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What are the consequences of
the concept of interdependence on cosmological ideas in Buddhism? The concept of interdependence implies that
the elements of the conventional reality we are all familiar with do not possess
an existence that is permanent and autonomous.
This thing exists because something else exists, that happens because
this has occurred. Nothing can exist by itself and be its own cause.
Everything depends on
everything else. Suppose that there is
an entity that exists independently of all the others. This implies that it is not produced by a
cause, that is, either it has always existed or it does not exist at all. Such
an entity will be unchanging since it cannot act on others and others cannot
act on it. The world of phenomena could
not function. Thus interdependence is essential for phenomena to manifest
themselves.
Because the concept of
interdependence implies that nothing can exist by itself and be its own cause,
it goes against the idea of a creative principle, a First Cause or a God that
is permanent, all-powerful, that has no other cause than itself, and which
created the universe. In the same vein,
Buddhism rejects the idea that the universe can be born out of nothing - a
creation ex-nihilo - because the
universe has to depend on something else to emerge. If the universe was created, it is because there was a
potentiality already present. The coming into being of the universe is merely
the realization of that potentiality. One can thus interpret the Big Bang as the
manifestation of the phenomenal world emerging from an infinite potentiality
already in existence. In a poetic
language, Buddhism speaks about of “particles of space” which carry in them the
potentiality of matter. This is strongly reminiscent of the vacuum filled with
energy that is thought to have given birth the material content of the universe
in the modern Big Bang theory. Material
phenomenon and things are not “created” in the sense that they go from a state
of non-existence to one of existence.
Rather they go from an unrealized state to a realized state. Once it has come into existence, the
universe goes through a series of cycles, each composed of 4 stages: birth,
evolution, death and a state where the universe is pure potentiality but has not
manifested yet itself. This cyclic universe has no beginning nor an end.
Contributed by: Trinh Xuan Thuan
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