Mūlamadhyamakārikā (MMK16): Examination of Bondage and Release: Bandhana –mokṣa-parīkṣā (1/2)
By Paramartha
Bondage is negation of freedom or liberation (mokṣa). Fundamentally, liberation is not attained because of self-centric ego resulted from substantial view of ontology. In other words, the dynamic process becoming has not been intuitively realized. A human being is subject to karmic bondage (bandhana) or is fettered by three fetters or bonds . The three fetters, related to substantial view of ontology, are
- Attachment to pleasant objects
- Formation of metaphysical ideas
- Craving for becoming
The fetters are conditions which impede liberation from suffering which is salvation. They prevent liberation because the self-centric ego creates fetters due to karmic bondage . The self-centric ego creates the false notion of I or Mine which is the grasping upon the five aggregates as this is I ; this is mine ; this belongs to me. Substantial view evokes the grasping or clinging. Claim of private ownership of anything is alienation from universal unity which is the ultimate Reality.
Transmigration
This chapter 16 examines the notion of karmic bondage to the life process of transmigration (saṃsāra). From Buddhist perspective, bondage to transmigration indicates that one is not liberated from suffering because of the ignorance of the the absolute Truth of Insubstantiality (Anattā) or Emptiness (‘Sūnaytā). Emptiness is the ultimate Reality of Dependent co-arisen Unity or Non-duality. Nāgārjuna refuted the position of his substantialist opponent that transmigration is invalidated under the following situations :-
- If the dispositions are permanent, transmigration is not possible as transmigration connotes changing from one position in this life to another position in the next life. Permanence of dispositions implies that there is neither ceasing nor arising. Dispositions are impermanent. Therefore, there are arising and ceasing which give rise to transmigration.
- If things are impermanent in the sense of annihilation at death, transmigration is not possible. When everything is extinct, there is nothing that transmigrates.
Buddha’s Message
‘Sākaymuni Buddha prescribes that in order to release oneself from karmic bondage, one must dissociate oneself from volitional action which is karma. This is not done by extinction of human activities. Selfless activities ought to continue. Only selfish activities should cease by wisdom. Volitional actions correlate with human empirical wills directed and empowered by self-centric ego. Without human wills, all human wills cease. When human wills are extinct, all human activities are also extinct. Human wills can not be destroyed but they can be purified or appeased. The human’s empirical wills can be transformed through wisdom into transcendental wills. This transformation is attainable by the obliteration of the self-centric ego superimposed illusively upon the five aggregates. The insight that there is no permanent self is wisdom (prajñā) which is the antidote to ignorance (avidyā). Wisdom of realizing the Emptiness of self or self-nature (niḥsvabhāva) allows one to appease the dispositions and eliminate grasping .Grasping causes one to be karmically bound to the transmigration – the cycle of the birth and death.
Categories of Bondage
Broadly, there are two categories of bondage, namely;
- Bondage to dispositions
- Bondage to a permanent Soul
The notion that an action is committed by an agent or doer is a fetter resulting in bondage to dispositions. The karmic bondage is resulted from the substantial perception the duality between the agent or doer and the activities done . There arises the duality between the perceiver and the perceived. Duality is the cause of karmic bondage . The notion that the soul is the agent of all the six sense activities is a fetter resulting in the bondage to soul. The soul is prehended as the perceiver and the six sense activities as the perceived objects. Again, there arises the duality between the perceiver and the perceived. Both fetters are created by the false notion of self-centric ego which directs and empowers all the six sense activities. Self-centric ego is created by dualistic view between the perceiver and the perceived. View of Non-duality between the perceiver and the perceived obliterates self-centric ego. Consequently, the annihilation of self-centric ego destroys karmic bondage.
