As we have seen, there are three
kinds of decisive support-condition: decisive support of object, arammanupanissaya-paccaya,
decisive support of proximity, anantarupanissaya-paccaya, and natural
decisive support-condition, pakatupanissaya-paccaya. With regard to the
third decisive support-condition, pakatupanissaya-paccaya, the commentary
to the "Patthana" (the Pancappakaranatthakatha) explains the term "pakata"
in pakatupanissaya. Pakata means done properly, done thoroughly. Kusala
and akusala which were "done thoroughly", often performed, can become firmly
accumulated, they can become habitual. In this way they are a cogent reason,
a powerful inducement for the arising of kusala and akusala later on,
which are the dhammas conditioned by them, the paccayupanna dhammas. Also
external conditions, such as temperature, food, dwelling place and friends
one associates with can be cogent reasons for the dhammas which they
cause to arise.
The commentary defines in addition
the term pakatupanissaya, by explaining the word "pakati" which is connected
with "pakatupanissaya", as naturally, by nature. The conditioning factor
conditions the arising of other dhammas naturally, and it can condition
them without the assistance of decisive support-condition of object or proximate
decisive support-condition. For example, when there is strong confidence
(saddha) in kusala, this can be a cogent reason for the arising of kusala
citta without the need to be dependent on decisive support-condition of
object or proximity decisive support-condition.
We read in the "Patthana" (Faultless
Triplet, VII, Investigation Chapter, Conditions Positive, §423,c,
natural strong dependence):
By the strong dependence of confidence... of precept (sila)... of learning... generosity... By the strong dependence of wisdom, (one) offers the offering, undertakes the precept, fulfils the duty of observance, develops jhana, develops insight, develops path, develops superknowledge, develops attainment. Confidence, precept, learning, generosity, wisdom is related to confidence, precept, learning, generosity, wisdom, by strong dependence condition.
Good and bad qualities accumulated
in the past become our nature, they condition the different cittas in
the present life by way of natural decisive support-condition. We read
in the "Maha-Sutasoma Jataka" (Jataka Stories V, no. 537) that the Buddha
said that not only in his present life he had tamed the robber Angulimala
who had slain many people but later on attained arahatship, but also in
a former life when the Buddha was King Sutasoma and Angulimala was the
King of Baranasi. Once the King's cook could not obtain meat and gave him,
without telling him, human flesh. We read (458):
... No sooner was a bit of the meat placed on the tip of the King's tongue than it sent a thrill through the seven thousand nerves of taste and continued to create a disturbance throughout his whole body. Why was this? From his having previously resorted to this food....
His longing for human flesh
became exceedingly strong, it determined his whole life. He was unable
to give up his craving, so he abandoned his kingdom and kept on murdering
for the sake of human flesh. He had accumulated greed for human flesh
because in his preceding life he had been a man-eating Yakkha. His previous
accumulations were the natural decisive support-condition for the arising
of greed for human flesh and for his killing of human beings. He could
not refrain from taking human flesh. Thus we see that deeds performed in
the past are a natural decisive support-condition for deeds at the present.
Akusala kamma is dangerous since it does not only produce unpleasant vipaka,
but by performing akusala kamma the tendency is accumulated to perform akusala
kamma again.
We read in the same jataka
that one day the King seized Sutasoma, the Bodhisatta. Sutasoma asked permission
to be temporarily released in order to fulfill a promise he had made
to a brahmin, and after he had done so he returned to the man-eater without
fear, and preached to him. He said (491):
Of all the sweets this world can yield to me
None sweeter than the joys of Truth I see:
Brahmins and priests that in the Truth abide,
Birth, death escaping, reach the further side.
The Bodhisatta said that
he was willing to give up all his wealth, his limbs and his life for
the sake of truth. He converted and tamed the man-eater. The perfections
(paramis) he had accumulated conditioned his heroic attitude and his preference
for the truth.
The Bodhisatta developed
all the perfections during countless lives in order to attain Buddhahood.
We may have accumulated an interest in the Dhamma but the perfections
have not been accumulated to the degree that stages of insight can arise
and that enlightenment can be attained. Mindfulness of realities does not
often arise, but its arising cannot be controlled by a "self", it is dependent
on the right conditions. Not only right understanding, but also other
wholesome qualities such as generosity, sila, metta and patience have
to be developed. They are sobhana cetasikas, beautiful mental factors,
which are sankharakkhandha, the khandha of "formations"[77]. The different
factors of which this khandha is composed mutually strengthen and support
one another and thus conditions are accumulated for enlightenment. During
the process of cittas when enlightenment is attained panna realizes the
true nature of the reality which appears, it realizes one of the three
characteristics of that reality, namely impermanence, dukkha or anatta.
