Pratitya -Samutpada: Road to Peace and Socio-Political Justice

When this is, that is.				Madhyamaka sources (MMK 24:18). Because even
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.				dharmas originate due to causes and conditions they
When this isn't, that isn't.				too must be empty of primary, substantial existence.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of				In a famous discussion in MMK 24 an opponent
that.				accuses Nagarjuna with having destroyed the whole
Pratitya -Samutpada: Road to Peace and				of Buddhism with his teaching of emptiness.
Socio-Political Justice				Nagarjuna replies that his opponent has
Dr.R.Murali				misunderstood emptiness and its purpose, and his
Head				commentator Candrakirti reiterates the relationship
Department of Philosophy				between emptiness and dependent origination. It is
The Madura College (Autonomous)				necessary to understand the two truths taught by
Madurai-11				the Buddha. Without relying on everyday practice
I				(vyavahara) the ultimate is not taught, while without
Buddha is the mighty symbol of peace and harmony				resorting to the ultimate there is no nirvana. The
for the entire world. Today, the whole world realizes				ultimate truth here is emptiness, in that it is what is
the need to pay its attention towards				ultimately true about things. Things themselves as
Buddha’s teachings. Buddhist teachings tell us				empty of inherent existence are the conventional.
that hatred and aversion, like their opposites desire				Without reference to things there could be no
and greed, all spring from a fundamental ignorance.				teaching of emptiness. Moreover, Nagarjuna
The basic ignorance is our failure to understand the				continues, where emptiness is seen to be rational and
self as an illusion. The illusion of the self is the cause				acceptable all things are seen to be rational and
of all our suffering. We want to protect our self from				acceptable. This is because since emptiness is an
the dangers of the constant flux of life. We want to				implication of dependent origination, the alternative to
exempt our self from change, when nothing in the				emptiness would be inherent existence and therefore
world is exempt from change”. That ignorance				an unchanging block universe(or of course literally
is our mistaken notion of our own permanent,				nothing at all) If X exists but is not empty, X would
independent existence. In ignorance, we see				be inherently existent and thus would never go out
ourselves as separate beings, unconnected with				of existence. And in the wonderful reversal,
others. Buddhists believe that the minds of all living				Nagarjuna accuses his opponent who denies
beings are totally interconnected and interrelated,				emptiness with destroying the teachings of Buddha.
whether they are consciously aware of it or not.				Who could become enlightened if their state of
Since each human being and each level of systems				unenlightenment were inherently existent, and thus
are interconnected, to create a positive peace				not the result of causes and conditions?*
compels efforts of everyone at every level of				Note also that there is a very real sense in which
human structures.				emptiness is dependent on things. Emptiness is the
Blinded to our true state of interdependence and				absence of inherent existence in the case of X. If
interconnectedness, it is this basic ignorance that				there were no X then there could not be an
keeps us divided. Only practice that leads to				emptiness of X. In hypothetical case in which
overcoming such ignorance will help to free us from				absolutely nothing existed, there could also be no
ignorance. The Buddha's central doctrine of the				emptiness. Thus emptiness exists in dependence
"dependent co-arising" reveals the				upon that which is empty. As dependently originated
dynamic interdependence of all phenomena. Its insight				emptiness is itself therefore empty. While emptiness
and practices help to free us from the prison cell of				is the ultimate truth in that it is what is ultimately true
egocentricity, and from the greed, hatred, and				about X, it is not an ultimate truth in the sense that it
delusion it engenders. Hence, the awareness about				is itself a primary existent. The ultimate truth is that
this state is the prime criteria in Buddhist philosophy				all things, including any emptiness itself, lack ultimate
for attaining peace. But this is only the starting point.				truth.
II				Therefore Madhyamaka uses ‘ultimate
At this juncture, this paper would like approach the				truth’ in two senses:
problem of dependent co-arising from the position of				1. The first is the ultimate truth as an ultimate truth,
Nagarjuna, especially from his views on pratitya				i.e. something resistant to analysis, primary existent.
samudpada. Though various sub-schools of the				In this sense, Madhyamaka is saying that there is no
Madhyamaka argue with each other over the precise				such thing as an ultimate truth.
etymology and grammar of the term/concept				2. The second is the ultimate truth as the ultimate
pratitya-samutpada, and contend over its precise				way of things (the dharmata), how it ultimately is
workings.				what is found to be the case as a result of ultimate
According to the analysis of Nagarjuna				analysis, searching for primary existence. This is alack,
Nagarjuna was an Indian philosopher, the founder of				the absence, of that primary existence, i.e.emptiness.
the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism, and				That it is the ultimate truth in sense (2) that there is
arguably the most inf...				absolutely no ultimate truth in sense(1).