Sarvāstivāda
The Sarvāstivādins advocate that there is a permanent substance (svabhāva) that transmigrates in tri-temporal existence. They advocate the theory of intrinsic nature or self-nature (Svabhāvavāda). The Buddhist fundamental doctrine of Insubstantiality or Emptiness denies the existence of soul or self-nature. The fundamental doctrine of Dependent Co-arising advocates the unity of multiple contigent conditions without a nuomenon known as a permanent substance, such as a permanent soul or self-nature. Buddhism advocates the process philosophy of phenomenalism dependently co-arisen from the unity of contigent conditions without any inherent existence or permanent substance. Process philosophy is perennial philosophy which advocates the dynamic process becoming of the unity in the multiplicity and the multiplicity in the unity .
Sautrāntikas
Nāgārjuna rejects the Theory of Momentariness of Sautrāntikas which states there are only two phases of life process, namely arising followed abruptly by ceasing without the intermediate stasis between the arising and ceasing. Nāgārjuna rejects the Theory of Momentariness because such theory is not consonant with the Truth of Dependent Co-arising which posits the causal theory of conditionity and the Truth of Emptiness which rejects the substantial theory of arising and ceasing or coming and going.
The Sautrāntikas posited the Theory of Seed (Bijavāda) that the life process of continuum is likened to the metaphor of a germination and growth of a seed: A seed germinates, sprouts , grows, flowers and fruits . The growth of the plant is arising and the death of the plant is ceasing. In actuality, the plant does not arise or begin with birth and does not cease or end with death. It begins with a seed and it also ends with a seed to sustain the continuity of the life process of a plant . Sautrāntikas Theory of Arising and Ceasing without the intermediate stasis fails to account for the abrupt transition from the decay of the old plant and the sprouting of a new seed. An old plant does not die abruptly. Neither does a new seed sprout abruptly.
Both the Sarvāstivādins and Sautrāntikasare absolutely faithful to the Buddhist fundamental doctrine of Dependent Co-arising though they held certain metaphysical views of ontology upholding certain elements of substantial ontology. Substantial ontology contradicts the Process Thought of life continuum.
Sarvāstivāda’s doctrine of Self-nature which states a permanent self-nature traverses through tri-temporal existence mirrors the extreme view of Eternalism . Sautrāntilkas’ Theory of Seed states the life process commences with the birth of a seed , continues with the growth of a tree and eventually ends with final death of the tree. The death of the tree reflects the view of Annihilationism. Though these two sects of Buddhism were early Buddhist schools , their heretical views of Eternalism and Annihilationism had sullied the authentic teaching of ‘Sākyamuni Buddha. Nāgārjuna refuted their heretical views through his MMK in order to purify the Word of the Buddha (Buddhavacana) .
Rebirth
Many disciples of ‘Sākyamuni Buddha singled out consciousness as the single factor of transmigration. ‘Sākyamuni Buddha’s stance is that transmigration is dependently co-arisen from a number of multiple contigent conditions. Transmigration is dependently co-arisen from a number of impermanent contigent conditions or factors, such as consciousness, dispositions, actions or even grasping. Consciousness, dispositions or karmas and grasping are themselves dependently co-arisen contigent conditions which integratedly produces the life process of transmigration.
Consciousness is not the single noumenon behind the phenomenon of transmigration. Consciousness is only part of the necessary contigent conditions which dependently give rise to the life process of transmigration. It cannot exist solitarily or independently. Rebirth should be conceived on the basis of dependent co-arising (patītyasamutpāda) and not on the basis of one permanent entity as the noumenon in the continuity series of a dynamic life process. Similarly, the transmission of a television programme from the main station to a television set in one’s home is not solely effected by electro-magnetic waves .
The waves are dependently co-arisen from the unity of multiple contigent conditions such as infrastructure, technology, technicians, engineers, software and hardware and so forth. Likewise , the rebirth of a sentient being after demise from one’s realm into another realm of existence is dependently co-arisen from multiple contigent conditions through a long duration of time of countless previous lives prior to present rebirth.
