This samsara has cause and effect and is given the lofty title, "Law of Dependent Origination", as explained by Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda in his book What Buddhists Believe (pages 141-147).
There is the example of a plant which is dependent upon good seed, earth, moisture, air and sunlight, to grow. So too, samsara is perpetuated by several things. The most notable is "ignorance of the Four Noble Truths" ( pages 144-145). You can peruse Burning Quest - Part 4 to learn of these.
One thing begetting another and another, is catalyst for present circumstances. The past has a bearing on the present and when a person is living in ignorance of causes and of the negative cycle, the effects will be worse.
According to Buddhist thinking, as one makes volitional choices/actions, they are not really all that volitional; more precisely, they are "conditioned volitions of karma". If you recall, at the instant of death, the mental current or continuum from the deceased is rebirthed into a new corruptible body of a person or creature, and so on. The consequences of behavior of the former being are culminated into subsequent ones. Behavior stemming from the good or bad and unwholesome thoughts of lives, even from eons past, generate karma for better or for worse in present lifetime, even extending into future lives.
This conditional happenstance stems from
"conditioned consciousness which begets conditioned mental and physical phenomena which beget conditioning of six faculties (the five senses plus the mind which Sri Dhammananda calls 'the sixth sense') which beget conditioned sensation leading to conditioned desire and 'thirst' begetting conditioned clinging which begets the conditioned process of becoming and in turn leads to conditioned birth, swinging the cycle back round to decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair",
only to face rebirth, again (pages 141-147). Calling this a "negative cycle," is well-termed.
This is indeed very dependent on former beings. How can one know, for sure, that if in this current life, one has paid, in full, for former behavior and quenched all desire? No matter how committed to the Eight Fold Path to Enlightenment a person is, could they truly be assured of putting a stop to this negative cycle and reaching Nirvana?
Sri Dhammananda says on page 145 of his book,
"At death, the volitional activities will condition what happens to the next person at rebirth when the consciousness is linked..."
How fortunate, or unfortunate for that new being.
Sri Dhammananda mentions multiple times that someone who is truly sincere about escaping this cycle needs to depend upon his/her self. He feels it's possible and that no outside help is required; one is accountable only to self to bring Nirvana to fruition for his or herself.
The question in my mind wonders, if the negative cycle goes back eons and eons and if even under hypnosis, one could recall all the bad that needed countering and overcoming, could one be sure one measured up?
If good happens to bad people and bad happens to good people, due to what happened previously and the consequences are suddenly and randomly forced upon the present life, again, can the person be truly sure all bases have been covered?
Human nature is very strong. Just think about the conditioned sensations. A person's natural bent is for beauty and pleasantness. This results in desires arising which develop very strong clinging and attachment to the desired object.
This causes the next life to be conditioned for these propensities, therefore, in turn, gives birth to Birth (Rebirth) and in turn, to Death, Sorrow, etc.
To reverse this, the Buddhist belief is that the Four Noble Truths need to govern the mind to discipline it. Cut off all extraneous desires, rather, any desire except the one desired desire of achieving Nirvana. This would end the ignorance and the "endless cycle of birth and death" ( page 147).
In Christ, when we focus on Him and our relationship with Him, He can fill our every longing of heart, soul and mind. In Him we can trust. The more we know Him and His ways and will, the more our negative desires will pale; even our positive desires will be superseded to follow Him, to be close to Him, the Giver of Life and the Keeper of our souls.
Let me give you a simple example. Think of God's injunction in Scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV) which reads...
"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?"
The follower of Jesus Christ is commanded and warned not to be yoked together with unbelievers. The unbelievers we know may well be pretty decent people but their foundation is not built on the same ground as a believer's and therefore perspectives, opinions and desires will likely be not according to God's standards and principles.
This could be true for a marriage as well as for a business partnership. How obedient is the child of God? Will he or she allow their allegiance to God their Heavenly Father to be their Guide and to dictate their choice?
My own earthly father reminded us kids regularly, from our young age up, of this verse. I did not like it one bit. There were times I was interested in guys who knew not Jesus as Savior. They were really nice guys. That verse "haunted" me. Yet because I was a child of God and wanted to please Him, I did choose to relinquish my desire regarding those particular chaps.
