Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
"Root Verses on the Middle Way" by Nagarjuna
Chapter 10 - Refuting kindling sustaining fire;
or clinging sustaining the self and rebirth cycle.
Refuting that the cycle can be stopped by stopping clinging.
Embedded Files
Chapter 10 – Kindling and Fire - Refuting kindling sustaining fire; or clinging sustaining the self and rebirth cycle.
Refuting that the cycle can be stopped by stopping clinging.
This chapter refutes independent/inherent/absolute
clinging as the cause for the continuation of the self and the cycle of rebirths
because the three spheres of causing/sustaining –
(i) cause/kindling /clinging/attachment /grasping,
(ii) causing /sustaining and
(iii) effect /self /rebirths –
cannot be inherently
(i) dependently-arisen /existent /functional /changing /ceasing,
(ii) non-dependently-arisen /non-existent /non-functional /non-changing /non-ceasing,
(iii) both, or (iv) neither;
cannot be inherently
(i) different /separate /multiple /dual,
(ii) identical /united /one /non-dual,
(iii) both, or (iv) neither;
cannot be inherently
(i) dependent,
(ii) independent,
(iii) both, or (iv) neither;
cannot be inherently
(i) permanent /continuous /eternal /’this’,
(ii) impermanent /discontinuous /annihilated /’non-this’,
(iii) both, or (iv) neither; etc. [Tetralemma]
⇐⇒ thus the three spheres are empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-3S]
⇐⇒ they are inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S]
⇐⇒ and vice versa, one truth supports/implies/enables the other [U2T-3S]
⇐⇒ they are like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory]
⇐⇒ so we could use these models /concepts /dualities /triads / quads, like subject/relation/object, actor/action/result, cause/causality/effect, producer/production/product, goer/going/destination, perceiver/perception/perceived, knower/knowing/known, part/composing/aggregate, characteristic/characterising/characterized, definition/defining/defined, origination/duration/cessation, before/during/after, past/present/future, and other dualities/triads/quads, including the two truths, conventionally/relatively, but never in absolute terms [U2T-in-action], using them without apprehending /opposing /unifying /accepting /rejecting /changing /increasing /decreasing /liberating anything in absolute terms.
There are no inherent cause/kindling /clinging/attachment /grasping because all causes/kindling /clinging/attachment /grasping have their own cause/kindling /clinging/attachment /grasping, because they are also objects/effects/fire/self/rebirths, because they are dependently co-arisen in a limitless and centerless cycle. The same for the object/effect/fire/self/rebirths.
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Last update: January 03, 2026
Image from: Stoneflower013
Source Text: Garfield, PTG, Streng, Batchelor.
Content
Content
A. Introduction
B. Analysis
C. Verses
D. Questions and Answers
E. Summary
F. Conclusion
A. Introduction – It is not about stopping/rejecting clinging/attachment or anything else, but about seeing through the karmic cycle and its conditioned fabrications without rejection.
A. Introduction – It is not about stopping/rejecting clinging/attachment or anything else, but about seeing through the karmic cycle and its conditioned fabrications without rejection.
“Is clinging/attachment/grasping (upādāna) really the cause of the illusory self (atma), becoming, bondage and of all suffering in saṃsāra, the "fuel, material cause, substrate that is the source and means for keeping the active process energized"? Is the cessation of clinging/attachment/grasping, the cessation of all types of clinging (including self-identification), really the solution, the cause of nirvāṇa, liberation from bondage in saṃsāra? Or is it a little bit more subtle, like realizing their true nature & dynamic.”
Opponent: It is clinging to the 5-aggregates that cause/sustain the illusory self and rebirths in saṃsāra; like kindling sustain fire. That is clinging to sensuality, views, mere rules and rituals, belief in the ego and 5-aggregates. Could the solution be then to ‘extinguish’ the fire with the cessation of the kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping.
(Traditional dualistic approach: In Buddhism, the karmic cycle (samsara) is stopped by extinguishing craving, desire, and attachment — collectively known as clinging (upādāna) — which fuels the perpetuation of karmic, conditioned actions. By using mindfulness and wisdom to see the emptiness of the self, the practitioner stops creating new karma, allows old karma to exhaust itself, and achieves liberation (Nirvana), breaking the cycle of death and rebirth.
Mechanism of Stopping the Cycle:
– Clinging as Fuel: The karmic cycle is driven by craving and attachment. When this "fuel" is removed through the cessation of clinging, the fire of rebirth cannot continue to burn.
– The Role of Non-Attachment: Non-attachment is not cold indifference, but the release of the need to control or own, reducing the anxiety and grasping that create negative karma.
– Understanding Impermanence: Reflecting on impermanence and the voidness (emptiness) of the self dismantles the illusion of a solid "I" that clings, allowing karmic bonds to dissolve naturally.