Process Becoming
The sole objective of ‘Sākyamuni’s teaching is to awaken us to the ultimate Reality of a human being. A human being like any other empirical phenomenon is merely a dynamic process becoming . From the ultimate analysis, there is no human personality who is karmically entangled in karmic bondage and there is no one who transmigrates. Who is then the one who is entangled and transmigrates? It is merely the impersonal or insubstantial process of transmigration of a unity of contigent conditions that occurs . There is merely the activity of transmigration without the participation of any permanent actor of transmigration. Therefore, there are no individual karmas or dispositions that transmigrate from the ultimate perspective. Whoever intuitively discerns this dynamic process becoming of any sentient being including human being develops the liberative wisdom . The wisdom releases him or her from karmic bondage .
The process becoming is the dependently co-arisen unity of contigent conditions which are incessantly changing. Owing to the incessant change, self identity of any transmigrating sentient being is not evident. As all transmigrating sentient beings are empty of self-identities, the world is actually empty. Realizing that the world is empty, attachment and aversion cease. With the cessation of attachment and aversion, there arises equanimity. Equanimity obliterates grasping. Non-grasping leads to liberation.
Knowing the process becoming conditioned by the insubstantiality of all phenomena, one abandons attachment and aversion. Human being is not a discrete substantial personality but a mere insubstantial dynamic process becoming. Human personality or any sentient being is merely a life process of continuum of process of becoming. Being intuitively aware of the true nature of a human personality or sentient being as a dynamic process becoming, one annihilates self-centric ego. Having annihilated self-centric ego, one relinquishes greed , hatred and delusion. Devoid of greed , hatred and delusion , one becomes calm, peaceful and friendly. Becoming perfectly appeased, one becomes Nirvāṇic. Being Nirvāṇic, one is peaceful and friendly. Thus, one’s moral improvement is consummated by attainment of Nirvāṇa.
Any event, thing, outcome or phenomenon that is dependently co-arisen from causes and conditions under the operation of dependent co-arisen process becoming (Pratītyasamutpāda) is said to be causally or conditionally made or created . Self-nature is not made or does not create because it is intrinsically unchangeable as it is permanent. Being unchangeable and permanent, it is incompatible with the ultimate Reality of dynamic process becoming or the continuum of a life process. A self-nature is a permanent substance not contigent upon others. Hence, a permanent self-nature is not compatible with dynamic process becoming because contigent conditions must be changeable in order for the dynamic process becoming to operate changeably without impedement . Dynamic process becoming is in a state of flux – a continuous movement and change . The dynamic process becoming permits the creative advance of the empirical world – the constant evolution of the world. That the empirical world progresses or regresses is contigent upon the ultimate Reality of dynamic process becoming . Process becoming is the Reality of dependently co-arisen non-dual Unity.
When the world is perceived in terms of a substantial mould, we perceive substantial arising and ceasing , identity and difference, and coming and going . From the perspective of Insubstantiality or process becoming, there is neither the arising nor ceasing ; neither identity nor difference ; neither coming nor going. There is no dynamic movement ultimately. The three pairs of negations posit the ultimate Reality of process becoming . Process becoming is neccessitated by Emptiness . Process becoming is Dependent Co-arising. This is the only ultimate Truth in the universe .
Moving and not Moving
Bondage or freedom is conceptualized substantially by the ordinary worldlings. Such view is erroneous ontologically. Since there is no permanent entity which arises and ceases, the substantial concept of karmic bondage and freedom is erroneous. There is neither the moved, the moving and the unmoved. Tri-temporal spatio movements are deceptive and unreal. Of course, we may be disillusionedly alarmed by the Reality that we are not moving at all in the ultimate Reality. Let me appease you : Conventionally, conditioned phenomena are moving but ultimately they are not moving. The phenomena are moving but the Absolute does not move. This is the profound message of all religions. Any deficient understanding of this message makes one a carnal believer or ordinary worldling directed and empowered by self-centric ego. A carnal believer or ordinary worldling is unsaved. Phenomenon is the conventional truth which is illusory and unreal; the Absolute is the ultimate Truth which is real. Most significantly, the ultimate Truth must be discerned in order to be emancipated and to consummate human wisdom and virtue.
To be continued |
