The next set of three links concern activation of the karmic tendencies at the time of death. The eighth and ninth links, thirsting and an obtainer attitude, activate the karmic tendencies, while the tenth link, further existence, refers to the activated tendencies themselves. When activated, a compelling drive arises that propels the mental continuum into further rebirth. It’s very important to recognize and understand these three links, particularly the first two, since they pertain as well to how we respond to our everyday feelings.
The Eighth Link: Thirsting
Link number eight (sred-pa) is usually translated as “craving,” because that’s the meaning of the Tibetan term for it, but the original Sanskrit term (trsna) literally means “thirst,” to be thirsty. Thirst is a disturbing emotion, a subcategory of longing desire. It focuses on a feeling of happiness, unhappiness or a neutral feeling that arises as the seventh link. The way that the thirst takes the feeling as its object is to regard it in terms of a negation phenomenon. In the case of happiness, the thirst is for a parting from the happiness not to happen. A parting from something is a negation phenomenon, related to the “no longer having” of something. Not to be parted from something is a further negation. In Buddhism, a double negative does not equal a positive. In the case of unhappiness, the thirst is for the parting from it to happen. In the case of the neutral feeling of being absorbed in a deep meditative state of one of the higher “dhyanas,” the thirst is for the neutral feeling not to degenerate.
In all three types of thirsting, the thirst is aimed at the feeling and all three varieties of thirsting are accompanied by an exaggeration of the qualities of the feeling, a projection of desirable qualities that the feeling doesn’t possess and an incorrect consideration of the feeling as actually having these extra qualities.
Further, the parting that we are aiming for is just the ending of something, not a parting from something by applying opponent forces to rid ourselves of it forever. That’s because we are unaware of the opponent force – the non-conceptual cognition of voidness – that will rid us of the parting forever. But, with further incorrect consideration, we consider a temporary, impermanent parting to be an eternal, permanent parting. In this way, we exaggerate the good qualities of a temporary parting or of a temporary not being parted. We also have the exaggeration and incorrect consideration of the happiness or unhappiness that we are currently experiencing as a feeling that will last forever. This is also not the case. But let’s analyze a little more closely.
Thirsting Not to Be Parted from Happiness
For happiness, what we thirst for is not to be parted from the happiness we are experiencing. Imagine being really, really thirsty and we get just a tiny sip of something to drink. We are thirsting at that moment: our thirst is not to be parted from that drink. We don’t want just a tiny sip and then somebody takes it away. We want more, right? With thirsting in regard to happiness, then, we’re not talking about longing for the happiness that we don’t have. We’re talking about feeling some level of ordinary, non-lasting happiness and not wanting to be parted from it.
In the context of the twelve links, the link of thirsting refers specifically to the feelings we experience at the time of death. But we can also understand thirsting in terms of our ordinary lives, our experiences of ordinary happiness, which might not be very dramatic. It’s not always dramatic when we feel happy. It’s not “Whoopee, I’m so happy.” With thirsting, our focus on whatever level of happiness we have is with the wish not to be parted from it. In more technical language, with this type of thirsting, our thirsting focuses on ordinary happiness and takes it to mind with the wish for the non-occurrence of our being parted from it.
What we’re speaking about here is very subtle. What exactly does thirsting exaggerate here? The thirsting is accompanied by the exaggeration that the parting from our ordinary happiness can be put off forever. But obviously, ordinary happiness won’t last forever, so it’s an incorrect consideration to think that its end can be avoided. Our ordinary happiness is impermanent. In fact, each moment it draws closer to its end. It’s impossible for our ordinary happiness not to fade and end.
Note that we could wish not to be parted from something in two different ways. One is not to be parted from something that will definitely end; the other is not to be parted from something that will last forever. Thirsting is an example of the first variety: “I’m happy and I don’t want it to end.” We’re thinking, “This is great, I’m with my friend and I’m so happy. It’s so wonderful and I hope that happiness doesn’t end.” It’s not the wish for the person to stay and not leave; it’s for the happiness of being with them not to end. Other examples are thirsting for the happiness of a sexual experience not to end, or the enjoyment of the taste of good food not to end, or the happiness of youth not to end. We don’t want to be parted from any of these examples of ordinary happiness. They are impossible goals.
With thirsting, we’re not talking about the second type of not being parting: not ever being parted from something that can last forever. For instance, with immeasurable joy – one of the four immeasurable attitudes cultivated in Mahayana – we wish for all beings never to be parted from the everlasting joy of enlightenment. This second case is not based on longing desire, exaggeration or anything like that, and it is possible for it to happen. The joy of enlightenment is everlasting.
