What is Dharma?

Introduction

Dharma is the set of foundational truths that the Buddha discovered two and a half millennia ago. They are not creations but foundations.

The Dharmic Truths are simple, profound and are realised at all levels of reality from the atoms at the big bang to the moral and mental realities of human experience. They can be succinctly stated in the doctrine that:

All things are consistent, impermanent, empty and negative.

This short essay is about these truths and how they affect reality and human experience. It will be philosophical not esoteric and, I hope, it will be accessible for all wish to contemplate these truths and their effects.

The ultimate genius of the Buddha wasn’t to discover the Dharmic Truths[1] but to see how they conditioned human experience and how human effort could reduce or remove this conditioning. It is this endeavour that most of Buddhism and most Buddhists focus on, it’s a noble effort, where the real work of maximising peace, truth and happiness take place.

This essay focuses more on the ontology[2] of Dharma and the metaphysical truths that the Dharmic truths entail at higher levels of reality such as causation, mind and morality. In a sense it is an attempt to show not just that Dharma is truth but why Dharma is truth.

The Systems View

When I first started studying Dharma I soon saw that when you move from the empirical down into the underlying foundations of the Dharma the view point that worked best for me was the Systems Viewpoint, seeing things as systems not objects.  For nearly a decade this is how I have seen Dharma and reality and – though many Buddhists may disagree – I find it is the way to see Dharma clearly.

The systems view sees the world not as containing independent objects with properties, but rather as a hierocracy of interconnected systems.  As systems become more complex new properties emerge. As they become simpler, emergent properties vanish. But at every point there is a continuum of consistency between systems.

For example, The molecules of water in your eyes are systems; they have structure and causation and relationships with other molecules.  Your eyes themselves are systems with structure and causation and relation.  Your vision of this bold word is, for a moment, a system.  As is your memory of this sentence as it is held in your brain or the way you may speak with others about this essay.  Though you contain countless systems from molecules to memories you are also a part of countless systems. From your relationships and tax history to your infinite insignificance in this universe of ours. This view sees all contingent[3] things as systems not objects.

The Systems View, since the last century, has been the predominant view in science. It is backed up by reason and evidence from the largest to the smallest, the moist simple to the most complex and emergent. We can never know from the Sutras if the Buddha was a systems theorist but, by applying the Systems View to Dharma, we can see how perfectly they compliment.

Let us now look into Dharma with the view of reality as being composed of systems in relation rather than independent objects with properties.

The Dharmic Truths

There are many Dharmic truths at all levels of Abstraction, for example,  the  egolessness of mind or the idea that kind actions are more likely to have positive effects than negative. These more abstract truths are dependent upon the Four Dharmic Truths below.  It is so essential to understand Dharma to understand these foundational truths.

Dharmic Truth One: All systems are consistent

Consistency is the foundational truth of all systems. There can be no contradictions within any possible universe [4].

This Dharmic Truth, that in the Western philosophy has been called The Law of Noncontradiction since the time of the Buddha  isn’t explicitly stated in the  Buddhist texts. In fact  some of the later scriptures seem to actively endorse the possibility of contradiction[5].

I believe, simply and absolutely, that the consistency of all things is the prerequisite to any account of reality.  You can see this with Dharma because as soon as you allow the possibility of contradiction, as with  Western Logic, the whole structure collapses into nonsense.

Without this grounding Law of consistency there cannot be reason or foundation. There could not be Dharma.

Dharmic Truth Two:  All systems are impermanent

In a universe that has change it follows all things must change. That is, there cannot be the immutable with the mutable.  As with consistency, the Ancient Greek philosophers had apprehended this law, though not all believed in it and certainly its impact on human experience wasn’t apprehended.

The Buddha’s understanding of impermanence expanded on the mere logical/ontological into every corner of reality and possibility. On its own the idea that all systems change is almost trite such is its obviousness, but in the context of the other Dharmic truths and their emergent effects on our experiences, it is the most important truth we can know.

Dharmic Truth Three:  All systems are empty

In a universe composed of  interconnected and impermanent systems there is no sense in which anything can be said to exist independently of anything else. There are no edges, no objects.

From anywhere in reality, if you look upwards and outwards this interconnectedness of systems can be seen clearly. But... when you look downwards, into the subsystem, this interconnectedness is apprehended differently; it’s apprehended as emptiness.

