This morning, Tuesday, 7 August 2018, I was walking my dog shortly after sunrise and besides enjoying the unscripted walk, the sunny sky, I was thinking about this Aspect of Primary Cause. I had been trying to come up with some examples to help illustrate the concept of a primary cause versus any other cause we may make.
Two ideas came to my mind and I immediately told my dog to sit, which she did and she is always patient with me when I do that in the middle of the walk. It’s as if she knows something needs to be done and all that is required of her is to wait. I always carry my notebook and my phone yet it’s always the notebook I turn to. The phone is with me for photos and emergencies.
The notebook is my go to resource for recording ideas. I immediately jotted them down with a short explanation. Then freeing those thoughts from my mind and giving myself the assurance they would not be forgotten I was able to think of them a bit more. It’s a great process, freeing up your mind so you don’t have to think about forgetting something, in fact you can actually forget it safely with it written down.
The way I look at Primary Cause is it’s the cause before the other causes except it’s not always the first cause. This is where I think a couple of illustrations may be helpful.
In my printmaking art the process usually begins with an idea and drawing. That may on the surface seem like a primary cause yet I don’t consider it to be such. Let me go on. So I’ve got my idea, drawn my image now I have currently four options for making the print and each one will yield a completely different print even if the image is identical.
I now make a choice between carving the image on linoleum, rubber, or sheet PVC, or I could choose to do an etching. Each one of those will yield a different representation of the image. The etching would be the most dramatically different. Of the three substrates to carve each one, linoleum, rubber, PVC carve differently, yield edges and lines differently, circles and curves are different for each one. The linoleum generally will allow for the most fine details, the rubber does circles and curves easier yet the lines are softer, the PVC doesn’t do well with fine details. The PVC and rubber have a much longer life span for printing where as the linoleum will only last in its best condition for about 10 years.
The choice I make at this point I consider to be the Primary Cause. From the point of selecting the carving medium every other cause that is directed to the completion of the art will be tied to the substrate I use to carve. The image didn’t necessarily limit my choices, though it can sometimes. The image was merely the seed for the Primary Cause. The medium though will impact every other aspect of the image, the printing, the final outcome, it is all tied to the type of block I choose.
While the art image initially as the first cause for the project is not the Primary Cause for the finished art. Primary here does not mean first or initial, it means the cause that all the other subsequent causes are impacted by.
Another example directly related to Buddhism is the myth behind Seigaki, or Feeding the Hungry Ghosts. In the myth Maudgalyayana, Mokuren in Japanese, goes searching for his deceased mother using his supernatural powers in the various realms of the dead. Initially he searched in vain in all the heavenly realms, and finally was shocked to find his mother in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
What was so shocking about his mother being in one of the hell realms was that she was a great supporter of the Buddha making very large generous financial offerings to the Sangha. Yet her outward generosity masked her desire for fame. In other words she gave so she could look like a devotee, she gave to look good.
In this case the Primary Cause was not the donations it was her attitude that lay underneath the donations. Every cause that stemmed from that Primary Cause of appearing to be devote or to look good was impacted and affected by that Primary Cause.
I won’t leave you hanging here, and I won’t assume all those who read this know the whole story so I’ll finish telling you about how we come to celebrate Seigaki.
As I mentioned Maudgalyayana, found his mother suffering in the Realm or Hell of Hungry Ghosts. In his sympathy for his mother he tried to provide her water and nourishment. Yet every attempt to do so only caused his mother more anguish. The water boiled and burned her the food would burst into flames. Maudgalyayana was so distraught he went to the Buddha to find out why his mother was in such a hell and how he could alleviate her suffering.
The Buddha told him that while his mother was very generous on the surface her generosity was actually a greedy act. She was greedy for recognition and praise for her donations. Generosity was greed for her. The Buddha said the only way to provide any relief or nourishment was to offer the Sutra, or by some versions make offering to all the monks, on the 15th day of the seventh month.
In Nichiren Shu we offer the Lotus Sutra as well as various sweets, candies, other delicacies. Some Sanghas make this almost like Halloween, a Buddhist Halloween if you will. While the 15th day of the seventh month was prescribed it was based on the lunar calendar and so the date can and is somewhat fungible. The idea for the date was based upon the completion of the annual summer retreat observed during the time of the Buddha. So, why not on October 31st?
The Primary Cause impacts all causes. If our primary cause is a fundamental belief, even if unidentified or unknown, for our own benefit then the subsequent causes are affect by that Primary Cause. There can be and are numerous Primary Causes. A lie begets another lie. A structure built on a poor foundation no matter how elegant is not a sound structure and certainly will collapse. The Primary Cause while not necessarily the first cause is the cause which binds all the causes and influences them, either for good or for ill.
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