Here, with the eighth link, we’re thirsting for our ordinary happiness not to go away, which is impossible for it to happen. It misconceives that somehow the happiness of being with someone or the happiness of feeling young and healthy – these sorts of things are not going to end. It’s a thirst because we have a little taste of this happiness and we want it not to be taken away.
Psychologically, it’s very interesting in terms of the death process. For example, imagine you’re on your deathbed: you don’t want whatever happiness you’re experiencing in that life to end with death. You’re longing for death not to happen, right? Remember, the link of thirsting is describing what happens at death. It’s talking specifically about the disturbing emotions that activate so-called “throwing karma.” Throwing karma is the compulsive drive to grab on to a new basis for our continuing existence (a new body) when we sense that the basis we have in this life is fading. We grab for anything to save us from drowning, in a sense.
Thirsting Because of Fear
The next type of thirsting is called “thirsting because of fear.” This type of thirsting focuses on a feeling of unhappiness and takes it to mind with the wish for the negation phenomenon “to be parted from it.” It exaggerates the good quality of the state of being parted from unhappiness by ordinary means and thinks that just by ordinary means we can attain a parting from unhappiness that will last forever.
But, of course ordinary means to end unhappiness cannot possibly bring about a parting from unhappiness that will last forever. For example, we wish that by taking morphine to stop the pain and unhappiness of terminal cancer, the temporary relief will last forever. We thirst to never feel pain again and never be unhappy again. It’s this type of thirst that we’re talking about here.
Thirsting for Existence
Then the third type of thirsting is thirsting for existence or more fully, thirsting for the higher planes of compulsive existence. That doesn’t mean that we’re thirsting for a future life in one of these higher planes. It’s the type of thirsting that can occur in a deep state of meditative absorption, as in the higher levels of the form realms (the plane of ethereal forms) or in the so-called formless realm (the plane of formless beings). In that type of rebirth or meditative state, the thirst is for the detached, neutral feeling of feeling neither happy nor unhappy, not to degenerate. In such a state, our mental consciousness would be sunk in one of these deep absorptions, and the accompanying feeling would be withdrawn and much subtler than any level of happiness or unhappiness. We would be really sunk into that feeling and not want it to degenerate.
Perhaps in our ordinary experience, it would be as if we are on a heavy drug, a painkiller, when we’re dying of cancer and we basically don’t feel anything. We’re not talking about a drug that makes a person feel high or dull, but a drug that makes someone feel nothing. What we would be thirsting for is that state not to degenerate. Again, it’s based on a misconception, a projection, that somehow it could last forever without degenerating.
Summary of Thirsting
All three types of thirsting are types of suffering. It’s very uncomfortable when thirsting not to be parted from anything or anyone. For example, “Don’t leave me; I don’t want you to leave because I’m so happy to be with you.” We’re thirsting for someone not to go, for that happiness not to end. It’s a very uncomfortable state. We’re not at all calm. If we’re uncomfortable and unhappy we’re certainly not calm. If we’re in this deep absorption or drugged or something like, that we don’t want it to degenerate, how do we experience that? We would be nervous that perhaps it will go away. “I don’t want it to diminish.”
Thirsting to be parted from unhappiness is not the same as renunciation, the determination to be free. When we have the determination to be free of suffering, this is in the context of the four noble truths. We understand clearly the nature of this suffering and where is it coming from. We understand that it is possible to stop it forever and we understand there is a true method for being able to do that. We’re convinced that it’s possible. There’s a tremendous amount of understanding backing up renunciation.
As I have indicated, thirsting in relation to our feelings also occurs on our ordinary, everyday level, not just at the time of death. That’s why, when we have not yet developed an understanding of the voidness of feelings, we need to provisionally apply the attitude of “nothing special” when we are experiencing these various levels of happy/unhappy or neutral. Don’t thirst. Don’t be the thirsty person, always needing everyone to “love me,” to “like” every selfie that I post. Think about it; this thirsting is a fairly subtle type of disturbing emotion, but an important one to recognize and deal with since it is involved in the mechanism that activates our karmic tendencies and potentials.
This link and the next link, obtainer attitudes and emotions, together are what activate these tendencies at the time of death. When activated, the tendencies become karma, a compelling impulse at the time of death to continue existing and take another set of aggregates just to try to make ourselves secure.
The twelve links primarily concern the death of the body of this lifetime, but there is also the death of every moment. There is a presentation of the twelve links that explains how the twelve links are complete in each moment of our experience. It can be used to explain how this moment of tainted aggregates produces the next moment of them. However, don’t use this alternative presentation as an excuse for not even thinking of death and future lives. Don’t be in total denial of the “real-thing Dharma” that we’re talking about and reduce this to Dharma-lite. Dharma-lite is just to improve this lifetime, and while this is a legitimate thing to be concerned about, that’s not the actual Dharma teachings. The actual Dharma teachings are in terms of future lives.