To see this, consider any object, physical or conceptual. Maybe it’s the pen in your pocket or the unicorn that isn’t behind you. All objects will be part of a containing and interconnected reality. The pen in your pocket is connected to the big bang and, in abstract senses, to my love of avocadoes. If it was true at the big bang that I would love avocadoes at the same time as your having a pen in your pocket, then it is true at all times and points of the universe. This is not the only connection but it is the necessary connection of all things, that of consistency.

When we look outside of the pen in your pocket we see this connection, but when we look inside it, the very same truths become realised as emptiness. Every point of your pen is contingent to the pen, it could be negated and the pen would still be the pen. Also, every point of your pen, contains points in the same relationship as to the pen. The nib contains points and those points contain points, right down to whatever it is we cannot speak about [6].

Emptiness and Interconnectedness are the same Dharmic truth applied in different directions of the hierarchy of reality.  The Buddha was the first to see this profound truth and how it conditions reality and experience.

Dharmic Truth Four:  All systems are inevitably negative.

This Dharmic Truth is, at higher levels of abstraction, the most renowned concept of Buddhism, Dukka[7]. What the Buddha saw was why this truth is true.  Consider these three points:

1) Systems are immeasurably rare.

If you think about the cosmic chances of you reading this essay they are immeasurably small. To be here on this planet, as evolved life, with evolved emergent mental states and the internet etc... That’s rare enough, but that kind of probabilistic scarcity is dwarfed by the chances that this universe could exist out of the countless possible universes in which the laws and initial conditions would never allow such things as essay and readers.

Out of the logically possible alternatives, a system such this awesomely improbable, yet here we are.  Existence is the rarest state, it has a raw ontological value. Existence is the only real value. All other values are emergent, this is perhaps an awkward point to grasp, but it is much harder to refute.

2) All systems will end.

We know this from the Dharmic Truth of Impermanence.

3) All systems have no inherent value.

We know from emptiness that there are no things with properties. Nothing can have an inherent property and thus nothing can have an inherent value except for the raw ontological value of existence.

These three points, together, verify or entail[8] the truth that all systems will inevitably tend towards nonexistence and thus tend from the positive to the negative.

I think it is important not to get tied up too much in the application of a value term like “negativity” to prime ontological elements. The point is that the Truth of negativity, when applied to more complex and abstracted mental/moral/social systems, will be realised in terms of negativity as we more commonly understand it. For example, there was no suffering at the Big bang, but the Dharmic reality was in place at that and all points that when there were sufficiently complex emerged systems there would be suffering;  when life evolves enough to be sentient, self-aware, emotive, evaluative etc then this inevitable negative  will emerge as negative experience.

These Four Dharmic Truths are true of all possible systems. All possible systems are consistent, impermanent, empty and negative. This is the foundation of Dharma, the rest of this essay looks at the Dharma the Buddha build upon this foundation.

Dharmic Causation: Dependent Origination

The Dharmic causal framework is simple and sophisticated and perfectly in tune with current understandings of science and philosophy. It is a many to many framework that I think it can be clearly summarised as:

All causes have many effects. All effects have many causes. All causes are effects.

We saw in the discussion of the Dharmic Truth of Emptiness how all points in any reality are connected by consistency. This moment is connected by consistency to the other side of the universe, even if it could never be connected in any physical or cause/effect sense.[9]

All of these logical connections form the totality of reality. The Dharmic Causal framework operates within this totality in that it is a reduced (though still immense) set of the logical connections that are the possible causal connections.

As an illustration, consider the consistent connections of reality making a vast grid of countless points of possibility and the casual connections making countless branching paths through this grid of possibility.  All causal connections will be logical connections but not all logical connections will be causal. Every event within this grid will be root, trunk and branch, connected in all possible directions with countless other events, that are likewise, root, trunk and branch themselves.

When we look at reality and see the various domains[10] of things in the world, the physical, mental, aesthetic, moral and metaphysical, this many to many causation must, because there are only systems, cross over these domains. Mental events have moral and physical effects. Physical events have qualitative effects in experience. For any domains you care to consider, there will be the possibility of causal connections between them.

The Buddha saw this clearly and, importantly he saw that relevant to human experience there will inevitably be a cycle feedback between the domains of experience. Its this cycle, as we shall see, that it is the task of the practice of Dharma to halt. But for now what is crucial to see is how the many to many nature of causation means that we cannot know for any cause where in time, space, possibility and domain its effects will be found.

