What is predestined?VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.

The cause is the decisive factor, the main condition which arises, the presence of a being. Dependent conditions are conditions to support and cause causes to arise. For example, a rice grain is the nucleus of a rice plant; Factors such as soil, moisture, sunlight, sower, etc. are conditions for germination of rice (kernel) to develop into rice. The causal relationship is actually much more complex and subtle, especially in the world of consciousness; and, predestined to say is enough - causal - causal.

"Causal conditions" in "Twelve conditions" mean the meaning of "interdependent origination": dependence on one another arises, dependence arises, precisely because "one is present, the other is present". ; because this is not present, that is not present; born of this, the other born; because this will kill, that will kill.

2) - What are the twelve conditions?

In the Samyutta Nikaya II (Samyutta Nikàya), the Buddha explained the Twelve conditions (dependent origination) as follows: "By ignorance, there is action; by action, there is consciousness; due to consciousness, there is nama rupa; due to identity, there is green birth; due to record entry, there is contact; by contact, there is craving; do charity, there is a birth; by the player, there is being; by reason, by birth; due to birth, there is old death, melancholy, compassion, suffering, virtue, brain arising, or the whole suffering aggregates. This is called dependent origination. ”

"Because the eradication (2) craving, ignorance completely, kill; due to killings should wake up; due to consciousness, form and annihilation; ...; due to birth and death should old men, melancholy, compassion, suffering, advantages, brain kill. Such is the whole aggregates cessation. The monks, so called "kill" (p.1-2).

Twelve causal factors Buddha defined include two dimensions: the direction of arising (also known as flow: due to ignorance, action ...) and the direction of cessation (also known as complete cessation: due to the cessation of craving , ignorance should completely kill ...). When the twelve conditions are established (set to start), meaning the five aggregates (3) set, and this is the direction of suffering, samsara. When these twelve links are broken down (the cessation), the structure of the five aggregates also disintegrates, and this is the path of bliss and liberation. The five aggregates are the structure of man and life. The existence of man itself speaks of the twelve conditions that are operating in the direction of the beginning of the arising.

According to the above presentation, ignorance is considered as the root, source, and core of the twelve conditions. However, ignorance should not be misunderstood as the first cause of that link chain. By the Buddha taught, ignorance is also predestined by conditions, is dependent on conditions. When there is predestined (positive) conditions, the ignorance will also transform into wisdom and wisdom; This is the meaning of "ignorance, ignorance".

It should be noted a little bit about the number of items (12 elements) of this mode of dependent origination. The above definition, taken from the Sino-Central Sutta II, is the most typical presentation, consisting of all 12 elements. In a number of other suttas, such as Ðại Duyen Duyen (School of Sutta III), Ðại Duyen Duyen (Truong A Ham I) ..., Buddha presented only 5, 8, 10, 11 and the most complete is 12 genera. part. This problem was meticulously analyzed by competent Buddhist researchers, and all agreed on the number of items of the 12 elements determined through the content of the Buddha's meditation under the Bodhi tree. This is the most accurate, complete and appropriate form for human thinking. The difference in the number of items is only an indication of the Buddha's dynamic method of teaching. He depends on the level of the listener to speak briefly or fully.

The object of listening to the teachings The twelve conditions are human, because of their heavy attachment to attachment and attachment, the Buddha always emphasizes these elements, especially in the direction of the path of cessation-liberation. When craving (or whatever it is) arises, immediately the 12-causal structure is formed; and vice versa; When the craving or prime (or any other part) ceases, immediately the chain of 12 conditions to disintegrate. This is also the meaning, which in the commentator Dai Bhikkhu Sa said that it is okay to say Pratyekabuddha has two parts, two, three ... up to 12 pieces.

II- The meaning of twelve causal factors:

1) - Ignorance (Avijjà):  confusion, delusion of consciousness; in other words, the true ignorance of existence is dependent upon, impermanent and without an independent, unchanging being.

