Buddhism 101: Dependent Origination 3- The goal of Enlightenment

November 13, 6:13 PMBuddhism ExaminerEmily Breder

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Please begin with Part 1!

The real pain in life is due to illusion, which is the product of ignorance about the situation. Think about it- you want something, say a car, and the desire causes a tension until you possess it. Then, once you have it, the tension increases because of your worry that something might happen to it, and you must take action to protect it. Then there is the inevidably decay of the car, which causes additional grief. But the car, owned or not, was always destined to decay, so it is our ignorance about this truth that makes us suffer. Once you see the potential suffering and decay in the car, you stop worrying about it. We can still use the car, but as a tool and not an identity, and the suffering disappears on its own. the car itself is neither good nor bad.

Ignorance always comes from a person's wrong ideas about a situation, which is often defined as perception. Perception is deeply influenced by past experiences, or karma (further described in Part 1- the function of karma).

Karma is guided in part by perception, which is influenced by the amount of ignorance one has about the real situation. Ignorance is partially supported by the behavioral patterns which comprise the personality and develop into the ego. Think of the car again- it's likely that someone who desires a car this intensely had some past event that sparked it. A car-fanatic mentor, perhaps, or poverty in childhood that over-stimulates materialistic values. Like building blocks, they depend on each other (dependent origination). The only way out of the cycle of suffering, which is called Samsara, is to alter our experience until the conditions have been supported for a new vision- Nirvana.

Pain does not arise without the self being threatened, whether it be the mass ego-entity of a religious institution or country, or the 'little me' part of the ego that so wanted that car. These indeed are part of the illusion, even though they can be observed to operate and exist. When we set our happiness on any of them remaining, we are sure to be disappointed. Like all phenomenon in mundane reality, massive ego constructs like these are destined to change, perhaps transform into something else, and eventually die out entirely.They are processes and not the constructs they appear to be due to their inflated size; this is according to the smallest perspective- the individual. If we don't identify something as being part of us or necessary to us, we don't feel a sense of loss when it changes and disappears.

This is how people get power-hungry. The higher one rises into a large power structure, the less in touch one is with the 'little me' and the fewer boundaries are perceived. The smallest ego, the self, keeps perspective by clearly defining the boundaries. Celebrities that identify with their celebrity have therefore 'lost perspective'. An ego-maniac sees everyone as an extension of themselves in their inflated perspective. They do not identify with the pain of others, even if they cause it, because the other person only exists in their usefulness to the ego. Others lose their humanity and individuality to a person without perspective. No boundaries means no rules. Thus, even a slight kink in the ego structure of a person who has a loss of perspective can result in financial meltdown, serial murder or rape, and wars of all kinds.

The perception of this on an elementary level can cause extreme paranoia for some. It's terrifying to think that there might be a person out there inflicting damage on the world in this way. We've seen it happen in history, and it always turns out badly. It definitely makes one's ego feel insufficient against the vagaries of reality- an additional reason why power-seeking is so addictive. But it doesn''t go without saying that there is a hand at the helm, or even that there is a definitive 'helm'. Is it possible? Certainly, but not necessarily. No ego- no loss- no fear. This does not mean that enlightened people don't love or care about other humans. In fact, it arouses an almost overwhelming compassion and desire to help relieve the suffering of others with the realization that we do not have seperate existence.

A lot of people get lost in this moment of a greater awareness of Dhamma (truth) that seems so threatening to the ego- because it is! Our identity is so supericial that a glimpse of the greater truth can make one shy away from the Middle Path out of fear and label Buddhism as completely negative, 'a spiritual suicide'. But this is far, far from the truth. We need our ego to gain perspective and interact with the world- it just isn't what we are. There is a deeper truth, beyond any descriptive language, because the nature of language is to define reality into communicable terms. This would instigate the subject/ object conceptualization that splits our perception of reality and gives rise to the illusion again. So on defining Nirvana, the Buddha was completely silent- but it was a loaded silence.

Ego, karma, and dependent origination can explain how to get to Nirvana, even if we can't say intellectually what it is. But since there is no need to believe in a Creator or higher being to walk this path, there is a variety of opinion on the subject within Buddhist circles. This is not to say that an enlightened person can't believe in God; just that one doesn't need to in order to be enlightened.

This has given rise to an argument amongst Buddhists about whether Buddhism is a religion at all. What side is taken depends on one's motivations and whether they believe in a God. The point most of these people miss is that both of these issues exist outside of Buddhism since they are a matter of individual opinion. In the end, like all matters of opinion, we must abandon our judgements to experience Nirvana.

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