..續本文上一頁ithin the framework of laws set for the turning of the wheel, a hope repeatedly disappointed. The present version of dependent arising delineates a type of development that only becomes possible when this hope has been dispensed with. It hinges on the prior recognition that any attempt to eliminate suffering through the gratification of craving is doomed to failure, and that the only way to stop it is to cut through the vicious nexus at its base. Though the movement it describes is still cyclic, it is not the circular revolution of Samsara it is concerned with but a different kind of rotation that only comes into play when the essentially defective nature of the ordinary human condition has been clearly perceived and the urge towards liberation from it made the dominant motive of the inner life. The present sequence depicts the movement towards release. It sets forth a drive which, in contrast to the pointless repetition of samsára, evolves up and outwards in an unbroken spiral ascent -- a pattern in which each turn supports and strengthens its successor”s capacity for liberation, enabling the series as a whole to pick up the momentum needed to break the gravitational pull of the mundane sphere. Since all the phases in this progression arise in dependence on their antecedents, the series represents a dependent arising. But unlike the familiar version of dependent arising, the present version leads, not back to the round of becoming, but to the overcoming of samsára and all its attendant sufferings. Hence the Nettippakarana calls this sequence "transcendental dependent arising" (lokuttara paticcasamuppada) -- a dependent arising that leads to the transcendence of the world. [5]

　　The Sutta we will investigate here for an account of "transcendental dependent arising, is the Upanisa Sutta of the Nidanasamyutta (SN. XI.I No. 23). In addition to giving a clear, explicit account of the conditional structure of the liberative progression, this Sutta has the further advantage of bringing the supra-mundane form of dependent arising into immediate connection with its familiar samsaric counterpart. By making this connection it brings into prominence the comprehensive character of the principle of conditionality -- its ability to support and explain both the process of compulsive involvement which is the origin of suffering and the process of disengagement which leads to deliverance from suffering. Thereby it reveals dependent arising to be the key to the unity and coherence of the Buddha”s teaching. When the Buddha declares, "I teach only suffering and the cessation of suffering,"[6] the bond which unites these two terminals of the doctrine as complementary sides of a single, internally consistent system is simply the law of dependent arising.

　　The Upanisa Sutta gives three expositions of "transcendental dependent arising." The first expounds the sequence in reverse order, beginning with the last link in the series, the knowledge of the destruction of the cankers (asavakkhaye ñana), and tracing the chain backwards to the first link in the liberative sequence, namely, faith. At this point it crosses over to the mundane order, explaining faith as arising through suffering, suffering as conditioned by birth, birth as conditioned by existence, and so on back through the familiar links to ignorance as the first member of the chain. After completing the reverse exposition, the Buddha then expounds the same series in forward order, beginning with ignorance and following through to the knowledge of destruction. This he does twice, in exactly the same way, once before and once after the striking simile comparing the sequential origination of the factors to the gradual descent of rainfall from a mountain, through the graded ponds, lakes, streams…

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