Question

Can you expand on the concept of "simultaneity" of cause and effect?

 

Answer

Causality, the indissoluble link between cause and effect, is the central pillar on which the edifice of human knowledge rests. This maxim that everything has its reason for being has guided man in his quest for knowledge since the dawn of time. Religions nourish faith, philosophies question the mind, sciences scrutinise nature, but all draw from this inexhaustible source of causality. Only Buddhism, in its wisdom, accepts the narrow limits of time and space that restrict human understanding of this infinite chain of cause and effect. So man glimpses causality but cannot grasp its full scope. Like the blind man touching the elephant, he perceives only a tiny part of it.

 

I. Causality according to the external path

At the dawn of the Buddha's era, India was teeming with schools of thought in search of truth. So many sages answering the eternal question: where do we come from and where are we going? Theories abounded to shed light on the link between cause and effect that governs our destiny.

 

The sutras have transmitted this intellectual effervescence to us through the Six Masters of the Outer Way, the Thirty Great Masters of the Outer Way and the Seventy-two Erroneous Views, or the ninety-five kinds of Masters of the Outer Way listed by Nichiren Daishōnin in the Treatise that Opens the Eyes.

 

However, all of these ideas can be classified into three broad categories that clashed at the time and, from the point of view of Buddhism, are errors :

1)      Theory of causality by accumulation of acts (Shuku-sa in-setsu - 宿作因説), in other words fatalism, destiny; "it was written".

2)      Suggestion of the self-existent celestial Creator (jizaiten sōzō in-setsu - 自在天創造因説) in other words, theism, the divine will of an all-powerful Creator shaping the universe.

3)      The theory of the absence of causality (Muin muen setsu - 無因無縁説), in other words, the theory of coincidence, of chance in a world without causality.

The theory of causality through the accumulation of acts can be seen as a metaphysical conception encompassing fate and destiny. According to this theory, all elements, including the individual himself, are based on causes from previous lives. The present and the future are thus pre-determined by individual destinies.

Initially, this theory can be seen as a perceptive response to the insoluble question of the caste system that prevailed at the time. The question was why are some born Brahmins and priests, others kshatriyas (nobles) and vaishyas (merchants), while I am the only Shudra (slave)?

However, when this fatalistic perspective is modified to make room for the notion of divine will, it is transformed into (II) the theory of a self-existent celestial Creator, considering divine creation as the fundamental cause. In other words, everything and everyone is created by the absolute Supreme Being, who created himself. Whatever situation you are born into is entirely willed and accomplished by divine providence.

In contrast, (III) the theory of the absence of cause, or the theory of coincidence, presents a radically different perspective, considering the absence of a causal link.

This point of view ultimately rejects the principle of causality and argues for the absence of a causal law in the realm of human existence, whether in the present or in the future.

However, these three perspectives refuse to accept the causality inherent in the proactive actions undertaken by individuals. Indeed, the first theory, that of fatality and destiny, advocates complete abdication before fate, resulting in a loss of aspiration to improvement and elevation in real life.

On the other hand, with regard to the second point, that of divine will, if all events are determined by God's will, then human efforts, whatever their nature, become meaningless. If we attribute all our actions, whether good or bad, to the work of God, this is already a refutation of the principle of causality. Finally, the third perspective, that of coincidence and chance, which denies the impact of human efforts, is intrinsically in line with the contemporary thinking of non-believers.

This is why the venerated Shakya, who based his teachings on the postulate of causality leading to retribution, rejected these conceptions, describing them as perilous and erroneous. The teachings of the six masters and the outer path, which were rejected by the Buddha, were respectively aligned with or opposed to Brahmanism, but were all influenced by the sacred Brahman texts of the Rig Veda.

Within the Rig Veda, causal relationships are evoked, as transmitted by the three immortal figures Kapila, Uluka and Rsabha.

In his work entitled "The Treatise that Opens the Eyes", Nichiren Daishōnin expounds on these three eternals as follows:

"Kapila, Uluka and Rsabha are called the three hermits. (...) The ultimate principle taught by their doctrines is either the presence of the effect in the cause, or the absence of the effect in the cause, or both the presence and absence of the effect in the cause".

