This Being, That Becomes: The Buddha's Teaching on Conditionality

by Dhivan, Sagaraghosa

Conditionality is an exploration of the Buddha's fundamental insight that all things arise from dependence on conditions. Practical exercises and reflections are included to prompt readers to explore how conditionality works in their own lives. Dhivan and Sagaraghosa are both respected members of the Western Buddhist Order.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2011

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most important book for anyone interested in the essence of the BuddhaDharma. He explains the ancient formulations from the Pali texts, connects it to the other teachings and shows why it's central to understanding and then he illuminates the 12 nidanas, the spiral path, karma, the middle way, the 3 lukkhanas, sunyata and interdependence. The book includes many quotes from the Pali Cannon, and many other sources showing Dhivan's wide ranging mind including the romantic poets and Joanna Macy. He makes this very deep and complicated topic accessible without dumbing it down.

[Anne Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am interested in Buddhism and would like to know and understand more about it. So, when I received this book I thought it would make a perfect introduction and enable me to go further if I wished.
Alas, it was not what I expected.If you are into Buddhism and lack some terms, I believe it can help you develop your vocabulary. But if you look for a general introduction, a way to approach another religion or philosophy, you could be strongly disappointed as I was.
I am still unclear about the basic terms from dikkha -although that seemed clear but lacking of examples.

[Duncan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two aspects to my review. Firstly, Dhivan does a good job in expounding Buddhist ideas for those interested in the dharma, and deserves a four star rating. He has clearly researched and thought deeply about these ideas, and tries to present them in an accessible way.

Secondly, there are the ideas themselves. While I am sympathetic to Buddhism, some of its ideas seem highly problematic.

The basic problem is that Buddhism seems to see physical life as inherently bad, something we should aspire to rise above. This leads to a number of related attitudes. Of course, I am oversimplifying, but that idea certainly seem to be part of the core mentality.

In its roots, Buddhism seems to be an attempt to address the philosophical 'problem of evil', i.e. suffering. Yet in my view, it is an over-reaction to that problem. The realisation was made that life contains some suffering. Change is inevitable, aging and death are inescapable. This was compared to an unrealistic expectation that life should be permanent and unchanging, and generally perfect. Because life doesn’t meet this unrealistic standard, it is somehow seen to be inherently bad and flawed. This is then exaggerated into pronouncements like ‘all life is unsatisfactory’ (just because it’s impermanent). Surely there is a translation problem in here somewhere.

Secondly, there is the concept of there being 'no self'. I must confess I need to research further what this means. But there seems to be a slide from the truism that there is 'no fixed self' (i.e. people change, and are different in different conditions) to the idea that there is really no self at all. This is an anti-essentialist stance. But it seems a false dichotomy. Yes, of course people change through life, (and perhaps after it), but this does not contradict the idea that there may not be some transcendent and / or unifying aspect to all our experiences.

[Martin Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well-written introduction to Buddhist understandings of conditionality. It's a broad-strokes treatment that does not get into the nitty-gritty of moment-by-moment dependent origination. This would be particularly well-suited as an introduction to philosophical Buddhism, in general. The precise, yet easy to understand, scholarship, is similar to that found at Doug's Dharma, on YouTube.

If you are looking for some nitty-gritty, possibly as a follow-up to this, you might like Dependent Origination and Emptiness, by Leigh Brasington.

[Catherine S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggle to give Dharma books anything less than five stars, because they are describing the truths at the core of existence. Plus, I think Dhivan did very well at explaining some, what could be seen as, quite confusing and mind-blowing subjects. The illustrations and little glossary sections sprinkled throughout also helped with adding clarity.