At that moment the accumulated perfections including panna are the natural
decisive support-condition, pakatupanissaya paccaya, for the complete abandoning
of all clinging to the wrong view of self and then nibbana can be realized.
We read in the "Patthana"
(under Strong Dependence, §423):
The preparation for the first path[78] is related to the first path by (natural) strong dependence-condition.
The same is said with
regard to the second, third and fourth path. Moreover, the first path
is related to the second path by natural strong dependence, and it is
the same with the subsequent paths.
This reminds us that lokuttara
citta cannot arise without the right conditions. During the process when
enlightenment is attained, one of the three characteristics of reality,
impermanence, dukkha or anatta, is realized just before lokuttara citta
arises. Only one of the three characteristics is realized at that moment
since citta can have only one object at a time. However, before the three
characteristics of reality can be known as they are, right understanding
of all namas and rupas which appear in daily life has to be gradually developed,
and moreover, the "perfections" have to be accumulated.
The natural decisive support-condition,
pakatupanissaya paccaya, is very wide. Kusala citta can be a natural
decisive support-condition for akusala citta. We read in the "Patthana"
( same section, §423, II b):
Confidence, precept, learning, generosity, wisdom is related to lust, hate, delusion, conceit, wrong views, wish, by (natural) strong dependence-condition.
One's knowledge of the
Dhamma may be a natural decisive support-condition for conceit or for wrong
view. One may have studied the Dhamma but one may not consider nama and
rupa appearing in daily life and one may have wrong understanding of the
practice of vipassana. Or someone may have confidence in a teacher who practises
in the wrong way and thus he may, because of confidence, follow the wrong
practice.
Kusala can lead to aversion,
it can be a natural decisive support-condition for aversion. When we
make an effort to help someone else that person may not appreciate it
and then aversion may arise. If we do not study the different conditions
we may not understand how the doing of good deeds can be a condition for
the arising of akusala citta. If we do not develop satipatthana with the
purpose of eradicating akusala, the kusala we perform can, without our
noticing it, be a natural decisive support-condition for akusala citta.
Kusala citta can lead
to bodily discomfort, which is akusala vipakacitta. One may, for example,
pay respect at the Buddhist holy places in India, and this is a wholesome
deed. However, the hotel where one stays may be dilapidated, without
facilities, and this causes one to suffer from heat, mosquitos and other
discomforts. Thus, there is body-consciousness which is akusala vipaka.
This is produced by akusala kamma, but it is also conditioned by kusala
kamma by way of natural decisive support-condition. Phenomena which arise
are not merely conditioned by one type of condition but by several types.
Accumulated unwholesome
inclinations are a natural decisive support-condition for the arising
of akusala citta at the present time. Accumulated dosa can lead to the
killing of living beings. Also accumulated lobha can lead to killing, for
example, when one kills because one wishes to have someone's property. At
the moment of killing there is dosa-mula-citta, but lobha can motivate the
deed, it can be natural decisive support-condition. When one commits one
kind of akusala it can easily lead to the committing of other types of akusala.
We read in the "Patthana"( same section, §423, IV, c):
Killing is related to killing... stealing... unlawful intercourse with the other sex... lying... slander... rude speech... foolish babble... avarice... ill-will... wrong views by strong dependence-condition.
It is then explained
that stealing and the other kinds of evil are related to all kinds of
akusala by way of decisive support-condition. We may think that it is
not very harmful to indulge in idle, useless speech. However, this kind
of speech can be a natural decisive support-condition for lying, stealing,
killing or other kinds of akusala kamma. Akusala can also be a natural decisive
support-condition for kusala. Because of aversion towards akusala vipaka
or attachment to kusala vipaka one may perform good deeds. One may regret
the akusala one performed in the past and then, in order to counteract it,
one performs kusala. We read in the "Patthana" (same section, §423,
V):
After having killed, (one) offers the offering, undertakes the precept, fulfils the duty of observance, develops jhana, develops insight, develops path, develops superknowledge, develops attainment, to counteract it.