Dharmic Moral Causation: Karma

Whereas the Dharmic causal framework was a subset of the consistency connections between all possibilities, the Karmic Framework is a subset of this causal framework that applies to the mental, moral, social domains.

I think it makes sense to use probability when thinking about Karma. This way we can say statements like, “Moral causes will have moral effects” or “Mental effects will have mental causes”. But because of the interconnectedness of all systems as with “normal” causation with Karmic causation there is also going to be crossover, so mental events may have moral effects or moral causes may have aesthetic effects and so on.

The reality of Karma is that this many to many causation between domains will also follow truth that the moral or mental value of actions will be passed on into these causal connections.  Negative Moral actions will have negative moral, mental, physical... effects.

Positive moral actions will have positive moral, mental, physical effects. I don’t see these connections as necessary but rather probabilistic, as in compassion is probably more likely to have positive effects than negative effects.[11]

This is Karma, it is not magic or esoteric, its about the moral causation and the emergent values of experience.

Dharmic Theory of Mind

The Dharmic Theory of mind is simple and compelling and becoming ever more backed up by science. I think the essence is clearly summed up by the statement:

There is no thinker, only thoughts.

This is Egolessness. It is the Dharmic Truth of Emptiness as it conditions the mind and experience. This does not mean that there is not the illusion of some Cartesian ego within my mind, in fact much of the Path of  Dharma is understanding and eradicating this illusion. But what The Buddha does in addition to seeing egolessness proceed to determine what our minds are outside of this illusion of ego.

Clearly, there is something to mind, he saw, and then went to state what it is. What is the mind if not ego and self?

The answer that the Buddha gives to this is that the mind is empty, it is nothing but the causal interconnectivity between types of mental and physical events. There are events in the physical world external to the mind. There are the effects these events have in terms of sensation, perception, recollection. There are the reaction to these events in terms of choices, thoughts, intentions and emotions[12]

These loose domains of mentality are the stuff that makes up the mind but something is missing, that is the experience of these changing events. This experience is simply the flowing realisation of all of the above aggregate events at any given moment. This is consciousness[13], the aggregate of mental effects and causes as they come consistently into and out of existence.

An understanding of the Dharmic Mind, the thoughts without thinker, is absolutely crucial to understanding egloessness (The emptiness of mind).  And without an understanding of egolessness, according to Dharma, one cannot fruitfully practice Dharma.

Dharmic Morality

Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, Shinto, Sikhism and  Sufism have as Moral Cornerstones The Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31). Buddhism likewise has its version of The Golden Rule. As do Humanists and probably anyone who isn’t morally impoverished or “evil.”

Dharma, however, seems to offer an explanation as to why The Golden Rule is seems so self evident without recourse to divine decree or assumed natural moral law. In purely individual terms the reason why we should act in accordance to The Golden Rule is because of the Karmic effects of our actions. Its not so much that the rule must be followed as if it is not followed there will inevitably be negative Karmic effects.  But there is something missing in this view, which reduces to altruism for selfish reasons, and this is where Buddhism profoundly diverges from other moralities.

Dharmic Morality is not based a conflict between self and other that must be resolved by what is essentially a moral trade off.  Rather, by showing the illusionary nature of self and other, and the possible interconnectedness of all moral/mental systems, the reason that actions “should be good” is to maximise the positivity of the whole system, not these illusionary egos of ours.

When seen in this way Dharmic moral choices become less about reactions and effects and more about the choices themselves and the Karmic effects that can never be seen before the choice is made. It is a morality based not just on doing but on being, on the intention rather than the action.

This morality permeates throughout the whole of Dharma. There is a moral value to the contemplation of reality in the same way as there is a moral value to not driving selfishly. When there are no edges, the effects of our actions can be immense even if they go unnoticed unseen.

Dharma Practice

The Dharmic Truths are true of all possible consistent universes. They form a consistent, self-supporting philosophical doctrine that reaches from the most simple to the most complex.  For me, and I think all Buddhist’s, where these Truths really shine their enlightening light is how they condition our experience. The most profound realisation of The Buddha wasn’t metaphysical, it was how the metaphysical conditions our lives and how our lives can be changed to condition themselves.

The Buddha showed that the negativity we experience in our lives is not accidental. It’s not merely that “life is unfair” but rather it is an inevitable negativity. It’s root causes are the very foundations of Dharma; consistency, impermanence and emptiness/interconnectedness. These truths that are true of all systems will, when apprehended by our human minds have negative effects across all of our experiences.