Was it an easy decision? No! I had strong desire to go my own way. But praise God, He helped me make a better choice to obey His Word. In the end God did bring a decent fellow into my life who also knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I married him.
In so doing, the relationship with God, my heavenly Father is strengthened. Not that God changed; His love, grace, mercy and care is ever present and available and never diminishes. It is the child of God who is often wavering in devotion and often pulls away from that relationship. He waits for us to return. This is the longing and attachment to which to cling.
On page 147 of his book, Sri Dhammananda talks about people not being able to comprehend "Dependent Origination"...
"people...not being able to see the truth (Four Noble Truths)...are always afflicted by sorrow--born into conditions...dismal and dreary, where confusing prolonged suffering prevails. And they do not know how to disentangle themselves to get out."
That statement "they do not know how to disentangle themselves" is so, so sad; heartbreaking.
Like a Ferris wheel that goes heedlessly round and round making the passengers sicker and sicker. How is one to jump off?
Sri Dhammananda encourages people to know the Four Nobel Truths and to engage the Eight-Fold Path to Enlightenment in order to get out of that cause and effect of unending, continuous negative cycle; to break that chain reaction of conditioned volitions of karma.
Pause here to read the following verse from the Bible, from Galatians 3:10...
"For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law to do them."
What does that Book of the Law refer to? If you peruse the Old Testament of the Bible, you'll observe that God gave His people, the children of Israel, the Ten Commandments among many other rules and regulations for governing daily living. Many know about the Ten Commandments. Obeying these is called living under the Law. With that Law came a blessing and a curse. If the Israelites could keep the law, they'd be blessed. If they could not, they'd be cursed (Deuteronomy 11:25-27; Deuteronomy 30:1, 15, 19).
Basically they were utter failures (Jeremiah 42:21).
When Jesus Christ came to earth, to die on the cross and shed His blood to buy pardon for anyone who wishes to accept His offer of salvation, He was being made a curse for us and through that He made atonement for us. When this offer is accepted then the clinging attachments and desires should have less influence in our lives and a person will be enabled to make those decisions that please God. This acceptance of salvation is energized by our faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ.
"...Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him...By faith..." (Hebrews 11:6, 7 ESV).
The Israelites of long ago, and all folks down throughout the annals of time up until today, were cursed and being held captive by their own sin, bad deeds and negative desires.
Galatians 3:22-26 (ESV) expounds on this...
"But Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So the, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith."
The Law restrained us similarly as road signs restrain the drivers on the road; restraint from sin and chaos. The Law also helped to show mankind their sinful nature and tried to 'fix' us but God had to show us how helpless and hopeless we are without Him. Not one single person other than Jesus Himself could keep those commandments 100%. No one single person other than Jesus Himself is without negative thoughts and clinging desires.
Praise the Lord, we no longer need the rules and regulations to get us off that 'Ferris wheel' of entanglement. Jesus is the answer to disentangling the entanglement.
I do not for one moment believe in Rebirth nor the Dependent Origination; it is not taught in the Bible. Mankind's depravity, yes. Mankind's need for atonement, yes. I acknowledge that life often does feel like one big endless round of struggle but the Bible does teach us that in Christ there is sure hope.
Jesus has provided the way out through His death and resurrection. He suffered the ultimate suffering on our behalf, so we could look forward to an eternity of peace, no more tears, no more suffering.
To break out of that endless round of striving; what joy and peace! There is a time that suffering will cease, to be forever, no more. There is only one lifetime for anyone here on earth. Praise the Lord. We can look forward to being "with Christ" to exist forever in peace, calm, and safety. One life only that we have had, on earth but a life of eternity awaits. That eternity spent in an incorruptible body in which we will still be recognized by those who have been blessed with God's salvation and have entered into His rest through faith in Jesus Christ.
He is the One we need to depend upon, in this present life, and for all eternity to come. Cling to Him.
To finish here I want to share a hymn called I Need Thee Every Hour sung by the Bill and Gloria Gaither singers.
~ERC 2018~
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