Bhikkhu Akiñcano: Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda)

Описание: Buddha-Talk, April 12, 2025 in English

“Whoever sees paṭiccasamuppāda sees the Dhamma. Whoever sees the Dhamma sees paṭiccasamuppāda.” (MN 28)

Paṭiccasamuppāda – however you're going to translate this word – is right at the heart of the Buddha's teaching. If you don't know what paṭiccasamuppāda is, then you don't know what the Dhamma is. So what is it? Well, it's not some abstruse, highly technical way of explaining the process of why our experience is the way it is. The Dhamma is not explanatory in this way. It is simply a way of seeing things, a way of regarding the basic, elemental facets of our experience. According to SN 12.41, it is “the noble method that has been correctly seen, correctly penetrated” by a noble disciple. Seeing paṭiccasamuppāda means attaining the right view.

In this talk, I won't be discussing the obvious suttas that describe paṭiccasamuppāda in terms of the usual twelve ‘links’. Instead I'll be showing you that there are many many more suttas that deal with this issue, even though the word ‘paṭiccasamuppāda’ isn't explicitly mentioned. In fact, since pretty much all the suttas aim to show you what the right view is, they're all, in some way, about paṭiccasamuppāda.

Bhikkhu Akiñcano (Nick Dwyer) was ordained as a monk in the Ajahn Chah tradition in England under Ajahn Amaro in 2014. Before entering the Buddhist order, he worked as a lecturer in English language and linguistics at the University of Brighton, UK. He currently lives in Sri Lanka, alone in a kuti in Bundala National Park near Hambantota. From there he also holds Dhamma courses via Zoom. He is the author of the books “Making Sense of Dhamma” and “Mit dem rechten Verstehen”, which can be ordered at https://www.pathpresspublications.com, as well as several scientific articles. For more information see: https://dhammastudies.thinkific.com