Our regret
It is unfortunate that since the first century after the Buddha, the pure teachings of the Buddha were lost due to pollution by foreign concepts. Since then, the followers began to lay emphasis on “kamma and rebirth” rather than the Fourfold Supernormal Reality (Cattāri Ariya Saccāni). This degeneration of the teachings have been foretold by the Buddha himself when he said: “In the future my followers will begin to speak about my lower level teachings rather than my higher teachings like emptiness (suññatā).” This idea of emptiness was taken over by the Mahayanists but they were unable to fully comprehend the meaning of emptiness (suññatā). Two well-known thinkers attempted to explain suññatā but they differed. They were Nagarjuna the analyst and Asangha the idealist.
In the Sabbāsawa Sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya the Buddha points out that if a person begins to think in terms of kamma and rebirth he will never be able to attain Nibbāna because by doing so he/she confirms the idea of “self” as (sakkāya diṭṭhi). The follower of the Buddha Ariya Sāvaka, on the other hand thinks only of suffering, its cause, its end, and the way to its end. This directs him straight to Nibbāna.
What appears today in the modern world as Buddhism: whether Theravada, Mahayana, Vajirayana, Pure-land, or Zen are adulterated forms of original Buddhism. The original Buddhism is not completely lost, however. It is available at least in written form in the Sutta Pitaka preserved by the Theravadins, though not fully comprehended by them. An intelligent person, who is educated in modern science, philosophy, and psychology, who studies the suttas in theory and practice, may be able to comprehend at least to a workable degree, the profound teachings of the Buddha.
Buddha = Dhamma = Paṭicca Samuppāda
The Buddha has often said: “He who sees me sees the Dhamma, and he who sees the Dhamma sees me.” As he has also said: “He who sees the Dhamma sees the Paṭicca Samuppāda,” and He who sees the Paṭicca Samuppāda sees the Dhamma,” We may therefore conclude that he who sees the Buddha sees the Paṭicca Samuppāda and vice versa. This means, if we have never seen the Buddha, we could see the Buddha if we see the Paṭicca Samuppāda. This could be far better than looking at a golden image of the Buddha, or even one made of a precious stone or marble. What is great about the Buddha is not his body but his mind. Paṭicca samuppada represents his mind. What this means is that the Paṭicca Samuppāda is the foundation on which the entire teaching of the Buddha and the Buddha himself stands.
We are equipped today with the Paṭicca Samuppāda in the words of the Buddha, but few scholars have understood the real meaning of those words. Today there are many versions of the explanation. There is the traditional explanation of the Theravada Buddhists, as well as the traditional explanation of the Mahayana and the Vajirayana Buddhists. There is also a popular version given by a Western scholar Ñanaweera. There are other interpretations of scholars well known or unknown. Those who are interested could go into a comparative study of these different explanations of the words of the Buddha.
What we offer in this booklet, however, is only the explanation that we use in our meditation system which is meaningful to us. This is not something to be blindly believed in, but something the meditator will discover by oneself as one meditates.
It is important to note that paṭicca samuppāda or the Concurrence of logical Antecedents is a description of the experience of the Buddha after his Awakening from the Dream of Existence (nirodha samāpatti). It is also a description of how the mental process creates the “world,” the “self,” and the Problem of Existence (bhava dukkha).
It is not a description of how rebirth takes place, as the traditional commentators (aṭuvāchariya) make us believe. The tradition holds that our real problem is rebirth (jāti) but the Sutta Pitaka points out that the problem is existence (bhava). Nirvana has been described by the Buddha not as the ending of rebirth (jāti nirodho), but as the ending of existence (bhava nirodho Nibbānaη). This will be explained further in due course.