Nyanatiloka Buddhist Dictionary

The problem 'whether man has a free will' does not exist for, the Buddhist, since he knowsthat, apart from these everchanging mental and physical phenomena, no such entity as 'man'can be found, and that 'man' is merely a name not relating to any reality. And the question,'whether will is free', must be rejected for the reason that 'will', or volition, is a mentalphenomenon flashing forth only for a moment, and that as such it had not any existence atthe preceding moment. For of a thing which is not, or is not yet, one cannot, properlyspeaking, ask whether it is free or unfree. The only admissible question would be whetherthe arising of 'will' is independent of conditions, or whether it is conditioned. But the samequestion would equally apply also to all the other mental phenomena, as well as to all physicalphenomena, in other words: to everything and every occurrence whatever. And the answerwould be: whether will arises, or whether feeling arises, or whether any other mental or anyphysical phenomenon arises, the arising of anything whatsoever is dependent on conditions,and without conditions nothing ever can arise or enter into existence.According to Buddhism, everything mental or physical happens in accordance with laws andconditions; and if it were otherwise, chaos and blind chance would reign. But such a thing isimpossible and contradicts all laws of thinking. Cf. Fund. III (end).(11.) "Through rebirth are conditioned old age and death" (játipaccayá jará-maranam).Without birth there can be no old age and death, no suffering and misery. Thus rebirth is toold age and death, etc. a condition by way of decisive support (upanissaya).The Buddha has said (D. 15): "Profound, Ananda. is this dependent origination, and profounddoes it appear. It is through not understanding, not penetrating, this law that this worldresembles a tangled ball of thread, a bird's nest, a thicket of sedge or reed, and that mandoes not escape from the lower states of existence, from the course of woe and perdition,suffering from the round of rebirth." And further (M. 28): 'Whoso understands thedependent origination understands the Dhamma; and whoso understands the Dhammaunderstands the dependent origination."patience, or forbearance (khanti): one of the 10 perfections (páramí, q.v.).patigha: - 1. In an ethical sense, it means: 'repugnance', grudge, resentment, anger, and is asynonym of vyápáda, 'ill-will' (s. nívarana) and dosa, 'hate' (s. múla). It is one of theproclivities (anusaya, q.v.).2. '(Sense-) reaction'. Applied to five-sense cognition, p. occurs in the following contexts:(a) as patigha-saññá, 'perception of sense-reaction', said to be absent in theimmaterial absorptions (s. jhána 5). Alternative renderings: resistance-perception,reflex-perception;(b) as patigha-samphassa, '(mental) impression caused by 5fold sensorial reaction'(D. 15); s. phassa;(c) as sappatigha-rúpa, 'reacting corporeality', and appatigha, 'not reacting', whichis an Abhidhammic classification of corporeality, occurring in Dhs. 659, 1050.Sappatigha are called the physical sense-organs as reacting (or responding) to