The Ninth Link: An Obtainer
The next link (nyer-len, Skt. upadana) is usually translated as “grasping,” but it’s not at all the same word as used in “grasping for true existence” (‘dzin-pa, Skt. graha) or any of the other usages for the word “grasping.” Therefore, it’s not helpful to translate it with the same word. It’s not the same word in any of the original languages. The word means literally “an obtainer.” It’s something that will obtain for us the next set of aggregates.
Remember, we had these two adjectives that can be applied to the aggregates. Tainted aggregates mean that they come from unawareness. Obtainer aggregates are aggregates that contain the mechanism to perpetuate themselves, so that we will obtain more. So, among the aggregates, there are these obtainer disturbing emotions and obtainer disturbing attitudes, and there’s a list of them that can arise following thirsting.
Obtainer Desire
The first of these is obtainer desire. This is a disturbing emotion directed at some desirable sensory object. For example, when we’re unhappy, we want delicious food. Some people think, “I’m so unhappy, I’ll have some chocolate, that will make me happy. I will be parted from that unhappiness.” We can feel that way about getting a hug – that the physical sensation of a hug somehow is going to make us happy. But of course, we’re thinking about a very ordinary type of happiness. You hug for too long, that becomes a problem, doesn’t it? “Let go!”
Also, when we’re happy, we don’t want to be parted from that. An easy example is that warm comfortable feeling lying in bed when the alarm clock goes off and we don’t want to be parted from both the happiness that we’re feeling and also the comfortable physical sensation we are experiencing in bed. In this case, the actual object with obtainer desire is that physical sensation, but the object can be a sight or sound or anything sensory object like that.
If we are experiencing a certain type of pleasant sensation or object, we don’t want it to go away or decline. This arises in connection with what we were experiencing before, that thirst not to be parted from the feeling of happiness. There are many types of examples. If we think in terms of death, when somebody is dying and asks for someone to “hold my hand,” it’s as if somehow that physical sensation is going to keep them from dying, that type of thing. Or, it could be having friends or our loved ones around. That attachment, that desire, is also going to be involved in activating throwing karma. This is because it is when we realize we can’t hold onto them that we grab for another rebirth. This obtainer also has this connotation to grab out for something in the next life, when we can’t keep what we have now. Okay?
Distorted Outlooks
Then we have the list of obtainer deluded outlooks. These deluded outlooks occur only in conceptual cognitions. They latch onto some object within our aggregates as a basis onto which the conceptual minds in which they occur project certain attitudes. It’s very difficult to find the words to translate these things; sometimes “disturbing attitudes” work in conjunction with the projecting mechanism, although the disturbing attitude doesn’t actually project the attitude.
The first obtainer deluded outlook listed is a distorted outlook. One type of distorted outlook would be to deny that in a next life we will experience any effects of our behavior from this lifetime. We’re accepting that there is rebirth, but we think that when we die, it’s like our hard drive will be wiped clean and we start with a fresh hard drive, a fresh slate. It’s an attitude in which we’re latching onto a future life and then projecting onto it that our mental continuums will be a wiped, clean hard drive.
That’s one variant. The other variant is a denial of rebirth all together. In this case, we think that this life is the only one for an independently existing “me.” Again, we project that we will not experience any consequences of what we’ve done in this lifetime.
We could have a similar attitude in our daily life, thinking that there’s no effect of what we do, for instance if we smoke and are in complete denial that it is going to affect our health. Even if we know that there is a warning on the cigarette box that smoking damages our health and is deadly, we don’t really believe that. It doesn’t really sink in. We imagine there are no effects of what we do. Even though we might deny that there will be any effect of what we’re doing, nevertheless what we’re building up from all that smoking is obviously going to ripen into something. We activate the mechanism that will bring about the ripening by continuing to smoke with that denial that it has any effect.
We need to try to find practical everyday experiences that we can use as examples for these various disturbing attitudes to help us understand them. However, this disturbing outlook applies specifically to the time of death. We either believe that there are no future lives and therefore there are no results of our actions; or, even if we believe in future lives, we start each life with a clean slate with no consequences.
Everything really depends on how convinced we are of this or whether we have any doubts in terms of how really confirmed we are in this type of attitude. Still, it is a disturbing one. It’s not really in accord with reality, so we don’t really do anything to ensure that we don’t have more problems in the future. Basically, by holding such disturbing attitudes we are perpetuating samsara. Also, we should keep in mind that many of these disturbing outlooks are going to network together; not just one may occur.
