Black And White Thinking | Dependent Origination

Transcending Black-and-White Thinking with the Twelve Nidanas of Dependent Origination

Lets use the example of black-and-white thinking to illustrate the Twelve Nidanas of dependent origination.
1. Ignorance (avijja): The person lacks understanding of the true nature of reality and the complexity of situations.
2. Mental formations (sankhara): Due to ignorance, the person has formed habitual patterns of thinking in black-and-white terms and categorizing things in dualistic terms.
3. Consciousness (viññana): The persons consciousness is conditioned by these mental formations, and they tend to interpret the world through this black-and-white lens.
4. Name and form (nama-rupa): The persons body and mind (psychophysical constituents) manifest in a way that is susceptible to black-and-white thinking.
5. The six sense bases (salayatana): The persons sense organs (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind) interact with the external world.
6. Contact (phassa): The person encounters a situation or stimulus (e.g., a conflict) that stimulates their black-and-white thinking.
7. Feeling (vedana): The person experiences an unpleasant feeling as a result of the conflict and begins categorizing things in terms of right and wrong, good and bad, without considering the complexity of the situation.
8. Craving (tanha): The person desires to resolve the conflict and eliminate the uncomfortable feelings, leading them to seek simplistic solutions.
9. Clinging (upadana): The person clings to their black-and-white thinking and tendency to categorize things in simplistic terms.
10. Becoming (bhava): This clinging to black-and-white thinking reinforces the persons habitual patterns and karmic tendencies.
11. Birth (jati): The persons black-and-white thinking manifests in the form of rigid opinions and difficulty seeing alternative viewpoints.
12. Old age and death (jara-marana): This clinging to black-and-white thinking can lead to emotional and mental distress, create interpersonal conflicts, and perpetuate negative consequences in future situations or even future lives.
This example demonstrates how the Twelve Nidanas apply to the arising and perpetuation of black-and-white thinking. By recognizing the interdependence and complexity of phenomena, a person can cultivate a more nuanced understanding of reality, letting go of rigid black-and-white thinking and embracing greater flexibility and openness.

How to break cycle at each point:

Explaination how to break the cycle of dependent origination at each point in brief.

1. Ignorance (avijja) - By cultivating wisdom and insight into the nature of reality, including the principles of impermanence, suffering, and non-self, one can replace ignorance with wisdom, ultimately leading to the cessation of the entire cycle of dependent origination.

2. Volitional formations (sankhara) - By practicing ethical conduct and cultivating wholesome mental states, one can influence the volitional formations that shape future experiences. This involves developing positive intentions, engaging in virtuous actions, and cultivating mental qualities like loving-kindness, compassion, and equanimity.

3. Consciousness (vijnana) - Developing mindfulness and concentration through meditation can help you gain insight into the workings of consciousness. As you become more aware of the minds processes, you can make better choices in response to sensory input, reducing the likelihood of perpetuating negative patterns.

4. Name-and-form (nama-rupa) - By cultivating mindfulness of the body and mind, you can become more aware of how your perceptions and mental formations arise from sensory experience. This understanding can help you disengage from identification with the body and mind, reducing attachment and suffering.

5. Six sense bases (salayatana) - Practicing restraint of the senses and mindfulness of the senses can help you avoid getting caught up in unwholesome sensory experiences. By being aware of the senses and their input, you can develop a healthier relationship with sensory experiences, reducing the potential for craving and attachment.

6. Contact (phassa) - By being mindful of the contact between the senses and their objects, you can develop a clearer understanding of how sensory experiences lead to feelings and craving. This awareness can help you respond more skillfully to sensory experiences, reducing the potential for suffering.

7. Feeling (vedana) - Developing mindfulness of feelings, whether they are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, can help you become less reactive to them. This can weaken the link between feelings and craving, reducing the potential for suffering.

8. Craving (tanha) - By addressing craving and developing mindfulness, one can reduce attachment and clinging to sensory experiences, thoughts, and emotions.

9. Clinging (upadana) - By weakening craving, clinging is less likely to occur. This in turn affects the other links in the chain, leading to the cessation of suffering.

10. Becoming (bhava) - By weakening clinging, the karmic process of becoming that results from clinging is also weakened, leading to the cessation of the entire cycle of dependent origination.

11. Birth (jati) - By weakening the process of becoming, the actual birth or coming into existence of a new being is also weakened.

12. Old age and death (jara-marana) - By weakening the process of birth, the aging and eventual death of the being, leading to further rebirth and continued suffering, can also be weakened.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this article on Black-and-White Thinking helps readers understand how perception plays a crucial role in the cycle of dependent origination. By recognizing the interdependence and complexity of phenomena, one can cultivate a more nuanced understanding of reality, letting go of rigid black-and-white thinking and embracing greater flexibility and openness. By incorporating mindfulness, meditation, and ethics into daily practices, readers can break the Twelve Nidanas and ultimately lead to the cessation of suffering.

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