The Laws of Causation

The Buddha said that to become enlightened, one need only to understand The Four Noble Truths and Dependant Origination. Dependant Origination is also called the law of causality and was the other main revelation which came to Buddha at his enlightenment. In this teaching, he says that nothing exists on its own, but always has come from earlier circumstances. (not a theory of evolution of the world but a discourse on the cause of birth and death)

The Buddha once said 'Ignorance is the deep delusion wherein we here so long are circling round' meaning that:

[ This laws might not be understood at once but reading on to the cosmology of Buddhism will be clearer why such a law was formed but have a basic insight on this laws first]

IGNORANCE is the cause of KARMA (Action)

Lack of wisdom, cloud the right understanding, which is the root of all evils. Obscuration as to self of persons and self of phenomena (existense).

ACTION causes REBIRTH CONSCIOUSNESS

Karma is the action of wholesome or unwholesome thoughts, speech and bodily deeds.

REBIRTH CONSCIOUSNESS causes NAME and FORM

Rebirth consciousness can be understood  as the mind, for karma or action disrupt the mind consciousness  (past karma links to the present).

NAME and FORM causes the SIX ENTRANCES (Six spheres of Sense)

Simultaneously  with the arising of mind consciousness comes Name and Form is the Emotion and the Physical existence.

THE SIX ENTRANCES causes CONTACT

The six entrances are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, touch and mental faculty or sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and combined with mind experience that is  the consequence of Name and Form.

CONTACT causes FEELINGS

Contact is a mental factor and period in which the objects, sense power/organ and emotion (mind) come together, causing one to distinguish an object as pleasurable, painful or neutral.

FEELING causes CRAVING ( DESIRE)

Pleasure leads to a strong desire for more while pain generates an avoidance desire.

CRAVING causes GRASPING (ATTACHMENT)

Craving is a mental factor that increases desire but without any satisfaction.

GRASPING causes EXISTENCE

Grasping is a stronger degree of desire. There  are 4 basic varieties such as desired objects, views of self, bad system of ethics and conduct (power and ego)

EXISTENCE causes BIRTH

Existence is only a  period lasting from the time of fully potentialised karma up to the beginning of next lifetime. Meaning that, the karma seed is ripe to become fruit. One reap in this lifetime what one have sown in past  lifetime. (cycle of rebirth)

BIRTH causes OLD AGE and DEATH

Hence can be summarized that the cycle is a repayment of karma debt (good or bad). Birth and death is both the beginning of a new life (karma reincarnation within this existence of world).

These is the Law of Twelve Causes of Dependent Origination, a philosophy presented by The Buddha and explains itself in reverse:

Aging and Dying are caused by Birth, 

for without it there would be no death.

Birth is caused by Existence, 

to have no birth ,detach from existence.

Existence  is caused by Grasping,

to detach from existence conquer one's grasping.

Grasping is caused by Craving,

to conquer one's grasping let go of one's craving.

Craving is caused by Feeling

Feeling is caused by Contact

Contact is caused by the Six Entrances or the six sense organs

The Six Entrances are caused by Name and Form or emotion and body

Name and Form are caused by consciousness

Consciousness is caused by Action or Karma

Action is caused by Ignorance.

Once IGNORANCE is destroyed by the gaining of Wisdom and Insight, Then the whole law will collapse. Hence only by practicing the Noble 8-fold path can destroy the IGNORANCE and the cessation of ACTION and escape the cycle of suffering.

Ignorance, Karma, Craving, Grasping, and Existence are the five karmic causes of the cycle of suffering for it conditions for future birth.

Consciousness, Name and Form, The Six Entrances, Contact, Feeling are the five  effect of past karmic force for this life.

The laws of Karma - The Law of Cause And Effect

The Buddha taught that all things spring from a cause and clearly laid down the nature of good and bad Karma. Karma in it's analogy, refers to the fruits of actions as well as the effects of causes and so on. If there is a cause an effect is inevitable, where there's an effect then there's a cause. 

Understanding the law will put a stop to all the evil actions of the body, speech and mind that is the 3 karmic vehicles.

The 3 evils committed by the body are killing, stealing and adultery.

The 3 evils of the mind are greed, anger and delusion.

The 3 evils of the speech are vulgar or hard speech, false speech, and duplicity.

It is by not knowing this law (Ignorance) and planted the evil seed of karma that the fruit is already ripen that one have been wandering in this world of Samsara for so long:

'By Karma the world moves, by Karma men live, and by Karma are beings bound in this world. By Karma one attains glory and praise, by Karma bondage, ruin and tyranny.'

Everything of Karma has to be repaid for in some way or another, at one time or another. Karma is all-pervading; one acts oneself and reaps the result one self, tying and binding one-self.

Karma should not be confused with fate. Fate is the notion that one's life is preplanned  by some external power, and one has no control over one's destiny. Karma on the other hand, can be changed. Because one is a conscious being one can be aware of one's karma and thus strive to change the course of events. In the Dhammapada the following words, "All that we are is a result of what we have thought, it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts."

The Buddhist teaching and philosophy can be summed up to practice 'vast emptiness' that cease Action (Karma) in the impermanence world of the suffering for  the mind to achieving  Enlightenment/ Nibbana. (Deliverance)

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