Problem

The higher we get in abstraction the more acute the negativity becomes. We are here because we want to survive but we know can’t survive for long. We want to be special because we know we are special -  we feel so special - but that is just the illusionary ego begging to be real. We want things but when we have them their value instantly diminishes... and diminishes.  We want more things and different things... gulping for the real and the important in a torrent diminishing returns. Onwards and onwards this cycle of desire for “more than this” can never be satisfied because, foundationally, there never can be “more than this”.

Cause of Problem

We are constantly drowning in this cycle of desires and delusion.

The Buddha saw this clearly in his interactions, contemplations and mediations, but moreover he saw there was a real and workable solution to this cycle of negativity. The solution was not to try to satisfy the negative cycles but to extinguish them. The solution was not to pander to the desires and delusions of ego but to dive in and pull the plug on the entire maelstrom of inevitable negativity.

Solution to Problem

The action that must be taken, The Buddha saw,  is to confront head on the illusions of ego, persistence,  object and “more than this” , to understand and end them. When the ignorance of the illusions and delusions is eradicated the self-arising cycle of negativity cannot continue. The cravings for “more than this” become pointless and unable to grasp or be grasped.  All that remains is the wonderful, rare and transient present moment of experience. This “Now” we all share but seem conditioned by ignorance to see as trivial, when the Now is all there is.

But knowing the solution is not enough, The Buddha saw. That will not diminish the causes, rather, effort and action needs to be taken to confront the realisation of what is known.

Practicing  The Solution

The Buddha saw that the cycle of negativity was inevitable but not necessary. He saw its causes and  he realised that without the causes the self-arising cycle could be halted. These are the first three of the Four Noble Truths.  The final cornerstone of Dharma is the actual method that The Buddha proposed to extinguish the causes of the cycle of Negativity. This method requires an assault against the illusions and ignorance on all fronts.

The ignorance can be ended by understanding the Dharmic truths and seeing how they could not make our experience different to the inevitable. The illusion of ego can be extinguished by understanding the nature of our thoughts and their relation to the world and its causation and necessities.  The negativity of experience can be negated by the positivity of the moral and mental efforts we can make within ourselves and with others.

The ultimate insight of the Buddha, The Forth Noble Truth, was to clearly see and signpost the path that leads from ignorance right through the reality and causes of negativity all the way to positivity of the egoless now. This path the Buddha divided into eight strands that together comprise the philosophical, moral, social and personal journey one can make away from the inevitable negative.

This Noble Eightfold Path[14] is gradual and even small seemingly insignificant steps on it can have positive effects on our lives and the lives of others. Driving through the traffic jam with compassion, patience and mindfulness can be as much a step on the Path of Dharma as sitting meditating on a mountaintop. This is a point that modern Buddhism seems to all too often ignore. The illusive detestation of  “enlightenment” is set up as a goal that must be strived for whereas, it seems to me, that the profound and accessible enlightenment is the very path itself.

[2] “Ontology” is the study of existence and being and the attempt to understand which statements are true of existing things as opposed to nonexisting things.

[3] By “contingent” here  I mean all things that are not the laws of reality or the underlying “stuff” that exists, whether it is fluctuations in quantum foam or the wishes of a god or something else.

[4] There may be contradictions between this universe and other possible universes, that’s fine, because they are not this universe.  In a sense an individual possible Universe is the totality of consistent truths.

[5] Later schools of Buddhism, especially Zen, actively support and utilise the statement of contradictions. It seems to me that this is either another (of the many) distortions of original Buddhism or a tool, as with Zen Koan’s, to assist in the understand in of Dharma.

[6] The Buddha is often supposed to be against the Metaphysical questioning of reality but I think this is mistaken view, rather he is specifically talking about what underlay existence (foam, god etc) rather than the structure of the things that exist.

[7] Dukka is the experience of the inevitable negativity of reality manifested as inner/outer conflict, suffering, stress, strain, diminishing returns and impossible satisfactions.

[8] I am not sure which.

[9] This moment is said to be outside the light cone of any moment on the other side of the universe.

[10] By “Domain” here I mean a conceptual domain that cannot be seen in terms of the system but only when in from the perspective of experience.  Emotions might be one domain and knowledge or sensation others.

[11] I think this is something that can be shown to emerge from the consistency of all things but i am not there yet.

[12] These above form the first four of the five aggregates of Mind.

[13] Consciousness is the Fifth of the Five Aggregates.