2) - Onions (Sankhàra):  motivation, the will to create (mind) of body, mouth and mind.

3) - Consciousness (Vinnana):  human perception of the world through the authorities such as eyes (eyesight), ears (eardrum), nose (consciousness), tongue (true consciousness), body ( body consciousness) and mind (consciousness).

4) - Nāma rupa (Nāma-rupa): rupa  is the physical and physiological part, nama is the psychological part. For man, rupa is the physical body, the senses and their functions; nama is the dependent mind (mental state), such as contact, volition, feeling, thought and thought.

5) - Six Realms (Chabbithàna):  there are places called six lands , which are the interactions between the six doors (= 6 inner lands : eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) and their objects are six mundane ( = 6 foreign countries: form, sound, taste, taste, touch and idea - dharma).

6) - Contact (Phassa):  the encounter, contact, interference between the bases (the subject) and the ceiling (object). To be more specific, contact is the contact between people and the world through 6 senses. Note that when there is consciousness arising due to the eye contacting with the form (materiality of the form), then that perception is called visual consciousness.

7) - Feeling (Vedanà):  feeling. In other words, the psychological reaction arises when the eyes come into contact with the body, the ears contact with the sound ... the mind comes into contact with the idea (dharma).

There are three types of sensation: pleasant sensation (pleasant sensation), unpleasant sensation (unpleasant sensation) and neutral feeling (non-unpleasant sensation). This is the material that people often take to build values ​​called happiness and suffering. In fact, they are predestined, always changing, without a fixed nature.

8) - Craving (Tanhà):  calling enough craving or craving: entanglement, love, attachment; including craving, craving and formlessness.

9) - Prime (Upadàna):  call enough clinging: attachment, clinging, clinging of consciousness to an object.

10) - Friendship (Bhava):  the interdependent process of formation, including sexual property, materiality and non-materiality.

11) - Birth (Jati):  birth, creation, appearance. Born here is not the birth of a baby, but the achievement of the constituent parts (the five aggregates), the accomplishment of the countries (the organs of perception and their functions).

12) - Lao-death (Jaramrana):  weakness, decline, longevity, disintegration, loss, death. With human life, the old man is manifested under phenomena: long teeth, gray hair, wrinkled skin, weakened sensory organs and death.

III- The operation of the twelve conditions:

Through the meaning of the factors of predestined factors, especially the six elements of the six elements, once again affirms that this form of dependent origination is a teaching about man, because only in man is it sufficient enough 6 sensory organs. Therefore, talking about the operation of the twelve conditions is also about the operation of man.

Because one does not recognize existence (man and the world) because of a predestined relationship that arises, always transforms, and does not have a permanent being, one delicates the self: this is the self and This is mine (Ignorance). It is this illusion and the unconscious that disturb the mind, giving rise to craving, attachment ... And that is the motive for the actions of body, word and mind (Action). Whenever the idea of ​​a self arises, consciousness is present. The existence of Consciousness inevitably requires the presence of the perceiving subject and the perceived object. When the base, the ceiling, and the consciousness meet (Continent), then contact arises. Feeling (Tho) is present when the base, the ceiling and the consciousness intersect; feeling will flow like a waterfall that no energy can prevent, because of the nature of sensation. Feeling includes psychological reactions to the object such as sadness, joy, love, hate, neutral ... A pleasant feeling will give rise to attachment (Ai). In Ai has attached clinging and it is manifested in many forms corresponding to the realms of consciousness (Friendship). Being creates birth, and whenever there is birth, the process of weakness, disintegration, and loss will function as a natural consequence: that is, aging, sorrow, compassion, suffering, favor, brain; or suffering is present. That is the operation of the twelve conditions in the direction of arising (circulation) - this operation has the motivation to be ignorance, craving and attachment. In other words, this is the path of suffering, samsara is led and governed by ignorance. In Ai has attached clinging and it is manifested in many forms corresponding to the realms of consciousness (Friendship). Being creates birth, and whenever there is birth, the process of weakness, disintegration, and loss will function as a natural consequence: that is, aging, sorrow, compassion, suffering, favor, brain; or suffering is present. That is the operation of the twelve conditions in the direction of arising (circulation) - this operation has the motivation to be ignorance, craving and attachment. In other words, this is the path of suffering, samsara is led and governed by ignorance. In Ai has attached clinging and it is manifested in many forms corresponding to the realms of consciousness (Friendship). Being creates birth, and whenever there is birth, the process of weakness, disintegration, and loss will function as a natural consequence: that is, aging, sorrow, compassion, suffering, favor, brain; or suffering is present. That is the operation of the twelve conditions in the direction of arising (circulation) - this operation has the motivation to be ignorance, craving and attachment. In other words, this is the path of suffering, samsara is led and governed by ignorance.