, true causality depends upon the intrinsic existence				From above arguments, it is that everything is a
of the elements of the causal process (causes and				fluctuating flow, with no actual things at all. Hence,
effects), which would violate the principle of anatta				the stress for Nagarjuna on what follows from
The Buddhist term Anatman or Anatta is used both				dependent origination. The centrality of dependent
as an adjective, that specifies the absence of a				origination for Nagarjuna is the centrality of things as
permanent and unchanging self or...				processes in time. The stability of things is
, but pratitya-samutpada does not imply that the				appearance only. They collapse into process. Thus
apparent participants in arising are essentially real.				Nagarjuna is not concerned to questions the
Because of the interdependence of causes and				reduction to dharmas, but rather to probe what
effects (i.e. causes depend on their effects in order				happens when it is relaised that all things, including
to be causes, and effects likewise depend on their				dharmas, are actually dependently originated*.
causes in order to be effects), it is quite meaningless				Nagarjuna accepts that everyday things are
to talk about them as existing separately. However,				constructs out of, or conceptual imputations upon,
the strict identity of cause and effect is also refuted,				dharmas. But if we turn out attention round and
since if the effect were the cause, the process of				‘project’, as it were, both the
origination could not have occurred. Thus both				everyday thing and the dharmas into which they are
monistic				analysed into time we find that things become
Monism is the metaphysical and theological view that				processes. When things area processes the
all is of one essential essence, principle, substance or				constituents of things must be processes too. There
energy....and a dualistic				can thus finally be no ontological difference at all
The term dualism has a number of uses in the history				between the things and the dharmas themselves.*
of thinking....accounts of causation are				Hence, we can understand that the doctrine of
rejected.Therefore, Nagarjuna explains that the				pratityasamutpada, teaches that everything is
anatta (or emptiness				dependently arisen. What is being taught is a
Sunyata, ??????? or Suata is a term, translated as				two-sided principle, the first side of which is this
"Emptiness" or "Voidness",				scientific and regulative principle that literally every
which constitutes an aspect of the Buddh...				phenomenon is dependently arisen. This pertains not
) of causality is demonstrated by the				just to the objects of our world, physical things or
interdependence of cause and effect, and likewise				material form, but to any of our experiences in the
that the interdependence (pratitya-samutpada) of				broadest sense of that word. It holds importantly to
causality itself is demonstrated by its anatta.				all our ideas and beliefs of our world, even if an idea
The flip side of sunyata is pratitya samutpada. They				or belief does not seem to be experientially
are two sides of the same coin. They mean the				derived-for example, the beliefs that the world is
same thing, but from two different perspectives. To				eternal or not eternal, created or not created, that
the extent that sunyata is a negative concept (i.e.,				there is an indestructible self, and so on. This seems
not svabhava), pratitya-samutpada is the positive				to be what Nagarjuna intimates in 4:7: "The
counterpart. Pratitya-samutpada is an attempt to				method of treatment of all existents such as feeling,
conceptualize the nature of the world as it appears				thought, perception, and dispositions is in every way
to us, not (as with sunyata) by saying what the				similar to that of material form."*
world is not, but by characterizing what is.				A crucial implication of the principle is that there are
pratitya-samutpada is wonderfully subtle, and				no transcendental categories of experience in the
Buddhist philosophers have developed it beautifully.				Kantian sense of innate ideas, with the possible
This concept is understood in two quite different				exception of pratityasamutpada itself. But even in
ways in Theravada and Mahayana thought. In				this case, as we shall see, Nagarjuna makes no
Theravada dependent co-arising (usually designated				distinction between empirically contingent ideas and
by its form in Pali, paticca-samuppada) is understood				rational, necessary ideas. And there are no ideas or
as a logical-causal chain which illustrates in a linear				beliefs inherent in the nature of the mind or in the
fashion the preconditions of suffering that can be				way we think, no matter how abstract or universal.
analyzed and eliminated according to a strictly codified				Whatever idea or belief we possess must have a
pattern of behavior. In Mahayana, on the other hand,				causal explanation in a set of conditions that may
which emphasizes the emptiness of things,				include the circumstances and content of our
dependent co-arising as a concept is used to clarify				experience, the background of ideas and beliefs,
the nature of sunyata by showing that all things that				whatever biases we may have, and other
appear to have independent, permanent existence				psychological factors.
