Cause, Condition and Circumstances

I still remember the day when I finally "got" the difference between the cause and condition and was then able to start looking into their relationship. It was like looking at one of those 3-D pictures made popular by Magic Eye, Inc. You keep looking and looking at first they make not sense. Then, all of a sudden, the hidden picture "pops" out. It’s right there and was always there. You just could not see it. You could not see the pattern.

For me, there were times when someone would give me some long and complicated discussion on emotions and it would not stick. I could not see the pattern. I could not get the picture. Finally, the right question came up during a teaching and my teacher explained to us what they meant by Cause and what they meant by Condition and/or Circumstances.

Cause and condition are commonly referred in one breath in teachings on karma, emotions, problems in life, etc. It seems that many teachers assume we know what they mean when they use these terms. I have found that many including me, really did not know what they were talking about. I want to use the emotion of anger to explain the difference and connection between cause and condition.

Let us say that I am driving down the highway anxious to get to movie. I am not late but I am quite focused on getting there as soon as possible. So right at this moment I am neutral emotionally...maybe a little anxious and excited. It is time for me to get over into the exit lane of the highway when all of a sudden a large 18-wheeler truck comes flying down the right lane. On top of that there is a very slow vehicle that has just pulled in front of me. I can't get over and have to slow down in order to avoid rear-ending the car in front of me. I become angry at how all of these people are driving tonight.

Anger is the emotion. However, what are the causes and what are the conditions?
The conditions or circumstances (really interchangeable terms) are the fact that I am on the highway trying to change lanes when these other vehicles prevent me from doing what I want to do.

The Cause is my thinking. The cause is always our Mind - our thinking. This is the bottom line. Cause = My Thinking! The conditions, the circumstances set up the situation for the emotional seed within us to sprout.

Why? Because there is nothing automatic about a truck driving down the road or someone changing lanes that creates anger. My thinking is the cause of the anger. It arose from my thinking only. Many different emotions could have arisen as the result of these circumstances. I could have laughed. I could have felt sorry for the slow driver. I could have realized that I have waited to long to change lanes. Oops! The 18-wheeler might have been just minding his own business driving under the speed limit.

The anger I experienced was not automatic and not part of the conditions or circumstances. I caused the anger!

A very important addition: If no seed of anger had existed within me, it would have been impossible for me to get angry. I see this in application when I spend time with a Vajrayana master. It seems that no matter what happens, they do not get angry, for example. Many Westerners like to allege that this is because they are hiding the emotion. But I can testify from my observation that the seeds of anger were not there!

There are two very important points that I try to remember:
First, I am always the cause of my emotions and feelings.
Second, it is not possible to experience an emotion when the seed do not exist.

Mind training in Vajrayana Buddhism is all about increasing the seeds of positive emotions and burning up the seeds of negative emotion. There are practice and methods to do this as well as practice to deal with a negative emotion once it "sprout." that part is a whole separate discussion.

The teachings of Vajrayana meditation master regularly refer to the cause and conditions of emotions, the cause and conditions of a situation. Every time I hear this I always remind myself that the "cause" is my mind and my thinking. Then the discussion makes sense. Remind myself: Cause = My Thinking.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff