old-path-white-clouds-thich-nhat-hanh

Chapter Sixty-One
The Lion’s Roar
That same retreat season, Ananda asked a question about dependent co-arising, and so the Buddha taught the bhikkhus about the twelve
links in the chain of existence.
He explained, “The teaching on dependent co-arising is most profound and subtle. Do not think it can be grasped through words and
discourse. Bhikkhus, thanks to hearing the teaching on dependent co-arising, Venerable Uruvela Kassapa entered the path of true Dharma.
Venerable Sariputta, another of our most respected brothers, entered the path thanks to hearing a gatha concerning dependent co-arising.
Contemplate the nature of dependent co-arising during every moment. When you look at a leaf or a raindrop, meditate on all the
conditions, near and distant, that have contributed to the presence of that leaf or raindrop. Know that the world is woven of interconnected
threads. This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not. This is born, because that is born. This dies, because that dies.
“The birth and death of any dharma are connected to the birth and death of all other dharmas. The one contains the many and the many
contains the one. Without the one, there cannot be the many. Without the many, there cannot be the one. This is the marvelous truth of the
teaching on dependent co-arising. If you look deeply into the nature of all dharmas, you will be able to transcend all anxiety concerning birth
and death. You will break through the circle of birth and death.
“Bhikkhus, the interconnected links consist of many layers and levels, but four realms can be distinguished—chief causes, contributory
causes, the immediately-preceding-moment as cause, and objects as cause.
“A chief cause is the first condition necessary to give rise to a phenomenon. For example, a grain of rice is the chief cause necessary to
give rise to a rice plant. Contributory causes are supportive conditions. In the case of a grain of rice, these include sun, rain, and earth which
enable the seed to grow into a rice plant.
“The immediately-preceding-moment as cause is an uninterrupted process and serves as an underlying cause. Without this continual
process, the rice plant’s growth would be interrupted before reaching fruition. Objects as cause refer to objects of consciousness. A grain
of rice and all the near and distant conditions that make the presence of the rice plant possible are objects of consciousness. They cannot
be separated from consciousness. Mind is a basic condition for the existence of all dharmas.
“Bhikkhus, suffering exists because of the presence of birth and death. What gives rise to birth and death? Ignorance. Birth and death are
first of all mental notions. They are the product of ignorance. If you look deeply and penetrate the causes of all things, you will overcome
ignorance. Once you have overcome ignorance, you will transcend all thoughts of birth and death. Transcending all thoughts of birth and
death, you will overcome all anxieties and sorrows.
“Bhikkhus, there is the concept of death because there is the concept of birth. These wrong views are based on a false view of the self.
There is a false view of the self because there is grasping. There is grasping because there is desire. There is desire because one does not
see into the true nature of feelings. One does not see into the true nature of feelings because one is caught up in the contact that takes place
between the sense organs and their objects. One is caught up in the contact that takes place between the sense organs and their objects
because one’s mind is not clear and calm. One’s mind is not clear and calm because there are drives and impulses. These drives and
impulses are due to ignorance. These twelve links of the chain of existence are connected to each other. In each link, you can see the other
eleven links. If one link is missing, the other eleven will be missing. These twelve links are Death, Birth, Becoming, Grasping, Craving,
Feelings, Contact, the Six Sense Organs, Name and Form, Consciousness, Drives and Impulses, and Ignorance.
“Bhikkhus, ignorance underlies all twelve links of the chain of existence. Thanks to the contemplation on the nature of dependent coarising,
we can dispel ignorance in order to transcend all anxieties and sorrows. An enlightened person walks over the waves of birth and
death and does not drown in them. An enlightened person uses the twelve links of the chain of existence like the wheels of a carriage. An
enlightened person lives in the very midst of the world but is never submerged by it. Bhikkhus, do not try to run away from birth and death.
You need only rise above them. Transcending birth and death is the attainment of Great Beings.”
In a Dharma discussion several days later, Venerable Mahakassapa reminded the community that the Buddha had given the teaching on
dependent co-arising many times in the past, and that this teaching could be considered the heart of the Way of Awakening. He reminded
the community that the Buddha had once used a bunch of reeds to illustrate the teaching on dependent co-arising. The Lord had said that
things do not need a creator, that they arise from one another. Ignorance causes drives and impulses, and drives and impulses cause
ignorance, just as reeds lean on one another to stand, and if one reed falls, the other reeds also fall. This is true of all things in the universe—
the one creates the many, and the many the one. If we look deeply, we can see the one in the many and the many in the one.
During that same retreat season, several brahmans conspired to falsely accuse the Buddha of sleeping with a woman and making her