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The Middle Way - Lecture 04
The ninth gatha in the Contemplation on Dependent Origination reflects on object-condition—the object of perception—and affirms that the notion of it is also illogical, not truthful. In the phrase “object-condition,” the second “condition” is a technical term referring to the object of perception. Buddhism at that time distinguished four types of conditions:
- Primary condition (cause)
- Sequential condition
- Object-condition
- Immediate condition
For example, when the hand measures the pen: the hand is the active condition (subject), the pen is the object-condition (object). Thus, the object of perception is also only a condition, it does not have a separate self-nature.
The concept of objectless phenomena refers to a state where there is no subject and object of grasping, a state of freedom and ease beyond all discrimination. This is illustrated through two stories:
- The young student who, after ten years of study, dreams of passing the exam, becoming a mandarin, and then wakes up before the Taoist’s millet porridge is cooked—the “yellow millet dream” symbolizes an unfulfilled illusion.
- The soldier who, in a dream, is beheaded for letting the enemy cross the border, then awakens to the Taoist’s call.
The tenth gatha contemplates supporting condition—the conditions that assist the primary condition to bear fruit—like the corn seed needing earth, water, and sunlight to sprout. All phenomena do not have a separate self-nature, are not absolutely existent or nonexistent. The phrase “this exists because that exists” emphasizes that all things and phenomena only exist in interdependence, do not exist independently, helping us to let go of self-grasping and live peacefully in the present moment.
