The Wheel of Life
The teaching of Buddha that the six samsaric realms and their
suffering are only internally caused by delusion and karma was believed and
realized by a great number of ancient Indian and Tibetan masters. As Buddha did,
they gave up princely lives and kingdoms to fully investigate the absolute
truth, because they realized the internal nature of samsara.
For Example, a person
walking in thorns that pierce his flesh realizes that the resultant suffering
derives only from his internal state of ignorance. He could wear shoes and
prevent his suffering. The suffering of samsara is also internally caused by
ignorance. But if the nature of the thorns was the cause of suffering
(external) and the cause was not in the nature of the sufferer, then even shoes
would not prevent the suffering. And if the cause of samsaric suffering were
external, then there would be no means for controlling samsara. Nor would there
be any method of attaining final peace, of completing the state of perfect happiness by
extinguishing samsara. Even medicine could not cure sickness. There would be
neither perfect happiness nor people’s suffering.
But people do suffer, as
shown by the world’s thirst for peace. Yet as we can experience greater and
greater suffering, we can experience higher and higher happiness.
If the Buddha were a
creator being and he alone created the samsaric realms and their suffering,
then there would be no reason to follow the teachings to be released, or to
have him show us the teachings. All attempts would be in vain since every
living being would have a samsaric nature rooted in suffering by him. If the
Buddha were the cause of samsara he would be the creator of ignorance and
suffering, and would be our worst enemy instead of a perfect guide. So the only
way to final peace would be to extinguish the Buddha—the cause of all
suffering.
There is no logical
reason to say that the compassionate Buddha created everything, for his
teachings were shown only to help us achieve happiness. If he was the creator
of all, he would have already created enlightenment for each living being and
we would already have received it. To say otherwise sounds like the imagination
of a little baby.
Universal evolution is
created by the universal law of karma, created by the beings which inhabit the
universe. That’s why there is a logical reason for both the universe and its
inhabitants.
Shantideva said: The weapons of the hell beings,
By whom and for whom were they created?
Who laid the foundation of the burning iron?
How did the limitless blaze happen?
All the suffering stages, even such as that one,
Arose from the veiled mind.
By whom and for whom were they created?
Who laid the foundation of the burning iron?
How did the limitless blaze happen?
All the suffering stages, even such as that one,
Arose from the veiled mind.
A beautiful girl appears differently to different people with
varying levels of thought. Food tastes differently to different people. It depends on karma, and nothing is created by itself
but by the individual mind.
World peace will not
come about through external development. It does not depend upon reducing noise
in the city or hiding in a cave. The only cause that can bring peace to
universal beings is to exchange ourselves with others, to be attached to the comfort of others instead of our own, which we
would renounce. The negative thought that cherishes us and not others is the
cause of all suffering and problems.
One way to understand
the suffering nature of samsara is to meditate on the gradual evolution of the
twelve links of dependent origination, (Skt: pratitya samutpada; Tib: ten-drel.
chu-nyi) as Buddha showed. This is represented by the symbolic drawing of the
wheel of life, (Skt: samsaracakra; Tib: sib-pe-k’or-lo) also called the circle
of the twelve dependent originations. It is held in the mouth of the Lord of
Death, showing how all beings that live in the six realms of samsara are
controlled by impermanence and death. The wheel is also supported by his hands
and feet, symbolizing how these beings are trapped by true suffering and the
true cause of suffering—delusion and karma.
I and most other
sentient beings are suffering in this circle of interdependent origination. Its
root is ignorance, which is the complete opposite of the Dharma wisdom that
perceives the absolute reality.
The blind man shown on
the wheel of life symbolizes the ignorant person, who does not see where he is
going, where he will be reborn, what he has suffered or what he will suffer in
rebirth. Ignorance is the cause of the 84,000 delusions.
There are two kinds of
ignorance:
- Ignorance of absolute truth, which binds me more
strongly to samsara. The main purpose of all the teachings of Buddha Fis
to remove ignorance by the realization of absolute truth, just as the main
purpose of medicine is to remove sickness.
- Ignorance of karma arises from ignorance of absolute
truth; it causes rebirth in the three lower realms.
Ignorance generates
karmic formation. This is symbolized by a man producing clay pots. Just as a
clay pot can be fashioned into many sizes and shapes, so does the creation of
different karmas bring different results? Karma may be
meritorious, unmeritorious or indifferent.
Karmic formation
generates consciousness. This is symbolized by a monkey with fruit in its hand,
swinging from tree to tree, to show that consciousness, bearing karmic
impressions, joins past to present and present to future. The monkey is
uncontrolled, impure, because its outlook depends on its position in the tree,
just as my consciousness depends on karma. Consciousness is the mind, which
perceives the different aspects of objects.There are six kinds of
consciousness: those of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind.