He went on to refute the teachings of the six masters affiliated with the external path, on the grounds that they failed to present the true nature of causality in a comprehensive way.

These concepts are truly difficult to understand. "The presence of the effect in the cause' means that, within the cause, the effect already exists. You may think that this is nothing extraordinary. However, causality according to the external path is fundamentally different from that of Buddhism. In Buddhism, an effect is not considered to be present in a single cause. Six causes and four conditions (Rokuin shien-六因四縁) are listed. Various causes (In) correlate with various effects (Ka), plus conditions (En). Causes and conditions exist in the synthetic interdependent relationship of various factors. This conception is different from the thinking of the external path, which considers that a single cause inevitably gives rise to a given element.

In other words, the external path is attached to "single cause" thinking. The primary origin of the cause is then "the self" (skt. Atman). As far as our own personality is concerned, this is the thought of the ego (Me, I...). In order to refute this "I" thought, Shakyamuni first taught emptiness.

Then we have "the absence of the effect in the cause", a thesis put forward by Uluka. He considered that everything has substance. He advocated the existence of an entity of phenomena. Each thing has a nature that gives it various functions. Among these, there are common concepts and particular concepts. In other words, he recognises similarity and difference which, according to certain unions, become phenomena.

Since he considers the original substance as the entity, it is for him the cause. He recognises no other cause. Finally, substance, the fruit of fundamental attachment to the self, creates the world of the dharmas of the universe, as well as all human beings.

However, the phenomena born of the origin have different natures. Their functions are also multiple. Phenomena are not necessarily identical. Take earth, for example. From this lump of earth, we can make a statue, or a pot, or a vase. So for a single cause, the way in which it manifests itself is indeterminate. For this reason, in the cause, there is no effect. He who has awakened to the first cause is the heaven of Brahma. This thought establishes Brahma as the substance to which we must return. This is Uluka's theory of the absence of effect in the cause.

As for the theory of "the presence or absence of effect in the cause", Rsabha is its initiator. He advocated various mortifications to reach an unspeakable point. For the outer path practising mortification, the body is the origin of illusion. Once we have torn ourselves away from the body, the pure, superior spirit appears. In other words, the illusion arises because our body is defiled.

So to free ourselves from illusion, we have to separate ourselves from the body. This is Rsabha's thought.

For people of our time, such a concept is hard to imagine.

(II) Practices on the external path.

The extreme ascetic practices of the six masters - immersing themselves in the Ganges three times a day, pulling out their hair, throwing themselves against rocks, fasting and immolating themselves by fire - were aimed at attaining ultimate truth.

These acts were part of the Brahmanic idea of the unity between Brahman, the founding cosmic principle, and the Atman, the individual essence. The human spirit was thus conceived as intrinsically good. The aim was to restore this original unity of self and divine.

However, according to this conception, the union of the mind with the body leads to an agitation of thought towards evil. The purpose of meditation was therefore to separate the mind from bodily influence in order to rediscover its original enlightened nature.

On the other hand, since the human body was seen as a composite of the elements earth, water, fire, wind and ether, its hold led to the wandering of the spirit; conversely, its weakening through mortification enabled the purification of the spirit and its liberation from bodily bondage.

However, these concepts are based on metaphysical absolutes, such as Brahman or the Self, to which everything relates.

Buddhism rejects these absolutes, which ignore dependent origination.

(III) Causality in Buddhism.

All things exist by relying on each other through relationships of cause and condition. This is what the Buddha realised under the Bodhi tree.

Buddhism attaches great importance to conditioned production and causality, but even if we talk about causality, it sets out six causes, four conditions and five effects, whose meanings are diverse and not uniform, as is the case with the external path. Various causes (In) thus correlate with various effects (Ka), to which are added the conditions (En).

I won't explain each of them here, but for example, one of the six causes is called "cause of different maturity" (i juku in - 異熟因). This is one of the laws of cause and effect of life in the three phases.

