certain logic to the succession of these things based on the principle of
karma. The river that flows past one now is not the same river that flowed a
minute ago insofar as the molecules of water are quite different ones from
those that flowed earlier. This also implied there was no permanent self (Pali:
anatta ̄or Sanskrit ana ̄ tman). Unlike the Upanis.adic sages, there was a denial
that there was a permanent cosmic essence (brahman) or an individual
manifestation of it (a ̄tman). What then constitutes a person? A person was
comprised entirely of matter, made of five aggregates known as skandhas.
Theseskandhas were commonly illustrated by the phenomenon of a
toothache: 1) in the tooth, there may be a cavity. This is a product of matter.
2) From the cavity arises pain or sensation – this is again derivative of the
matter and is not the product of some non-material entity that might be
called a spirit, soul or even mind (for the mind also is comprised of matter).
3) From the sensation of pain arises the perception that pain is occurring.
4) From the perception arises mental formations and ideations – an aware-
ness that one has a toothache. 5) From this ideation arises consciousness
- an awareness that one is a person feeling the pain of a toothache.
Why was this materialistic monism said to be unsatisfactory, even painful?
Of course, there is happiness but it is evanescent; ultimately, everything
is impermanent; the more time, money, energy invested in that which is
impermanent, the larger the disappointment when it is gone. Nothing lasts;
hence, the “bottom line” in Buddhist cosmology was that death was inevitable - that’s painful!
How did things get to be this way? The second formulation in the
Buddha’s framework was the idea of the “chain of dependent causation”
(pratı ̄tya-samutpa ̄da). A chain of twelve attributes were co-dependent and
endlessly successive, each leading to the next. In that chain were two links
which were particularly important as they marked points at which the chain
could be broken. One of these links was “thirst” (tr.s.n.a ̄; Pali: tan.ha ̄) – one’s
thirst, particularly for impermanent things, led to greater investment of
energy in such things and merely perpetuated the process. Such thirst could
not bring ultimate happiness and so was a basic problem of sentient beings.
The other important link (the twelfth in the chain) was ignorance (avidya ̄);
not knowing the true nature of existence, its impermanence and hence its
unsatisfactory character, merely served to keep the cycle going. If one could
address the problem of thirst and of ignorance, one might find liberation
and peace.
This was the third truth in the framework. There was indeed the possibility
of deliverance from the chain – it was known as nirva ̄n.a(Pa ̄li: nibba ̄na).
Nirva ̄n.ahas been variously understood, especially in the history of Western
interpretations; but early Buddhist texts were quite clear in indicating that
nirva ̄n.awas a “blowing out” (as of a candle); a “cessation of thirst”; no longer
The Early Urban Period 43