In the explanation of the twelve conditions, the Buddha not only pointed out the path of initiation, as analyzed above, but he pointed out the cause of the arising and the path of cessation (completion). Every time he eradicated any part of the chain of 12 links (predestined), it immediately disintegrated. However, to humans, craving and attachment are the heaviest; so the end of craving or grasping, the twelve conditions of predestined links have no reason to exist. That is the meaning of the Buddha's teaching: "Craving nirvana".

The operation of the twelve conditions is not simply the process of forming a life (from the primordial notion of existence to the last breath), but its functioning (the establishment-circulation). addressing the root cause of human existence (and life); It is not limited by time and space. As long as craving, attachment, or ignorance are still not completed, man is still governed by the operation of the twelve conditions and conditions - that is, still in samsara, endless suffering - when the twelve conditions cessation, synonymous with the whole aggregates of cessation.

IV- Some explanations of the twelve conditions:

The twelve conditions, or dependent origination, are the principle of all existence. It is true that it is not limited to space and time. The Buddha asserted that "dependent origination is the essence of all existence, this truth does not change whether Tathagata appears or does not appear." An existence as small as the nucleus of atoms to be as big as the universe is not outside this principle. With that characteristic, the teachings of the Twelve conditions can be used to enlighten many other problems in life such as reincarnation, cause and effect ... depending on the observation angle of the interpreter. Here are just 4 common explanations.

1) - General format:

“Because this is present, that is present; because this is not present, that is not present; born of this, the other born; due to this destruction, that other destruction ”(State Business Ministry, p.291). This format is the most generalized, summarized and simple presentation by the Buddha himself. It is seen as a principle for all that exists in the phenomenal world. More precisely, if the twelve conditions are a separate form of dependent origination on man, then the general form talks about the nature of the phenomenal world, especially the world without consciousness (the world spirit).

2) - Three life and two stages of cause and effect (The duality of cause and effect):

Three generations are past, present and future (future). According to this interpretation, ignorance and action belong to the past; present includes the elements (from knowledge to property); birth and old-death belongs to the future. On the other hand, consciousness, nama, rupa, and six paths are regarded as the present fruits of the past cause of ignorance and onions, this is the first stage of cause and effect. The elements of longevity, craving, attachment and friendship are the present causes for future results, birth and aging; This is the second cause and effect class. The combination of these two causal classes with conditions creates a seemingly close, continuous relationship of the flow of time: past - present - future. Through this explanation, the intention to use the doctrine of the Twelve conditions to explain reincarnation has clearly shown. However, the above division will easily lead to a misconception, such as ignorance and action only in the past, the next 8 parts only present, Birth and old age belong to the future (!). In fact, in the present (and right in every part) there was ignorance. When one element exists, there are immediately 11 remaining parts. If any one element is absent, then the 12-part predestined relationship collapses itself. As analyzed, the twelve conditions are a continuous stream, interlaced, not dependent on time (past, present or future). This explanation unintentionally coarsens and simplifies the teachings of the Twelve conditions - a doctrine that is considered to be very profound and subtle. twelve conditions are a continuous stream, interlaced, not dependent on time (past, present or future). This explanation unintentionally coarsens and simplifies the teachings of the Twelve conditions - a doctrine that is considered to be very profound and subtle. twelve conditions are a continuous stream, interlaced, not dependent on time (past, present or future). This explanation unintentionally coarsens and simplifies the teachings of the Twelve conditions - a doctrine that is considered to be very profound and subtle.