are really the product of many forces interacting.				The true doctrine of pratityasamutpada, as a
Thus, in Mahayana it is stressed that all things are				two-sided semantic and causal principle, frees us from
dependently co-arisen, because their seemingly				the extremes of realism and anti-realism, absolutism
independent existence really depends on the coming				and nihilism. Richard Rorty is talking about the
together simultaneously (the co-arising) of the various				bankruptcy of the extremes of realism and
parts and forces that go into making them up.				anti-realism, when he says:
One illustration of sunyata and pratitya-samutpada is				"Determinacy" is not what is in
a rainbow. We know that a rainbow is real in some				question-that neither does thought determine reality
sense, because we can see it, locate it, measure it,				nor, in the sense intended by the realist, does reality
and so forth. However, it is also clear that a rainbow				determine thought. More precisely, it is no truer that
is no "thing", but rather the product of				"atoms are what they are because we use
various forces interacting as sunlight shines through				'atom' as we do" than that "we use
an atmosphere that has water droplets in suspension.				'atom' as we do because atoms are as they
Mahayana thinkers have asserted that all phenomena,				are." Both of these claims ... are entirely empty.
including especially individual human beings, are like				Both are pseudo-explanations.*
this, inasmuch as it is impossible to locate any basic				The truth, Rorty explains (and this is the causal side
particle or entity that is dependent in no way for its				of the doctrine of pratityasamutpada), is that our
definition and existence on the relationship that it has				language, like our bodies, has been shaped by the
to other things. All things are, therefore,				environment we live in. Indeed, he or she insists on
"empty" and "dependently				this point-the point that our minds or our language
co-arisen".				could not (as the representationalist skeptic fears) be
Many great Buddhist philosophers have thought				"out of touch with reality" any more than
through with great care the nature of shunyata and				our bodies could.*
pratitya-samutpada. This is but a simple illustration of				Nagarjuna would approve of Hilary Putnam's
much more complex reasoning, such as that found in				metaphorical remark that "the mind and the
the writings of Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti, and other				world jointly make up the mind and the
subtle thinkers. (See Smith, 82-112. See also Paul				world."26 That is to say, the existence of the
Ingram. 1990. "Nature's Jeweled Net: Kukai's				world is just as dependent on language as the
Ecological Buddhism" on Electronic Reserve. )				language that we use is dependent on the world. Or,
It may seem that the articulation of such ideas				as Nagarjuna asserts, "if characteristics do not
"tends not to edification” or that it				appear, then it is not tenable to posit the
resembles absurd philosophical speculation such as				characterized object. If the characterized object is
"how many angels can dance on the head of a				not posited, there would be no characteristics
pin?" However, the study of these (and other)				either" (5:4).*
philosophical concepts has typically been linked with				His contention in 24:18 that "whatever is
practices that train Buddhists to release themselves				dependently arisen, that is explained to be
from attachment to or striving after				emptiness," is simply the rejection of
"things" that might seem to offer some				metaphysical realism, by declaring that there is
lasting sort of satisfaction. One of the most basic				nothing but the dependently arisen. And his further
forms of attachment is the mind's tendency to grasp				remark "that [the world as we know it] is
after objects of thought and perception as real (i.e.,				dependent on convention [and] that is itself the
as having svabhava), and this tendency is reinforced				middle way" is a warning against transgressing
in ideas that we have about the world. The use of				the boundaries of ordinary discourse, the boundaries
philosophical reasoning to deconstruct such				of our natural language, and thus "losing the
misconceptions (as they are understood within				world."
Buddhism) is a powerful vehicle for eliminating seeds				III
that can eventually grow into very serious obstacles				In the light of these arguments on emptiness and
in one's orientation to the world.				pratityasamutpada, the process of peace and justice
Among the most important applications of these				could very well be understood.
ideas with Mahayana has been to expose the				Buddhism has long been celebrated as a religion of
emptiness and the co-dependently arisen qualities of				peace and non-violence.
