Arising and Liberation

A being comes into existence through four combined forces: the force of Buddha, the force of the universe, the force of karma, and the force of citta (mind). Once a being has arisen, the very first thing it senses is its own Buddha-nature. But because it cannot recognise what that nature actually is, it keeps generating new streams of mind, life after life, searching for that recognition. Within the domain of citta, a being is on a journey of searching for this recognition. Along the way, various pleasures come to it. For a time it enjoys those pleasures, but because what it originally sensed as its Buddha-nature is not the same as the pleasure it is experiencing, it eventually moves past that pleasure and starts searching again. Again and again, what it encounters are pleasures rooted in the five senses. Instead of the thing it was originally searching for within its first citta-nature, it keeps getting redirected toward a search for pleasures. A being's journey eventually reaches its end only by encountering the reality called Buddha.

How Arising Happens

Even in this very moment, a being is arising. What we perceive is simply due to the combining of material components. As light, appearing as a manifestation of Buddha's teaching, is centred on the sun and spreads across the solar system, so too is there a natural law distinct from the four great elements. The division, distribution and various patterns of expression of the four great elements are all empowered by this field of light. These conditions combining together is what causes appearance to occur — much like "it appears because light fell on it." But what a Buddha's eye sees is not what another person's eye sees. At the very point a being arises, a certain force of citta arises within that domain, disappears, and arises again. On this basis, again and again, beingness is constructed anew. A being exists on the karma-path. That very arising and ceasing is the process underway. This isn't about the sense of "I" — even acknowledging that sense, we know it doesn't persist the way we'd like. When one crosses beyond samsara, what happens is stepping off the karma-path — much like stepping off a road one has been walking on.

What happens here is the untying, at a very subtle level, of the underlying tendencies (anusaya) — the defilements clinging like fine residue. This happens at a stage beyond the fruit of once-returning (sakadagami). To remove them, one cannot work merely from within meditative absorptions (samapatti) or concentration (samadhi) — one needs guidance on the path itself. In the approach of fulfilling causes (hetu purnaya), where bodhi is attained through bodhichitta, none of this applies in the same way.

The Limits of Proof

If someone says, "prove that there is a person called 'me,'" that cannot be proven. Yet it is a directly evident fact, for everyone, that something happens within us beyond our control. It's clear this is some kind of system or process. We respond to what arises from it; from that, both we and it generate further conditions. The next moment arises out of both of these events together. It isn't correct to say that this system merely controls us — that would be closer to a theistic notion. This is what is called the relative, entangled process of evolution.

Once free of this web of karma, there is something one feels that cannot be denied: the sense of continuity (existence) stops being felt. One cannot go on holding onto one thing and moving forward indefinitely. It naturally releases. The reason is that the one who had been pulling the cart is no longer there.

There are cases where sperm and egg combine yet life does not arise. Yet according to the underlying law, the natural process still occurs. If the material combination forms, life-appearance occurs. What a Buddha perceives as "life" is not what a being perceives as "life." On causes fulfilled in this moment, the next moment arises. On causes built within that, the next result arises. That is samsara.

Craving and the Bond With Nature

A being's continuity exists within nature. Non-continuity exists within Buddha. Nature shows a being the pleasurable side of continuity. Buddha-nature shows the suffering of samsara and frees the being from it.

A being can only reach nirvana by exhausting karma. Karma is a law operating in the universe — a force capable of attracting and repelling energies. Wherever a being is drawn to something, or repelled by something, karma is active there. In a purely passive state, karma does not operate.

Karma operates on the mechanism of beingness in several ways. Karma acting on consciousness gives rise to name-and-form (nama-rupa). Karma acting on name-and-form gives rise to the six sense-bases. Karma acting on feeling builds up the sense of "I." Karma that begins operating from the birth of beingness builds the mind. From the identity habituated since childhood — one's name, one's village — the mind forms, centred on that identity.

Within beingness, karma operates most powerfully through craving (tanha). Craving is the natural law that binds a being to nature. Because of this bond with nature, continuity arises within a being. Because craving binds a being to nature, the being wanders in samsara. Craving too is a law operating within nature. The very moment the first life arises in the universe, that being becomes bound to nature through craving. Through this, matter itself is also formed. The mechanism that connects a being to nature, generating continuity, works through craving. The entire system is sustained by karma operating on craving. Karma operating on consciousness, on the sense of self, on the mind, is not nearly as complex as karma operating on craving. To exhaust karma operating on craving, the arising of the reality called Buddha — free from nature, from karma, and from beingness — is essential.

The factor that gives rise to samsara operates at a level deeper than the mental. It cannot simply be said to be within reach of the mind. Craving is something woven together within the arisings of the mind itself. The craving present in the universe can be captured only by someone who has cultivated Buddha-wisdom to its highest degree. Craving is something present within nature, gifted to a being as an inherited portion. For someone who has cultivated the bases of psychic power, this craving — where nature and the being meet — becomes graspable. The desire to drink a cup of tea, for instance, is just a small byproduct of this craving. Once a being encounters the craving present in nature, it uses that craving in various ways — just as language, once received by several people, gets used differently by each. The path to seeing nirvana is one way of releasing oneself from this craving. Buddha-wisdom can break the connection between the craving present in nature and the portion of craving present in a being. Then the craving giving rise to samsara ceases. But the being does not know this. It doesn't know it has been freed from samsara. Yet there has to be a cause for that to happen — a cause built up across samsara. Not every arahant, and not every instance of craving, is brought to cessation.

The Nature of Liberation

Freeing all beings from the bond of craving that ties them to nature is an extremely complex undertaking. It does not happen automatically or spontaneously. Buddha is the reality that has fully understood the mechanisms of nature and beingness, and has become free of both, along with karma. A being's liberation can occur in various ways through that reality.

The entanglement created by craving binding a being to nature can, through the arising of Buddha within a being, be turned toward Buddha — and through connecting with Buddha from within, a being can be released from nature. In this, the karma feeding the craving that binds a being to nature is exhausted through Buddha. Because Buddha is pure, Buddha has the capacity to purify a being's karma and exhaust it completely. Gautama Buddha caused Buddha to arise within beings by helping them understand a Dhamma never heard before. Maitriya Buddha's method is to awaken Buddha within beings through the sincere purity that arises from within Maitriya's own inner depths.

What is distinctive about Maitriya Buddha is purity free of karma. Maitriya is a Buddha who can see a being's karma-path beyond karma itself, and can free a being from that karma-path. "Maitriya Buddha became purified, free from karma" refers to exactly this. Gautama Buddha's corresponding quality was described as "having cut the wheel of samsara."

A Buddha's arising happens according to a particular mechanism. In the present moment, the reality called Maitriya Buddha arises relative to a being, through that being's own causes. "Being caught by karma, and being unable to exhaust that karma" — this is what gives rise to the reality called Maitriya Buddha. In other words, Maitriya Buddha is the complementary fulfilment of wholesome karmic results that a being cannot bring about by itself. All Buddhas arise upon this same mechanism — completing what is lacking in a being. Its root lies in the cultivation of the bases of psychic power, that is, cultivation relative to beings. The underlying truth within that is: all beings are contained within Buddha. In other words, the part of yourself you have not yet seen exists within Buddha. If you let go of yourself for the sake of Buddha, what you have let go of is, in truth, let go for your own sake. Through that, cause and merit are fulfilled. If you trust Buddha, what you trust is, in truth, yourself. Through that, faith is fulfilled. If you see through Buddha, what you see is, in truth, yourself. Through that, wisdom is fulfilled.