A book about Practical Paticcasamupadda.

Paticcasamupadda (Pratītyasamutpāda in sanskrit) is commonly translated as dependent origination, or dependent arising in English. It is a key doctrine shared by all schools of Buddhism.  

Its basic principle is that all things (dharmas, phenomena, principles) arise in dependence upon other things. It is a complex concept, subject to a large variety of explanations and interpretations. 

One of them is them is that it describes the process of a sentient being's rebirth in saṃsāra, and the resultant duḥkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness), due to  kamma accumulated during the previous life. 

I personally have doubts about this interpretation because it seems to imply the existence of an entity going on  on from one life to an other one. This would be in contradiction with the principle of Anatta. But what do I know ? 

I am nevertheless convinced  that Paticca samupadda can be  very useful tool for practice, (otherwise I would not spend time studying it)  if you consider

 

An other interpretation is that Paticcasamupadda actually describes the arising of mental processes and the resultant notion of "I" and "mine" that leads to grasping and suffering. It is then very useful to figure out how we can stop the process, once we understand how it applies to the “birth” and “death” of our daily feelings and emotions. This is well taught by Buddhadasa Bikkhu. in his work "Paticcasamuppada: Practical Dependent Origination".

However, even if I have reservation about the 3 lives interpretation, i found out that most of what has been written about it can also be used to help us improve our daily lives and the world around us. 

This is the reason why I edited the book "Dynamic psychology of Early Buddhism" by Rune E. A. Johansson from a low quality scan. I found this book quite beneficial for my own understanding and practice.

You can download this book for free at : 

https://www.academia.edu/144352118/The_Dynamic_Psychology_of_Early_Buddhism

Although I did everything I could to make sure the English text would be accurate, I cannot guarantee that the Pali quotes (in italic) are, as they weresometimes hard to read on the original scan and because I could not always and did not want to waste too much time reproducing some of the accents and marks of the Pali script.

The numbers on the right side of some of the pages are references to the pagination of the original book. 

I hope this is useful for your practice. 

You can download the original I worked from at 

https://archive.org/details/dynamicpsycholog0000joha

People Are Lazy: A Tragicomedy in Three Acts

People are lazy. This is not an opinion; it is a scientific fact, as obvious as gravity or the existence of bad television. Give them a task requiring discipline, patience, and effort, and watch them wither like a houseplant in the hands of an absent-minded teenager.

Take meditation, for example. The practice is designed to cultivate inner peace and clarity. What do people do with it? They yawn, they fidget, they look at their watches as if enlightenment were a pizza delivery overdue. "It’s boring," they say, mistaking their own inability to sit still for a flaw in the practice. No, dear friends, meditation is not boring—you are simply too used to having the intellectual lifespan of a goldfish scrolling through cat videos.

Taisen Desshimaru brought Zen to Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, let’s take Martial Arts, Karate for example, the martial art of discipline, respect and manners and - let’s be honest—the main reason most eight-year-olds enroll: the vague hope of becoming a ninja. But then, tragedy strikes. They discover that, before they can unleash a flying kick worthy of a Hollywood stuntman, they must first repeat the same basic movements a thousand times. Aghast, they cry out, "This isn’t fun!" No, of course not. If it were, it would be called "Karate: The Theme Park Ride" and come with a free balloon.

 

Katsuoh Yamamoto, founder of Yoshukai karate

 

Now, let’s take this grand refusal of effort to its logical conclusion. Imagine, if you will, a group of young soldiers in basic training. They are learning to march, to follow orders, to react instinctively under pressure. But alas! They are bored. "Do we really have to practice this again?" they whine, as if the enemy would kindly pause mid-battle to let them refresh their memory. "This is repetitive," they complain, moments before getting shot because they never quite mastered the art of ducking. War, you see, is not tailored for those who lose interest when things get monotonous. The battlefield is not an amusement park; there are no snack breaks between bullets...

 

Soldiers of Ukraine's National Guard 1st Brigade hold combat training in northern Ukraine.

 

The problem is not that training is boring. The problem is that we have raised entire generations who expect life to be a non-stop festival of entertainment. But real mastery—whether of the mind, the body, or the battlefield—requires effort, repetition, and the ability to endure boredom without dissolving into a puddle of existential despair.

 

 

So, dear reader, the next time you find yourself sighing at the tediousness of practice, remember this: somewhere out there, a soldier is drilling the same movement for the thousandth time, a pianist is playing the same scale again and again, and a true martial artist is perfecting a single strike until it becomes second nature. Meanwhile, you are bored. Perhaps the problem is not the practice. Perhaps the problem… is you.