Extreme Outlooks
The next disturbing outlook is an extreme outlook. This is the belief that our present body and minds with the truly established identity of “me” will last forever. It’s a denial of the gross impermanence of death. “I’m not going to die.” It’s very interesting, no matter how old you are, most people will still consider themselves young. We’re in our eighties, “Well, we’re still young. It’s the people in their nineties, they’re the old ones.” In a retirement village, it’s amazing how the people there still consider themselves young and only the ones in the nursing facilities are the old ones. They believe that their bodies and minds have the true identity, “me,” and they’re going to last forever. That is a denial of the gross impermanence of death.
The other variant of this extreme outlook, which is very interesting, is that there’s no continuity after death. When we are dead, it’s like we go into a big nothing. It’s interesting because if we think that we’re going to somehow go into a big nothing when we die, why are we afraid of that? Yet most people are afraid of that, aren’t they? There are always exceptions, but for many people that’s a frightening thing. “Now I am nothing,” and if you think about it, actually it is a belief that you’re going to go on forever as a nothing. “I’m dead, but it’s ‘me’ that is dead, and I’m going to be dead forever.” After all, there’s no end to being dead. It’s not that we’re going to stop being dead. “I’m dead forever and I have become this big nothing.” This is a weird attitude, actually. So, with extreme outlooks, we believe that either we’re not going to die or we’re going to merge with the big nothing when we die and go into nothingness forever.
Holding a Deluded Outlook as Supreme
Then, we have holding a deluded outlook as supreme. With incorrect consideration, we regard our aggregates, our bodies and so on as totally pure and clean and a source of true happiness. With this deluded outlook we hold such an attitude as supreme. We think it’s totally true and will lead to liberation if we fully realize it. We believe the body is so wonderful – the attitude of “body beautiful” – it’s clean, it’s wonderful, and it’s our source of happiness. We think that if we just ensure that everything is perfect with this body, then we will be liberated. We then strongly maintain that it’s the best attitude to have. It could lead to: “If I have a perfect physique, or a facelift and look good, this is going to bring lasting happiness.” We take this to be the supreme view. Or, “If I could look good in the coffin when I die and have my hair done really nicely...” I mean, really, what kind of attitude is that?
The other variant of this deluded outlook is the reverse of this: we hold as the supreme attitude leading to lasting happiness the attitude that the body is dirty, impure, and a source of all evil. Come on, this type of thing is very deluded, isn’t it?
What is said to be deluded, in these deluded outlooks as supreme, is considering that these attitudes will lead to liberation. If we worship our body as “my temple,” for example, that could bring us to liberation. On the other hand, it is also deluded to believe that thinking, with a strong negative attitude, the body to be some hellish thing will bring liberation.
Holding Deluded Morality or Deluded Conduct as Supreme
Then the next one is the disturbing attitude of holding deluded morality or conduct as supreme. Deluded morality is ridding ourselves of some trivial manner of behavior that’s meaningless to give up, particularly under the circumstance of dying. An example would be giving up unhealthy food when we’re in the final stages of terminal cancer. We’re dying, so what difference does it make whether we eat ice cream and cake? “Oh, it’s bad for me.” Come on, we’re dying, so this is deluded morality. It is the attitude that this will help in some way and make things okay – that if we just stop eating junk food when we’re dying that somehow we won’t die.
The other is deluded conduct. It’s to dress, act, or speak in some trivial manner that again is meaningless to adopt in the face of imminent death. For instance, clutching a good luck charm when we’re dying, trusting that this is going to save us somehow; or bathing in the Ganges River before we die, believing that this is going to purify us of all our sins and we will go to heaven or something like that.
We are convinced that acting in these trivial ways will purify us of anything negative, liberate us from all our worries and definitely deliver us to a better fate. Deluded morality is giving up something and deluded conduct is doing something, both of which are trivial, and thinking that somehow this is going to liberate us.
A Deluded Outlook toward a Transitory Network
The last obtainer deluded outlook is the most crucial in terms of what we have to try to recognize in each moment and work on. This real troublemaker is the disturbing attitude of a deluded outlook toward a transitory network. That’s the technical jargon. Network refers to the network of our aggregates. Transitory means that it is not lasting; it changes from moment to moment.