Quoting from the Sutra of Observing the Earth of the Heart in the Treatise that Opens the Eyes, Nichiren Daishōnin writes:

"If you want to know the causes of the past, look at the effects of the present. If you want to know the effects of the future, look at the causes of the present".

In other words, what we did in our past lives is the cause and manifests as good or bad effects and good or bad retribution in the present, and what we did in this life is the cause that leads to future effects.

In addition, Buddhism also teaches that the effect is included in the cause by the principle of "simultaneity of cause and effect" (inga guji - 因果倶時).

(IV) Simultaneity of cause and effect.

Having reached the original doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, this doctrine of cause and effect is extended by the doctrine of the original cause and effect of the fundamental Buddha of the infinite past.

In the Treatise on the Meaning of Substance (Tōtai gi Shō - 当体義抄), Nichiren Daishōnin calls the simultaneity of cause and effect an "inconceivable law". Indeed, he writes:

"The ultimate principle has no name. When the wise man, observing the principle, gave a name to everything, it was the unique, inconceivable Dharma of the simultaneity of cause and effect. Giving it a name, this was Myōhōrenge. This unique Law of Myōhōrenge contains all the three-thousand dharmas of the ten worlds, without a single one missing. He who practises (this single Law) can simultaneously obtain the cause of buddhahood and the effect of buddhahood. The wise man who took this Law as his master practised and awoke to the path. He simultaneously perceived the marvellous cause and the marvellous effect. This is why he became the Thus-Coming to the complete effect of marvellous awakening.

It should be remembered that the ultimate principle, what the Buddha awakened to, is described in the chapter on Virtuous Practices in the Sutra of the Infinite Senses in these terms:

"(...) His mind is extinguished, his consciousness annihilated, his thought also appeased ;

he has forever cut short erratic reasoning like a dream

and will no longer know the elements, aggregates, domains and sensory activities.

His body is neither existent nor non-existent,

it is neither caused nor conditioned, neither in itself nor for others, etc...".

The "ultimate principle" refers to the most profound natural principle, i.e. one that is devoid of artifice and presents the original aspect of the true principle. When the wise man sees this principle, he gives a name to everything, which means that the unique inconceivable Dharma of the simultaneity of cause and effect exists at the most fundamental moment, even before any naming. All things are therefore, as they are, the unique inconceivable Dharma of the simultaneity of cause and effect.

The simultaneity of cause and effect implies that the nine worlds are endowed, as they are, with the world of the Buddha and that the world of the Buddha possesses, as it is, the nine worlds. The foundation of this is the "One-thought" of the heart dharma. In other words, it's about our heart, about each one of us, it's about the inconceivable Dharma of the simultaneity of cause and effect.

So there is something respectable about the heart. That's why, as long as we have this heart, it's a great pity to get attached to insignificant things and go down the wrong path. Ladies and Gentlemen, the nine worlds and the world of the Buddha are present in your One Thought of the Dharma of the Heart. The Buddha's world is the effect and the nine worlds are the cause. The fact that we have cause and effect as they are represents the primary meaning of the simultaneity of cause and effect. Cause and effect being one and the same, is called the one inconceivable Law.

To give a concrete example of the simultaneity of cause and effect, the 67th High Priest Nikken Shōnin gave the following explanation of being reborn immediately, right from this body, without having to die, as a bodhisattva sprung from the earth when we practise Daimoku with faith in the Dai Gohonzon:

"In the first place, when the beings of the End of the Dharma, those who have absolutely no relationship with Buddhism, receive and keep the marvellous Dharma, recite the Daimoku and perform shakubuku, they are reborn into the life of Bodhisattvas sprung from the Earth. Consequently, the pure virtues of those who emerge from the earth, who have practised the marvellous Dharma since the inconceivably distant past of kuon, directly become the lives of these people and produce the marvellous virtues since the time of the inconceivably distant past of kuon. These are the inconceivable works and virtues of the marvellous Dharma".

 

大白法　平成27年1月16日刊（第901号）より転載