequences, we can say that the earlier event is the cause and the later event is the consequence. One event leads to the next.

Conversely, when no event occurs, then no succeeding event will take place. For example, parents lead to children. Parents are the cause and children, the consequence. When there are children, there must be parents, but when there are no parents, there can be no children.

A cause, however, cannot turn into or lead to a consequence by itself. Something else must occur, must come together with the cause, so that it may lead to a consequence. This coming together of events and factors is referred to as causes and conditions. A man and woman together do not automatically lead to children. Other factors must come together in order for the cause (parents) to lead to the consequence (children). Parents, children, and the other factors involved are all considered causes and conditions.

Hypothetically, if there were a cause standing alone, and no other condition came along to interact with it, then there would be no consequence. If a cause could remain static and not lead to a consequence, it could not even be considered a cause, since “cause” implies movement toward something else. In such a case, there is no relationship of causes and conditions. Therefore, one can say that causes and consequences are dependent upon the coming together of causes and conditions.

Furthermore, the condition (one dharma) which interacts with a cause (another dharma) must have itself been caused by something else, and so on and so on, infinitely in all directions throughout space and time. All phenomena arise because of causes and conditions. Any phenomenon that arises is itself a consequence of a previous cause, and arose because of the coming together of causes and conditions. This leads to the concept of conditioned arising, also known as dependent origination, which means that all phenomena, or dharmas, arise from causes and conditions. Dharmas do not arise out of nothing. They are dependent on causes and conditions. Ultimately, all dharmas, no matter when or where they occur, are interconnected.

Since all dharmas are the consequences of causes and conditions, their arising is conditional. This includes not only arising and appearing, but also perishing and disappearing. A person being born is a phenomenon, and a person dying is a phenomenon; a bubble forming is a phenomenon, a bubble bursting is a phenomenon; a thought appearing is a phenomenon, and a thought disappearing is a phenomenon. All dharmas arise and perish because of causes and conditions.

Dharmas include all phenomena, whether they be physiological, psychological, social, internal or external. Some may think that dharmas only include physical (external) and physiological phenomena. They would not consider psychological phenomena, such as thoughts, to be dharmas. Buddhism considers all phenomena, physical or mental, to be dharmas. The six sense organs interact with the six kinds of sense objects: eyes see forms, ears hear sounds, etc. These are all dharmas. The sixth sense organ, consciousness, has thoughts as its object. The object of consciousness also includes the symbols, words and language which people use in thinking, reasoning, remembering and communicating. All of these symbols and thoughts are dharmas from the standpoint of Buddhadharma.

Let me make a distinction between dharma and Dharma. Dharma with a lower case “d” refers to any phenomenon. Dharma with an upper case “D” refers to Buddhadharma, or the teachings of the Buddha, the methods of practice and the principles and concepts which underlie practice. But remember, even the teachings of the Buddha and the methods of practice are themselves phenomena, or dharmas.

The Yogacara school explains three types of dharmas. The first type includes all physical objects, and is sometimes called the dharma of form. The second type includes mental dharmas, for example thoughts, moods and feelings. There are also dharmas which are neither physical nor mental. These are the symbols we use in conceptualizing thoughts, and include names, numbers, and abstract ideas such as space and time. Though these symbols are absolutely necessary when one is thinking and remembering, they are not the thoughts themselves. Therefore, they are not considered to be mental dharmas.

All three kinds of dharmas described above are called samskrita, or dharmas with outflows ─ that is, they are dharmas arising from attachment. All phenomena that are part of the world of ordinary sentient beings are considered dharmas with outflows. On the other hand, all phenomena that arise in connection with enlightened beings are dharmas without outflows, and are called asamskrita. Such dharmas include nirvana. True Suchness, and emptiness.

The principle of causes and conditions and conditioned arising definitely holds for samskrita, but what about asamskrita? Here, a subtle distinction must be made. Take, for example, nirvana. From the perspective of ordinary sentient beings, nirvana does arise from causes and conditions. A person practices, and if the causes and conditions are right, then a consequence of his or her practice will be nirvana. However, one who has already attained liberation makes no distinction between nirvana and samsara. An enlightened person, even though he or she can still function in the world, perceives that the world and phenomena have no true existence. In this sense, asamskrita are not dharmas which arise from causes and conditions, and there is no such thing as causes and conditions and causes and consequences.

What I have just said may seem to contradict the Buddhist concept of impermanence, which states that nothing remains unchanged. This concept, however, is from the perspective of ordinary sentient beings. Liberated beings do not perceive a world, sentient beings, or dharmas arising and perishing. For liberated beings, there is no change to speak of.

Ordinary sentient beings are not enlightened. They perceive themselves as having selves, and they interact with and give rise to physical and mental phenomena. What is this self? Previously we said that all physiological, mental and psychological phenomena arise because of causes and conditions. It is the aggregate of these phenomena which is called the self. Even though we may intellectually accept that the self is illusory, we still cling dearly to our illusions, and perceive the self as being real. If, however, we accept the premise that the self is an illusion, and recognize that we have many attachments, then we will have a solid foundation on which to build our practice and experience emptiness.

The self exists as a consequence of causes and conditions, both in a temporal sense (the continuum of past, present and future) and a spatial sense. A cause cannot turn into a consequence unless it interacts with causes and conditions. These causes and conditions interact in a spatial sense. Therefore, we must intellectually grasp that the self is the consequence of causes and conditions; and we must practice so that we can experience the self arising from causes and conditions in a temporal as well as a spatial sense.

To say that the self is an illusion is not to say that the self is an hallucination. The self is not a mirage. We say that the self is illusory because it is forever changing in relation to causes and conditions and causes and consequences. It never stays the same. As such, we say that the self is an illusion. For the same reason, all phenomena are considered illusions. All things change from moment to moment, evolve, transform into something else. The self, therefore, is a false existence ceaselessly interacting and changing amidst a false environment.