The deluded outlook toward it is that we identify with something in our aggregates. As we have already discussed, it does this by throwing out a net of “me and mine.” According to the non-Prasangika views, it throws out the net of “me” on something in the aggregates. The body or the mind, that’s “me;” or, that it’s “mine” to control, that it’s the habitat of this solid “me” that lives inside it and possesses it and controls it and uses it for enjoyment. “I’m going to use my body to have as much fun as I can.” “I’m going to use my brain to figure this out and get ahead, get a good job.” It’s as if there’s a little me sitting behind the control board at a chair, this type of thing. It is throwing out this net of me and mine onto the aggregates.
The Prasangika view is that we actually throw it out onto the conventional “me” in relation to the aggregates, either as simply “me” or as “me as the possessor of them as mine.” There are these two variant explanations of this disturbing attitude of it and both are helpful.
These are all the aspects of the obtainer link and these obtain the next rebirth and perpetuate samsara.
The Tenth Link: Further Existence
The tenth link (srid-pa) is called further existence, although it is usually translated as becoming, but that can be unclear to many people. It’s further existence and that’s giving the name of the result to the cause.
We have this in many Indian systems – we give the name of the result to the cause. For example, bodhichitta meditation refers to the meditations that will lead up to achieving bodhichitta. We’re giving the name of the result to the cause. Here in the twelve links, we are giving the name of the result, namely “further existence,” to the cause of further existence, namely activated karma. Activated karma is the compulsion to continue to exist, in other words a compelling impulse for further existence.
This refers to something very real. It’s our survival instinct. That’s why, if we put our head under water, we instinctively want to take our head out of the water. It’s a very strong compulsive drive to continue existing. That is exactly what gets activated at the time of death by the thirsting and obtainer attitudes. If we think graphically, that is what is going to cause us to grab onto more aggregates that will be the basis for continuing to exist. It is this compulsion to continue to exist that throws us into death existence, bardo existence, next rebirth existence, and then the whole period before the following death.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Links: Conception and Aging and Dying
Our next rebirth existence is summarized by the last two links: conception, and then aging and dying. Conception is the eleventh link; aging and dying, the twelfth, starts the second moment after conception.
What to Emphasize in the Twelve Links in Order to Stop Them
There are many aspects we could look at when studying the twelve links, but here, what is most important for our topic of how cognition of voidness liberates us from samsara is how to stop the twelve links from recurring. For this, what we need to focus on are the three links that are disturbing emotions and the two that are karmas, compulsions. The three links that are disturbing emotions are unawareness, thirsting and the obtainers; the two that are karmas are the compulsive affecting impulses and the activated compulsion for further existence. Because of unawareness of how we exist, we develop disturbing emotions that lead to affecting impulses to act in a certain destructive or deluded constructive way. These actions leave karmic tendencies on our mental continuum, which ripen into unhappiness or tainted ordinary happiness. With thirsting in regard to these feelings and an obtainer disturbing emotion or attitude, we activate more karmic tendencies, and these compulsively propel our mental continuum into further rebirth as the basis for more unawareness and so on. We need to fit the links together in a way that helps us to see more clearly the deluded syndrome that perpetuates our problematic samsaric existence. Try to reflect on that for a few moments.
The Misconception about “Me”
We have a misconception about “me,” an unawareness of how we exist. To put it simply, it’s as if we imagine that we were some independently existing entity. We’re experiencing happiness or unhappiness or some neutral feeling, and it’s about “me,” that solid “me.” “I want not to be parted from that ordinary happiness. I want to be parted from unhappiness, and so on.” We don’t want to have to do anything differently. We just want to get our way and think that if we get this object, or a hug or something, then that is going to make that “me” feel better and more secure.
Perhaps, we think in terms of there being no consequences of our behavior – a form of naivety – and that is somehow going to work for us.
In all these examples, underlying everything is always this thinking in terms of “me.” It is constant identification with what’s going on, identifying with our body, our depression, or our sickness. It can also be completely not identifying, “That’s not me!” We look in the mirror and see grey hair, a wrinkled face, and think, “That’s not me.” we weigh ourselves on the scale and say, “Oh my gosh! That’s not me. I can’t weigh that much.”
We imagine that there’s a separate, independently existing “me” from all of this. That’s the problem and this is what’s going to be behind all of our compulsiveness that leads to further rebirth. That’s what we’re talking about, okay? It all hinges on this misconception of “me,” that wants to be not parted from happiness, that wants to be parted from unhappiness and doesn’t really know how that’s going to happen. It’s just, “Me, me, me. I want that.” We want it to be that we could be liberated somehow from it all and we have fanciful ideas of how we could achieve that; but none of them are going to work. Rather than liberating us, they just perpetuate our samsaric existence further. Our misconceptions about “me,” our unawareness of the voidness of “me” – that’s what we need to rid ourselves of in order to attain liberation. It is only with correct understanding that we can attain liberation.