Chapter 7 - Removing The Present Causes

Every good or evil act means the complete conjunction of these five present causes and occasions for such a conjunction in a single lifetime may number by thousands. Under certain circumstances these causes may lead to rebirth after death or two or three rebirths successively. Every existence is bound up with old age, grief, death, etc., and if we wish to avoid these sufferings, we will have to remove the present causes.

To this end we should note all physical phenomena, “seeing”, “hearing”, etc., at the moment of their arising. With the development of concentration, we note their instant passing away and become aware of their impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and unreliability. This awareness helps us to overcome ignorance and illusion that fuel craving, attachment and kammic effort: we thus keep the five present causes inoperative and inactive, thereby forestalling rebirth and consequent suffering.

This method of removing the causes is labelled //tadangapahana// - overcoming some defilements through contemplation. By this method, the yogi attains //tadanganibbuti// - partial extinction of defilements through contemplation. Later on, there arises the insight on the Ariyan path which means the extinction of all sankhara and the realization of Nibbana (//samucchedapahana//).

The defilements and kammas are then done away with, once and forever. The yogis who attain sotapatti stage overcome the defilements and kammas that lead to the lower worlds, and those that may cause good rebirth for more than seven lifetimes, the yogis at the sakadagami stage overcome those that may cause more than two rebirths while the yogis at the anagami stage remove those that lead to rebirth in sensual worlds. Finally, the yogi who attains arahatta stage eradicates the remaining defilements and kamma. In other words, he becomes an Arahat, the Noble one who is worthy of honour because he is wholly free from defilements.