To intellectually understand this is not good enough. One must experience it directly; yet it is difficult to do so, because we are emotionally attached to our perception of self. This is vexation, and the only way to loosen the bonds of attachment and vexation is to practice. Through practice one can experience, in varying degrees, that time and space have no existence, and that self is an illusion. One might experience time passing very quickly, or one might experience the boundaries of the body merging with the universe.

An ancient Ch’an master composed a short verse:
One is empty-handed, yet holds a hoe;
One is walking, yet riding a buffalo;
One stands on a bridge ─ the bridge is flowing
and the water is still.

This master uses the concepts of ordinary sentient beings to describe his own perceptions. To him, holding a hoe and being empty-handed are the same; walking and riding a buffalo are the same; bridges and water are the same. The descriptions he uses are the activities and phenomena of ordinary people; they are things that are in motion. Yet, this master uses the movement of phenomena to describe the experience of non-motion. The experience of non-motion is free from causes and conditions. This master perceives reality, not illusion. It is we who perceive the illusion.

STUDENT:
Is cause and consequence similar to karma?

SHIH-FU:
Karma means force or action. Karma is definitely related to causes and consequences, because actions have a force which leads to consequences. In fact, the Twelve Links of Conditioned Arising (nidanas) are sometimes referred to as the Twelve Links of Conditioned Arising from Karma.

STUDENT:
What about physical phenomena? Purely physical phenomena, such as clouds crossing the sky, are products of causes and conditions and causes and consequences, yet they do not seem to have anything to do with karma. Karma seems to refer only to those actions connected with sentient beings.

SHIH-FU:
The fact that this world exists ─ or the fact that we think that this world exists ─ is because of the karma of sentient beings. Everything occurs because of sentient beings’ karma. There are no purely physical phenomena.

STUDENT:
This reminds me of relativity, both in the Einsteinian sense, and also in a more general sense. In other words, this is this because that is that. Nothing exists on its own, or can come into existence by itself. All phenomena are dependent upon causes and conditions, causes and consequences, and the force of karma of sentient beings. Is this correct?

SHIH-FU:
Yes, that is correct. As I said before, causes and conditions work in both a temporal and spatial sense. Einstein said that things move only in relation to other things. Buddhism has no problem with this statement. If something is moving, it is because it has been influenced by other phenomena, both in a temporal sense and in a spatial sense. And it in turn affects other things, both in a temporal sense and in a spatial sense.

STUDENT:
I believe I heard you once say that causes and conditions are empty, but causes and consequences are not. What is meant by this?

SHIH-FU:
All causes and conditions arise because of other causes and conditions. They are impermanent and forever changing, so we say that they are empty. With causes and consequences, it is all a matter of before and after. For sentient beings, there are causes and consequences. For Buddhas, there aren’t. There are no longer causes and consequences for Buddhas because they have no self-centeredness. Buddhas do not look upon anything from the standpoint of an ego. Things still happen to Buddhas, but Buddhas do not perceive things as happening to themselves. They see all things as being empty. Sentient beings, on the other hand, are incapable of seeing the world in this way, so they still perceive the effects on themselves of their previous karma.

Sakyamuni Buddha lived in the world and interacted with people and the environment. Sentient beings saw it their way, and said that the Buddha performed good deeds, taught Buddhadharma and helped save sentient beings. But the Buddha did not see it this way. He just acted spontaneously. The source of his action was wisdom, not self-centeredness.

The Buddha still experienced body pains after he was enlightened. Sentient beings would say that the Buddha was suffering from causes and conditions and previous karma, but because the Buddha no longer perceived a self, he did not suffer mentally. Only his physical body experienced pain.

STUDENT:
Are causes and conditions controllable? Can I manipulate them to directly control my life?

SHIH-FU:
The Avatamsaka Sutra states that all dharmas are created by the mind. If our minds change, then causes and conditions also change. Whatever direction our minds move in, so too do causes and conditions. If our attitudes change, then what we perceive also changes. If we do not make an effort to change our lives and minds, then we will be influenced by the course of events we have already set into motion. If we adopt Buddhadharma into our world view, then causes and conditions will shift direction, and events in our lives will change.

STUDENT:
It seems, however, that there are times in our lives when our karma is so bad that we cannot alleviate the suffering in our lives. Is there anything we can do to alleviate the bad karma and change the causes and conditions that influence our lives?

SHIH-FU:
It is true, there are times when your karma is so overpowering that you cannot control yourself, cannot free yourself from the vexations you are trapped in. This can be the result of a build-up of many previous actions that are similar in nature which you performed in the past; and now the causes and conditions have ripened such that the cumulative force of this karma manifests all at once. It might also mean that you created deep, heavy bad karma in one instant, and now the causes and conditions have ripened, and the consequence of this bad action manifests. When it happens, it is like a great flood which swamps you. There is not much you can do other than ride it out.

The only way you can avoid or alleviate this bad karma is to somehow catch the consequence before it manifests, before the causes and conditions have fully ripened. To use the same analogy, if you see the flood coming, then you can move to higher ground, so that it won’t affect you as much. You can do this by practicing with diligence, by repenting past actions, and by performing virtuous deeds ─ making offerings, giving donations, helping others. The accumulated merit from these virtuous deeds and the power of your practice can help to alleviate or offset bad karma.
Of course, if you are a true practitioner of Ch’an, then you know that vexation is vexation, whether it is good or bad. A true practitioner would strive to maintain his or her equanimity in all situations ─ good, bad or neutral.

Has anyone here ever been caught in a flood?

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