Question

Explain the doctrines of Anitya (impermanence) and “dependent origination” in Buddhism.

Answer 1

The concept of impermanence also known as "anitya" in Sanskrit and "anicca" in Pali represents one of the three characteristics of existence and beings in the school of Buddhism. The other two characteristics are suffering or "dukkha", and non-self or "anatman". Impermanence is the cornerstone of all the doctrines of the Buddhist school. It assumes that nothing that exists in the world is permanent and change is inevitable.

Furthermore, things or the objects present in the world change in primarily two ways. Firstly, they keep changing throughout time. Secondly, change does not happen in isolation. Every element in this world is influenced by the change in other elements. Due to this interdependence, all material or mental objects are in a continual state of change and are thus liable to decline and meet destruction at some time. Human life demonstrates this process in the cycle of continuous birth and death and ultimately everything decays and nothing remains. This is relevant for living beings in all realms.

Yet impermanence continues to remain a source of suffering as humans are not able to detach themselves from the materialistic realities and live under the misconception that things will remain constant and permanent.

Another key concept in Buddhist philosophy is the doctrine of Dependent Origination, translated as "Pratityasamutpada" in Sanskrit which postulates that all phenomena are interconnected and dependent upon each other. If one aspect exists then the other also exists and if one ceases then the other also ceases to exist.

In Buddhist philosophy, there is no contemplation or discussion about the first cause, rather Buddha stressed understanding the nature of things as they are presented instead of speculating the past and anticipating the future. Dependent origination is also closely associated with the philosophy of "Anatman" that states that the self is temporary and there is no sense of a permanent, autonomous self. Our self is a temporary element of consciousness, form, sensation, perception, and mental formations that arise and assemble in a way dependent on how the other phenomena operate.

There is a list of twelve links from the Buddhist teachings that describe how the doctrine of dependent origination works. These twelve links describe a series of causes that give rise to other causes. The twelve links are namely, ignorance, volitional formations; sensual consciousness; mind/body; six-fold sense bases; the contact between sense organs, sense objects, and consciousness; feelings; craving; attachment; becoming; birth; and old age and death. The twelve links are present on the outer boundary of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), which symbolically represents the cycle of samsara (world), often found on the walls of Tibetan temples and monasteries.

The doctrine of Dependent Origination is associated with many other principles such as karma and rebirth. Thus, understanding the principle of Dependent origination is essential to comprehending almost all the aspects of Buddhism.