The same is said
with regard to other kinds of evil deeds, they can be a natural decisive
support-condition for kusala. Kamma is also a natural decisive support-condition
for the vipaka it produces. We performed many kinds of kamma also in past
lives, but we do not know which kamma will produce result at a particular
moment. When there is at this moment vipakacitta which experiences a pleasant
or an unpleasant object through one of the senses we know that kamma is
a cogent reason, a decisive support-condition for the result. We are born
in the human plane and therefore we know that kusala kamma has produced
the patisandhi-citta. Among the innumerable deeds done in the past that particular
kamma has been a powerful inducement, a natural decisive support-condition
for the patisandhi-citta. Kamma has by its own nature the power to cause
the arising of the appropriate result, even after countless lives, it is
natural decisive support-condition for that result. It does not have to
depend on decisive support-condition of object or on proximate decisive
support-condition to produce its result. As we have seen, kusala kamma
and akusala kamma performed in the past are also a natural decisive support-condition
for kusala kamma and akusala kamma at the present time. Evenso by the performing
of good or evil deeds now we accumulate the tendency to doing similar deeds
later on, thus, such actions are natural decisive support-condition for
future deeds. The natural decisive support-condition is very wide, it comprises
also vipaka which conditions akusala citta or kusala citta, or vipaka which
conditions vipaka. Vipaka conditions kusala citta when one, for example,
suffers bodily pain and is reminded by it that life is short and that one
therefore should not delay the development of right understanding. Vipaka
conditions akusala citta when one has aversion towards pain. Body-consciousness
which is kusala vipaka can condition body-consciousness which is akusala
vipaka by natural decisive support-condition. When it is hot outside one
may use air-conditioning and this may cause bodily well-being. But then the
temperature inside may become too cold and one suffers bodily discomfort
or catches a cold. Akusala vipaka can condition kusala vipaka by natural
decisive support-condition. When we are sick we may have to follow a painful
therapy in order to get cured and then there is akusala vipaka through the
bodysense, but as a result there will be bodily well-being again.
Not only realities
but also concepts can be a natural decisive support-condition for phenomena
which arise. We should know when the object of thinking is a concept.
When the object which citta experiences is not a nama or a rupa it is
a concept. Most of the time we think of events and circumstances with regard
to a particular person. The concept of person can then be a natural decisive
support-condition for attachment or for loving kindness. If someone has
acquired knowledge in the field of science or art and he knows how to apply
what he has learnt, there are concepts which can then condition kusala
citta, akusala citta and different types of vipakacitta by way of natural
decisive support-condition. We need to think of concepts in order to take
care of ourselves or in order to understand the Dhamma, and thus, time
and again in our daily life concepts condition different types of citta
by way of natural decisive support-condition.
Natural decisive support-condition
also comprises factors such as climate, food, dwelling-place, family and
friends. We can notice that good and bad friends condition our spiritual
progress or decline. Someone may be in the company of bad friends who induce
him to take drugs or alcoholic drinks, but the same person may be at another
time with a good friend in the Dhamma who explains the teachings to him.
It depends on his accumulated inclinations whether he will continue to be
with the wrong friends or with the right friends. It is beneficial to know
our different accumulations and the different conditions which play their
part in our life.
We can experience
that bodily health or sickness conditions our cittas. Food, taken in
the right amount, can be the condition for our ability to develop right
understanding. The Buddha, before his enlightenment, fasted to the extent
of becoming completed emaciated. He then understood that he was not practising
the Middle Way and he took rice-gruel offered to him by Sujata. On that day
food was a natural decisive support-condition for the development of the
right path leading to his enlightenment. The right dwelling-place can also
be a natural decisive support-condition for one's spiritual progress. The
Buddha explained into the minutest details how dwelling-places should be
kept and cleaned, out of compassion. He thought of the well-being of the
monks. We read for example in the "Vinaya" (Book of the Discipline V, Culla-vagga,
Ch VIII, On Observances, 208) that a monk should clear out an unoccupied
dwelling-place and then clean it:
... If there are cobwebs in the dwelling-place, he should first remove them from the (floor-) covering. He should wipe the corners of the window-holes. If a wall that was coloured red becomes stained, he should wipe it having moistened a rag, having wrung it out. If ground that was blackened becomes stained, he should wipe it having moistened a rag, having wrung it out. If the ground has not been treated, he should sweep it having sprinkled it all over with water, thinking: "take care lest the dwelling-place is sullied with dust". Having looked for (any) rubbish, he should remove it to one side....