even Buddhism itself. Mahayana claims itself to be an				In this world of multi-leveled plurality, according to
important vehicle to liberation, but it also points to its				Galtung, peace is not a stable, end state but a more
own provisional character. Mahayana does not see				interactive process of a series of changing and
itself as an end, but as means to an end. That end is				balancing acts, an on-going dialectic between our
liberation, enlightenment, and an end to suffering.				actions and the world. This contingent view of peace,
However, as with all religions, there is a tendency for				as shared by many peace scholars and activists in
the religion to reinforce itself as real, as an end in				the field, is similar to what Buddhist perceives peace
itself, within the minds of its adherents. The				to be. In fact, the complexity and the collectiveness
philosophical traditions of emptiness and dependent				in causes leading to peace or war have long been
co-origination are important correctives to this				recognized in the morphological construction of those
tendency.				words. The view of peace as a collective product is
Thus, Shunyata" means: "which is devoid				well in line with the Buddhist worldview based on the
of entity". That does mean that nothing exists				principle of dependent origination which emphasizes
independently from the rest. The Dharma teaching				the mutual influence of all the elements involved in
poses the notion that "things" –a				any situation. With this interdependent frame of
better term would be phenomenon - only exists in				reference, Buddhists would prefer a holistic view of
relation with others. This is the idea of mutual				peace, instead of peace in separate contexts such as
causality. An event can only come to existence				schools, families, or the environment. This is again
because of interaction of other events. So				very close to what many peace studies scholars
everything is interdependent. The word				have advocated as the ultimate vision of peace
"interdependence" is a translation of the				(Brock-Utne, 1997; Galtung, 1993; Galtung &
Sanskrit "pratityasamutpada" which				Ikeda, 1995; Turpin & Kurtz, 1997). From this
means "being by co-emergence". It				perspective, the connection between the concept of
seems that the stoic notion of "universal				negative and positive peace becomes clear and
sympathy" is close in meaning.				imperative in the light of the Buddhist law of nature,
So if everything is empty, then what's the use of				dependent origination.
understanding thefour noble truths and practicing				Absence of war and direct violence only constitutes
virtue?				a temporary peace if there is no justice present in
Nagarjuna says such a reading of sunya is erroneous				the socio-economic international structure. The
and will cause harm than good. The Buddhas have				injustice and the violence causing suffering in every
preached sunyata in order to enable us to raise				other node in the web of existence would inevitably
above all the entangling categories of the intellect.				and eventually weigh the negative peace away.
Those who take sunyata in the sense of a category				Though the negative peace is only temporary,
of intellect, in the sense of affirmation or negation or				unstable and fragile, it is absolutely indispensable on
both or neither are incorrigible, hopeless and are				the way to the positive peace. Since each human
destined to doom. The phenomenal world where				being and each level of systems are interconnected,
things exist in dependence on one another (pratitya				to create a positive peace compels efforts of
samutpada) is the relative truth - samvritti satyam (in				everyone at every level of human structures. The
the ultimate sense even pratitya samutpada is empty				Buddhist view of the interconnected world demands
for it is not fully intelligible). The ultimate truth is the				that the ideal of world peace is less rhetoric at the
paramartha satyam.				negotiation tables among some
So what's paramArtha or nirvana?				“superpowers” in the international level
Nirvana cannot be equated with existence, for what				than starting a personal transformation of
existence do we knowof, other than the phenomenal				one’s daily living. And this peacemaking effort
one? Nirvana cannot be non-existence, forthat itself				is a continued striving at the every very moment
cannot be without existence and hence is caused and				because of the dynamic, constant changing nature of
dependent.				all the possible causal forces in this world.
It cannot be both existence and non-existence, for				Buddha was said to turn the Wheel of the Dharma.
that would be like lightand darkness together. It				Indeed, his central doctrine is like a wheel, for
cannot be neither existence nor non-existence,				through it he taught the dependent co-arising of all
forthat would make it beyond our reach. In this				things, how they continually change and condition
sense since it is beyond the reach of our intellect, like				each other in interconnections as real as the spokes
samsara, nirvana too is sunya. (But this is only in the				in a wheel.
epistemological sense and should not be confused as				I have been deeply inspired by the Buddha's teaching
Nagarjuna ontological position).				of dependent co-arising. It fills me with a sense of
In Prajnaparamita literature the term sunya is used to				connection and mutual responsibility with all beings.
refer to absolutely everything, and it entails that				Helping me understand the non-hierarchical and
absolutely everything is like a magical illusion. We need				self-organizing nature of life, it is the philosophic
to be quite clear about the range of this claim, for				grounding of all my work.
