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The spiritual law of "Karma Pratityasamypadha" or the "Law of Causation or Dependent Origination" was the cornerstone for Siddhartha Gautama Buddha's teachings. During his "Discourse on Casual Relations", Buddha discussed the four characteristics of causation which are objectivity, necessity, invariability and conditionality. Although all things are impermanent, all occurrences in one’s life are conditioned by others and with a turn of the wheel then form conditions for other occurrences. One event, action, or reaction, results in an effect and that in turn causes other events, actions, and reactions. In order to get off the "Karmic Wheel one must initiate potent moral action in any moment of time so that one's skandhas will be properly configured. A person consists of the five skandhas of a bodily form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. At any given moment in time, Buddhists are an amalgam of these five groups. Any future blended patterns are the result of prior causations. Moral actions result in more propitious circumstances while wrongful acts lead to unfortunate conditions. This causal linkage continues from lifetime to lifetime until nirvana liberates one from the karmic cycles of rebirth. Creation and this universe are ever evolving. Everything goes through transitions, cyclic growth, and seasons of life. Impermanence and change are constant. All constituents of Being are transitory. People and physical objects come and go when one is enmeshed in samsara, the constant recycling of life energy due to residual karma. One's cravings, pleasure seeking activities, and lusty attempts to fulfill desires result in pain and keep one riveted to the road most traveled that of the treadmill cycles of karma and rebirth. This continual cycle of cravings, yearnings, and desires can never bring one happiness or peace. Birth, illness, death, sadness, depression, despair, grief, unfulfilled desires, yearnings, cravings, and contact with unpleasant things are all painful experiences which bring about suffering in one's life.
According to Siddhartha
Gautama Buddha, "Cessation of Suffering" was the way to
stop this unremitting pain in one's daily life, by eliminating these
cravings, yearnings, and desires through a conscious relinquishment of them or
deliberate non-attachment, forsaking, release, and abandonment.
Sermon in the Deer Park Depiction at Wat Chedi Liem in Thailand All constituents of Being then are painful until the Buddhist raises personal consciousness above suffering to a higher, more peaceful Buddhic state of Being which has been called by many "Enlightenment". In order to reach this state, Buddha taught that one must detach, let go of fleeting pleasures, personal property, emotional attachments and cords and chords that generate memories of intense emotions since all constituents of Being are lacking in Ego. Like a serviceable set of clothes, the physical biochemical shell, physical plane circumstances, surroundings, and possessions during any given lifetime have a certain timeframe of durability or usefulness before they wear out and become entrophic and need to be replaced by a new set of clothing to be used by the spiritual Self during its next incarnation. The Buddha pointed out the difference between the soul or spiritual Self and the personality, the personal self’s dharmic dance during a particular lifetime. The upward growth spiral "Path of Wisdom" for the "Spiritual Self" necessitates right views and right intention. This leads the Buddhist aspirant to cultivate the "Morality" of right speech, right action, and right livelihood.
When the "Path of Wisdom"
and "Morality" are synergized together through "Concentration" focalized on
right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration together they form the
foundation for "The Noble Eightfold Path" of Right Views, Right Intentions,
Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness
and Right Concentration. This path will eventually lead the Buddhist to
"Enlightenment" and "Nirvana" and the eventual cessation of all pain and all
suffering.
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