We may believe
that thinking of concepts which, for example, pertain to the cleaning
of our house may hinder the practice of satipatthana. We may be inclined
to separate awareness of nama and rupa from thinking of the chores we have
to do in our home. Both monks and laypeople have to think of concepts, but
there can be awareness and understanding of thinking as a conditioned nama
and there can also be awareness of other realities which appear. Seeing and
visible object appear time and again and by awareness of their characteristics
they can be known as they are. The Buddha had explained to the monks very
often to be aware during all their activities and thus he did not have to
repeat this again, it was understood. When we read about the monk`s chores
we can be reminded to be aware, also while we are doing such chores, just
as the monks.
A suitable climate
is a natural decisive support-condition for the development of panna.
We read in the Commentary to the "Satipatthana Sutta", the "Papancasudani"[79],
in the Introduction, about the reason why the Buddha preached this sutta
to the people of the Kurus:
The inhabitants of the Kuru country- bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, upasakas, upasikas (layfollowers)- by reason of their country being blessed with a perfect climate and through their enjoyment of other comfortable conditions were always healthy in body and in mind. They, happy with healthy minds and bodies, and having the power of knowledge, were capable of receiving deep teachings....
The climate
was not the only condition for them to receive the teachings, they also
had accumulated panna. Oppressive weather and bad food can lead to dosa
which may be so strong that one kills or performs other evil deeds. Habits
such as going to sleep and waking up at a particular time are according
to our nature, they are conditioned by way of natural decisive support.
If one is not negligent there can be sati before going to sleep and also
as soon as one wakes up. Someone who is indolent is bound to have attachment
before he goes to sleep and when he wakes up. We may regret it that there
is not often sati before going to sleep and when we wake up, but when there
is more understanding of conditions we see that sati is anatta.
The place where
someone is born and where he lives can be a natural decisive support-condition
for panna. Birth in the human plane and in a place where we can hear
the Dhamma is rare. By the following sutta we can be reminded not to waste
any opportunity to develop right understanding. We read in the "Gradual
Sayings" (I, Book of the Ones, Ch XIX, Trifling):
Even as, monks, in this Rose-apple Land trifling in number are the pleasant parks, the pleasant groves, the pleasant grounds and lakes, while more numerous are the steep precipitous places, unfordable rivers, dense thickets of stakes and thorns, and inaccessible mountains,- just so few in number are those beings that are born on land: more numerous are the beings that are born in water.
Just so few in number are the beings that are reborn among men: more numerous are the beings that are born among others than men.
Just so few in number are those beings that are reborn in the middle districts: more numerous are those reborn in the outlying districts, among the undiscerning barbarians.
Just so few in number are those beings that are wise, quick-witted, not deaf or dumb, competent to judge the meaning of what is spoken well or ill: more numerous are those beings that are foolish, slow-witted, deaf or dumb, incompetent to judge the meaning of what is spoken well or ill.
Just so few in number are those beings that are possessed of the ariyan eye of wisdom[80]: more numerous are those sunk in ignorance and bewilderment.
Just so few in number are those beings that get the chance of seeing a Tathagata[81]: more numerous are they that do not.
Just so few in number are those beings that welcome, when they hear it, the Dhamma and Discipline set forth by a Tathagata: more numerous are they that do not.
Just so few in number are those beings, that, on hearing Dhamma, learn it by heart: more numerous are they that do not.
Just so few in number are those beings that examine the meaning of the doctrines they have learnt by heart... that, understanding the meaning and understanding the doctrine, live in accordance with it... that are stirred by stirring topics... that, being stirred, strive systematically... that, making resolution their object, win concentration, win one-pointedness of mind... that gain the best of food and condiments: more numerous are they that do not, but just exist on gathered scraps and food collected in a bowl.
Just so few in number are those beings that are winners of the essence of the meaning, the essence of Dhamma, the essence of release: more numerous are those that do not.
Wherefore I say to you, monks, thus must you train yourselves: We will become winners of the essence of the meaning, of the essence of Dhamma, of the essence of release. That is how you must train yourselves.
Footnotes
[77] All cetasikas other than feeling and sanna, remembrance, are included in sankharakkhandha.
[78] The magga-citta of the first stage of enlightenment, the stage of the "streamwinner", sotapanna. There are four stages of enlightenment.
[79] Middle Length Sayings I, no. 10. The Sutta and Commentary are translated by Ven. Soma, in "The Way of Mindfulness", B.P.S. Kandy.
[80] The path, with insight.
[81] The "Thus gone", epithet of the Buddha.