Consciousness generates
name (mind) and form (body). These are symbolized by a man rowing a boat, and
show that to do so, many conditions such as the boat, the oarsman, the ocean,
etc., are necessary. Similarly, name and form could not exist without the five
skandhas (aggregates).The skandha of form (zug-kyi p’ung-po) is the fertilized
egg, and the skandhas of feeling (tsor-wä p’ung-po), of cognition (du-she kyi
p’ung-po), of compounded phenomena (volition) (du-j’e kyi p’ung-po) and of
consciousness (nam-she p’ung-po), inhabiting the fertilized egg, are the name.
Name and form generate
the six sense organs. This is symbolized by an empty house. From the distance
the house looks full and lived in, but it is empty. Similarly, the six sense
organs are empty because they are meaningless without an object.For the six
sense organs there are also six outer objects and six inner sense bases.
Six sense organs
generate contact. This is symbolized by the contact of a man and a woman, the
meeting of sense organs with their objects. There are six contacts.
Contact generates
feeling. This is symbolized by a man with an arrow in his eye, who is suffering
because of his contact with an object. Without contact there is no feeling;
therefore, if my mind is uncontrolled, I am better off to avoid contact with
objects that lead to more greed and further suffering. This is why Buddha, with
great compassion, made the rule that one should be well contained and have few
possessions.There are three kinds of feeling: suffering, happiness, and
indifference.
Contact and feeling
generate craving. This is symbolized by a man drinking wine. Just as this man’s
thirst is never satisfied, so the person deluded by greed is never satisfied
and craves more things. This greed ruins the present and many future lives.There
are three kinds of craving, and all cause suffering: desiring release from fear
and ugly objects, desiring no release from beautiful objects to which I am
attached, and attachment to the body, fearing loss of the "I" at
death.
9 Grasping (len-pa)
Craving generates
grasping. This is symbolized by a monkey picking fruit from a tree. Having
tasted one fruit, he clings to the tree for more and more. Grasping is created
by craving and procreates becoming, just as human beings grasp at and cling to
their physical bodies. This grasping causes greed, hatred and ignorance,
bringing much suffering.There are four kinds of grasping, all of which cause
suffering: attachment to beauty, attachment to wrong beliefs or doctrines—such
as the belief that karma, and past and future lives are non-existent—clinging
to the wrong conception of the self-existent "I," and holding the
belief that non-virtues, such as sacrificing living beings or using sexual
happiness, are pure methods of receiving liberation.
Grasping at the body
generates becoming. This is symbolized by a pregnant woman. The greater my attachment
to the physical body, the sooner will rebirth comes. The becoming caused by
ignorance is strengthened because craving and grasping conditioned it.There are
four kinds of becoming, all under the control of delusion and karma: the
becoming of rebirth, the becoming of death, the becoming of the intermediate
state, and the becoming of lifetime.
Becoming generates
rebirth. This is symbolized by a woman giving birth. The skandhas are
determined by delusion and karma, and determine the form of the present
rebirth.
There are four kinds of
rebirth: in the womb, from an egg, by heat, and intuitive, i.e., not needing
the bodies of parents.
Birth usually generates
old age. This is symbolized by an old man
walking with a cane. Becoming old is the result of delusion and karma. Birth or old age generates
death. This is symbolized by a corpse. Death ends the life and the round of
existence circles again. I do not desire suffering, so I must stop
circling in samsara. To do so I must overcome delusion and karma. Ignorance
leads to action, which leaves impressions on the consciousness. The results of
those may appear in this lifetime, the next, or in subsequent lives.
The complete round of
the twelve links of dependent origination may be completed in two or three
lifetimes. An example follows:
In this lifetime I
ignorantly create the karma for rebirth as a rat, this impression being left on
my consciousness. But for the rest of my life I give up attachment to the
samsaric life, become celibate and keep the precepts purely. So the craving,
grasping and becoming of the rat rebirth are interrupted by those of the
desired perfect human rebirth.
I reborn human, living
in perfect chance, and the seven results from the dependence of a perfect human
rebirth finish with this second life. But as this life is not spent in pure
practice, rebirth as a rat occurs because its craving, grasping and becoming
are now the strongest. In this life the dependence of the rat finishes.
Nagarjuna said:
Two
deluded actions (links 2 and 10) arise from three deluded causes (links 1, 8
and 9); seven uncontrolled results (links 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 12) arise from
those two deluded actions. Again three deluded causes arise from these seven
results. Such a wheel of life goes round and round.
By Sera je Lama Zopa Rinpoche 
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