3) - Cause and effect simultaneously:

When saying "Because of ignorance, the act of birth ...", one should not understand that the act of ignorance is born. Between ignorance and action ... is a linear, unilateral causal relationship; meaning that the factors in the twelve conditions exist depending on the time factor (before - after). This explanation states that even within a moment (4) there was the full existence of all 12 elements. When the distorted notion of self and self (ego) is present, immediately there is a continuous chain of cause and effect: will to create (action), discriminatory perception and attachment (consciousness) ... come old man, grief, compassion, suffering, pros, brain Each one is both fruit and multiplication for the other, they nourish each other.

4) - The existence of a human life (life-force):

One of the three decisive factors to form a fetus is the existence of a karmic reincarnation. This karma is the result of past ignorance and action. The period of pregnancy is the time when nama is present. The record of entry is the period during which the fetus forms fully. The early suckling stage is the stage of contact. Children aged 3-5 years are at the time of formation. From here onwards, according to this interpretation, is a manifestation of the past karma, the child has not done any good or evil effects to create the current karma. When children know joy, sadness, love, hate ... is the time when love, capital, and existence are the stages that children create karma to lead to forming a new body in the future (birth, old age, death). .

V. Some of the implications of the doctrine of the Twelve conditions:

1) - Man (and life) exist in the structure of twelve conditions, so there is no independent and permanent self. Man is the owner of his life, because the doctrine of the Twelve conditions shows the truth: “It is impossible to find a creator, a Brahman, or any other person, who owns the cycle of life. ; only phenomena proceed, depending on the conditions ”(5).

2) - Man and life are egoless, without a permanent (impermanent) nature, within each person there is always a potential for enlightenment, and life always has a chance to build up to become good.

3) - When one of the twelve conditions is operating, it means that the remaining 11 genera also operate. This shows the communion between the "one" and the "all", beyond the concept of space and time, from which can confirm the existence of magical powers.

C- Conclusion

1) - Twelve conditions are human doctrine and telling the audience is human. Because people are heavily entangled in ignorance, craving and attachment, the Buddha specifically emphasized these elements when guiding people to practice for the purpose of liberation and enlightenment.

2) - Twelve conditions, or dependent origination, are not a teaching used to treat the ego or to explain the world; but this is the truth and a practice for practical liberation for humans. Therefore, this teaching is the basis of right understanding (the first in the Noble Eightfold Path). In other words, right view is a holistic, true view of the things that are conditioned.

3) - Non-self or liberation, Nirvana is not an empty state, but an emptiness of the concept of a permanent self. In other words, that is the state without the presence of ignorance, craving and attachment.

4) - All values ​​in life are relative, because life is predestined, always smooth and impossible to grasp.

5) - Existence or life is the existence of multilateral relationships between people and people, between people and the social environment, the natural environment ... When an individual lives well, he is contributing to building build a good society, and vice versa. Everyone must be responsible to the community, because building a community is protecting oneself.

6) - The twelve conditions, or the doctrine of interdependent origination in general, are a very subtle and difficult to understand doctrine, because people are used to the right way of thinking from the beginning of nothingness. In order to have a proper awareness of this doctrine, regular observation and reflection are required. Contemplating and practicing the teachings of the Twelve conditions (in the direction of the cessation), it is certain that step by step will bring practitioners a life of generosity, altruism, liberation and peace in the present. Because as the Buddha's teaching: "Whoever sees dependent origination sees Dharma, who sees Dharma and sees Buddha (Ta)". To see Buddha is to see the ultimate reality, which is beyond all the constraints of the ego world - limited by this ignorance, craving and attachment.

-oOo- END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.25/6/2020.