The Causes and Conditions for Sentient Beings to Pursue Liberation

 

Quotes:

"Mahanama! What are the causes and conditions for sentient beings to become pure? Mahanama! If the notion of form is always happy, is not suffering, is not accompanied by suffering, is not nurtured by worry, and is separate from suffering, sentient beings should not become disgusted because of form. Mahanama! Because the form is not always happy, is suffering, is accompanied by suffering, is nurtured by worry, and is not separate from suffering, sentient beings become weary of form. Because of weariness, dislike arises. Because of dislike, they attain liberation …. Mahanama! This is called sentient beings become pure because of causes and conditions."

Miscellaneous Āgama Sutras, Vol. 3

 

「摩訶男！何因、何緣眾 生清淨？摩訶男！若色一向是樂、非苦、非隨苦、非憂苦長養、離苦者，眾生不應因色而生厭離。摩訶男！以色非一向樂，是苦、隨苦、憂苦長養、不離苦，是故眾生厭離於色；厭故不樂，不樂故解脫……摩訶男！是名有因、有緣眾生清淨。」

《雜阿含經》卷3

Remarks:

The Buddha explained the notion of form, this dharma of matter (material). If it always brings about happiness, is always non-suffering, and is not nurtured in accord with suffering, sentient beings would not be weary of it. However, this form dharma does not always bring happiness, and sometimes it causes suffering, so it denotes suffering, it also grows along with suffering; therefore, it is nurtured by worry, and it is not separate from suffering. Because of this, sentient beings would become weary of the form dharma. Because they are weary, they would start to experience dislike. They dislike the form dharma, so they would pursue to be free from the form dharma and eventually attain liberation! By the same token, the Buddha said that sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness should be observed similarly. 

As aforementioned, sentient beings can attain purity due to these causes and conditions. In fact, the form dharma or the mind (mental) dharmas of sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness bring about both suffering and happiness. Naturally, sentient beings crave the part of happiness and delight, defilement and attachment are therefore generated! As a result of an unwillingness to get rid of greed, sentient beings thus transmigrate in the cycle of births and deaths endlessly. Given the dharma nature of the eighth consciousness, tathagatagarbha, and sentient beings’ greed for the five aggregates, the eighth consciousness (a.k.a. the eighth vijnana) will continuously generate the five aggregates, incessantly bringing forth a new life. 

Yet some of us also discover that this physical body does not always bring enjoyment; it is accompanied by suffering! For example, suffering from illness, fear of facing death, parting with dependents, and so forth. Therefore, we also experience that our physical body and mind are always accompanied by both suffering and happiness. As such, this mixture of feelings also repeatedly nurtures our physical body and mind. In light of observing this fact, some people would become weary of the form dharma and the mind dharma and then willing to pursue liberation.

Thus, the Sutra concludes that sentient beings become pure because of causes and conditions.

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