As phenomena grow clear
to the brahman–ardent, in jhāna–
his doubts all vanish
when he discerns
a phenomenon with its cause.
Notes
1. In the parallel passage at Mv.I.1.2, the Buddha gives attention to dependent co-arising in both forward and reverse order.
2. This hybrid word–clinging/sustenance–is a translation of the Pali term upādāna. Upādāna has a hybrid meaning because it is used to cover two sides of a physical process metaphorically applied to the mind: the act of clinging whereby a fire takes sustenance from a piece of fuel, together with the sustenance offered by the fuel. On the level of the mind, upādāna denotes both the act of clinging and the object clung to, which together give sustenance to the process of becoming and its attendant factors leading to suffering and stress. For more on this image and its implications for the practice, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound.
3. Notice that dependent co-arising (paṭicca samuppāda) is expressed in terms of processes–of events and actions–without reference to a framework containing those processes. In other words, it doesn’t mention the existence or non-existence of agents doing the actions, or of a framework in time and space in which these processes happen. Thus it makes possible a way of understanding the causes of suffering and stress without reference to the existence or non-existence of an “I” or an “other” responsible for those events. Instead, the events are viewed simply as events in the context of the process–a way of viewing that makes it possible to abandon clinging for any of these events, so as to bring suffering to an end. Even the idea of an “I” or an “other” is seen simply as part of the process (under the factors of fabrication and the sub-factor of attention under “name” in name-and-form). This is what makes possible the abandoning of any attachment to the conceit “I am,” as mentioned in Ud 2:1, 4:1, 6:6, and 7:1. In this way, the treatment of dependent co-arising in the first three udānas, while terse, actually sets the stage for understanding some of the more paradoxical teachings that appear later in the collection.
For a discussion of dependent co-arising in general, see The Shape of Suffering. For further discussion of its role in framing and abandoning thoughts of “I am,” see Skill in Questions, chapters 3 and 8.
Origin URL: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Ud/ud1_1.html