there are scholars who would want to limit it and				The recognition of our essential nonseparateness
argue for some sort of monistic Absolute- a primary				from the world, beyond the shaky walls erected of
existent, an Ultimate Reality par excellence- behind				our fear and greed, is a Dharma gift occurring in
the Prajnaparamita negations. But the				every generation, in countless individual lives. Yet
Astasahasrika(Eight thousand verse) is quite				there are historical moments when this perspective
unequivocal.				arises in a more collective fashion and when, within
“Even nirvana, I say, is like a magical illusion, is				Buddhism as a whole (if we can even talk of
like a dream. How much more so anythingelse!....Even				"Buddhism as a whole"!), there is a fresh
if perchance there could be anything more				reappropriation of the Buddha's central teaching. This
distinguished, of that too I would say that it is like an				seems to be occurring today. Along with the
illusion, like a dream.				destructive, even suicidal nature of many of our
(Astasahasrikaprajnaparamita, trans. Conze:99)				public policies, social and intellectual developments are
In other words absolutely all things have the same				converging now to bring into bold relief the Buddha's
status as persons, tables, and forests. They are all				teaching of dependent co-arising--and the wheel of
conceptual constructs and therefore cannot be				the Dharma turns again.
vested with own existence. Crucially, they therefore				This is happening in many ways. I see it in the return
cannot be grasped, one cannot substitute grasping				to the social teachings of the Buddha, in the
after tables and so on with grasping after dharmas				revitalization of the bodhisattva ideal, in the rapid
as the refuge, the fixed point in a world of				spread of "engaged Buddhism," be it
disappointment and suffering. Thus the classical earlier				among Sarvodayans in Sri Lanka, Ambedkarite
Prajnaparamita literature constantly asks what is				Buddhists in India, or Dharma activists in Tibet,
referred to by the term X , what dharma this is, with				Thailand, or Southeast Asia. Western Buddhists, too,
the response that nothing can be found, nothing can				are taking Dharma practice out into the world,
be grasped, and yet the bodhisattva should heroically				developing skillful means for embodying compassion
resist all fear. To see other wise is to grasp, and to				as they take action to serve the homeless, restore
grasp is to miss enlightenment. Thus enlightenment				creek beds, or block weapons shipments. The vitality
comes from ceasing to grasp even the most subtle				of Buddhism today is most clearly reflected in the
sources of attachment, and this ceasing to grasp				way it is being brought to bear on social, economic,
requires seeing those things which could serve as				political, and environmental issues, leading people to
sources of attachment as empty, mere conceptual				become effective agents of change. The gate of the
constructs. All this are empty. On the level of what is				Dharma does not close behind us to secure us in a
an ultimate, primary existent there is nothing. On such				cloistered existence aloof from the turbulence and
a level therefore there is an endless absence, an				suffering of samsara, so much as it leads us out into
endless emptiness. Thus to think that dharmas have				a life of risk for the sake of all beings.
primary existence is to grasp. As an exhortation this				Here new hands and minds, aware of the suffering
is an appeal to complete letting-go. For both				caused by outmoded ways of thinking and
philosophical reasons and also perhaps existential				dysfunctional power structures, help turn the wheel.
reasons this teaching of emptiness may for some				Strong convergences are at play here, as Buddhist
have been terrifying. It certainly looks like nihilism, and				thought and practice interact with the organizing
it encourages a deep letting-go in meditation that				values of the Green movement, with Gandhian
could indeed be the true spiritual equivalent of the				nonviolence, and humanistic psychology, with
going forth that the monk underwent in leaving				ecofeminism, and sustainable economics, with
family, friends, and village. At least, that is the				systems theory, deep ecology, and new paradigm
impression one gets from the texts. Yet emptiness is				science.
also the antidote to fear, a fear which in its frequent				Reference:
mention must have been some problem for Buddhists				1. 1.Brock-Utne, The Way to Peace: A Buddhist
at this time* For it all is empty, what is there left to				Perspective 1997
fear?				2. S.R.Bhat, Buddhist Thought and Culture in India and
Hence, for a Madhyamika, an understanding of				Korea, ICPR, New Delhi,2003.
emptiness (sunyata) as the middle between				3. Paul Williams, Buddhist Thought,Routledge,
eternalism and annihilationism. This understanding				London,2000.
undoubtedly can be traced back to universalisation of				4. Smith, 82-112. See also Paul Ingram. 1990.
the idea of dependent origination				"Nature's Jeweled Net: Kukai's Ecological
( pratitya-samutpada) as the middle between those				Buddhism"
who hold to the eternal existence of an unchanging				5. MMK
Self, and those who hold to annihilation at death.				6. The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict
Thus it should come as no surprise to find in				Resolution, Issue 2.

Kagyu Nl

Pratitya -Samutpada: Road to Peace and Socio-Political Justice