Professor Lin Ch'ung-an: Theory and Practice of Chan Meditation, Lecture 5: Observing Dependent Origination

Theory and Practice of Chan Meditation, Lecture 5

Observing Dependent Origination

Key Points: After cultivating calm (samatha), observe the arising and cessation of dependent origination. Only when calm and insight (vipassanā) are practiced together can suffering come to an end.

Scriptural Basis: Sūtra 283 of the Saṃyukta Āgama.

(01) Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was staying at Jeta's Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park, near Śrāvastī.

(2a) At that time, the Blessed One addressed the monks: "When a person delights in and clings to phenomena bound by fetters—giving rise to attachment, fixation, and mental bondage—then craving arises. From craving as condition, clinging; from clinging as condition, existence; from existence as condition, birth; from birth as condition, aging, illness, death, sorrow, grief, pain, and distress. So this whole mass of suffering comes to be.

(2b) It is like planting a tree. At first it is small and tender. One protects and cares for it, enriches the soil around it with fertilizer, waters it in season, and tends it through cold and heat. Through these causes and conditions, the tree grows and flourishes.

(2c) Monks, in the same way, when one nurtures phenomena bound by fetters with attachment, affection and love arise. From craving as condition, clinging; from clinging as condition, existence; from existence as condition, birth; from birth as condition, aging, illness, death, sorrow, grief, pain, and distress. So this whole mass of suffering comes to be.

(3a) But when one turns toward phenomena bound by fetters with the contemplation of impermanence, and abides in the contemplations of arising and ceasing, of dispassion, of cessation, and of letting go—giving rise to no fixation, the mind unbound and unattached—then craving ceases. With the cessation of craving, clinging ceases; with the cessation of clinging, existence ceases; with the cessation of existence, birth ceases; with the cessation of birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, grief, pain, and distress cease. So this whole mass of suffering is brought to an end.

(3b) It is like a tree that is small and tender. If no one cares for it, keeps it safe, enriches the soil, waters it in season, or shelters it from cold and heat, it will not grow. And if one then cuts through its roots, severs its branches, chops it into sections, splits it into pieces, leaves it to the wind, scorches it in the sun, burns it with fire, reduces it to ash, scatters the ash on the wind, or casts it into flowing water—

(3c) "Monks, what do you think? Is it not by cutting through its roots and burning it that the tree is utterly destroyed, so that in the future it can never come into being again?"

(3d) "Yes, Blessed One."

(3e) "In the same way, monks, when one turns toward phenomena bound by fetters with the contemplation of impermanence, and abides in the contemplations of arising and ceasing, of dispassion, of cessation, and of letting go—giving rise to no fixation, the mind unbound and unattached—then craving ceases. With the cessation of craving, clinging ceases; with the cessation of clinging, existence ceases; with the cessation of existence, birth ceases; with the cessation of birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, grief, pain, and distress cease. So this whole mass of suffering is brought to an end."

(04) When the Buddha had finished speaking, the monks rejoiced at his words and put them into practice. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Explanation of the Sutta's Meaning

(1) The Round of Becoming (Saṃsāra)

1. This refers to people of little wisdom who, in the present life, create "new karma"—like a small sapling of suffering.

2. In conditions that give rise to defilements (āsrava), these unwise people feed on the "taste of craving" in the present, grow deeply attached to the past, and fix their minds on future states.

3. Abiding in this way, all the greed and craving they have not yet cut off grow stronger through repetition.

4. Such a person wants this "small sapling of the future" to flourish even more, watering it constantly with the "water of craving" so that it yields the fruit of future existence, bit by bit, until it comes to full maturity.

(2) The Cessation of the Cycle

1. The case is different for a learned noble disciple. Even though they may have planted the "small sapling" of karma that will ripen into future becoming, they nonetheless observe, without confusion, the arising-and-ceasing nature of all formations that fuel affliction. They observe, without confusion, that the state of cessation, desirelessness, and Nirvāṇa is itself peaceful. So they weaken that karma, prevent it from growing, and let the "water of craving" drain away.

2. The wise, therefore, do not wish to nourish this "small sapling of the future." They cut off craving at its root, and with it the whole chain from craving onward. They destroy the sapling so completely that not a trace remains—how much more would they let it grow again!