– The Eightfold Path: The Eightfold Path — right view, intention, action, etc. — is the systematic approach to training the mind to stop grasping, thus removing the causes of future suffering.
– Mindfulness and Insight: By observing the mind and its reactions to experiences (the "twelve links of dependent arising"), one can stop the immediate impulse to react or cling to positive or negative experiences, thereby halting the creation of new karma.
– Ultimately, by realizing that there is no "one" bound by karma (no-self), the wheel of samsara loses its center, bringing a complete cessation of the cycle of suffering.)
Investigation of the three spheres of causality/sustaining rebirths: Union of (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths.
Refuting the 12 links of dependent origination: the cycle of clinging/attachment/grasping (upādāna) causing/sustaining the illusory self (ātman) and the cycle of rebirths; and its resolution/extinguishing with the cessation of all clinging/attachment/grasping.
(Madhyamaka non-dualistic approach: In Madhyamaka philosophy, simply stopping clinging is insufficient to break the karmic cycle because the root cause is ignorance (avidyā), not just the resulting craving or attachment. Without realizing the ultimate emptiness of both self and phenomena (not just no-self), the latent potential for karmic action remains, as any attempt to "stop" is itself a dualistic action (accepting this while rejecting that).
Why Stopping Clinging Alone is Insufficient:
– Ignorance is Root, Not Just Clinging: The twelve links of dependent arising show that clinging (upādāna) is merely a link that follows craving (taṇhā), which stems from ignorance of the true nature of reality [U2T].
– The "I" is an Illusion: Clinging stems from a false belief in a permanent self and real phenomena. Even if one stops clinging to physical objects, if they still cling to the subtle, incorrect view that a "self" exists to not cling, the root of samsara remains.
– Dualism in Action: The very act of "trying to stop" or "trying to renounce" can be a form of subtle attachment to a goal, a "Self" who is becoming free, or a "Dharma" to be attained.
– Action Remains: Karma is driven by intention (cetanā), which continues as long as there is an agent, even if the gross act of clutching at objects stops.
The Madhyamaka Approach:
Madhyamaka teaches that liberation occurs by uprooting the underlying ignorance through wisdom (prajñā) that perceives all phenomena as inseparable interdependence [T1] and emptiness of inherent existence [T2] (svabhāva) [U2T]. This brings about the transcendence of karmic construction, leading to true Nirvana.
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In Madhyamaka, stopping only the active "clinging" (afflictive obscurations) is insufficient to halt the karmic cycle because the subtler "cognitive obscurations" — the innate, beginningless habits of perceiving inherent existence of all phenomena — remain. While clearing afflictions stops the immediate cause of suffering, only realizing emptiness of all phenomena [U2T] (not just no-self) deactivates the latent karmic seeds.
– Afflictive Obscurations (nyon-sgrib): These include craving and clinging, which cause samsaric rebirth. Stopping them leads to liberation (Arhatship) (according to the traditional dualistic approach).
– Cognitive Obscurations (shes-sgrib): These are the subtler, dualistic habits of grasping at inherent existence of phenomena. They cause one to fall into constructs and prevent full omniscience.
– The Problem: According to Prasangika Madhyamaka, even if active, coarse clinging is removed, the "dormant" habits (cognitive obscurations) continue to produce karmic effects.
– The Solution: One must transcend both obscurations, specifically through non-conceptual, direct perception of emptiness (voidness) to fully sever the root of samsara.
Therefore, without removing the second type of obscuration — the mental habit of projecting inherent existence onto phenomena — the subconscious momentum of karma persists.
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In Madhyamaka, transcending emotional obscurations (kleshavarana) and cognitive obscurations (jneyavarana) requires realizing the emptiness of all phenomena [U2T] through analytical meditation and the union of wisdom and skillful means [U2T-in-action]. By deeply contemplating that all phenomena lack inherent existence (svabhava) [U2T] and transcending binary, dualistic views [Uopp], practitioners transcend both afflictive emotions and subtle conceptual fixations.
Key Methods to Transcend Obscurations in Madhyamaka:
– Analytical Meditation on Emptiness: This core method breaks down rigid, dualistic thinking (e.g., self/other, existence/non-existence) by investigating the interdependence of all things.
– The Union of the Two Truths [U2T] Approach: Uniting conventional reality [T1] and ultimate reality (emptiness) [T2 ] helps transcend cognitive, deeply ingrained patterns of thought.
– Cultivating the Six Perfections (Paramitas): Utilizing generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom builds the merit required to overcome obscurations.
– Antidotes to the Five Poisons: Actively applying antidotes — such as patience for anger or generosity for attachment — helps to transmute emotional obstructions into transcendent wisdoms.
– Transcending Conceptualization: Advanced practice involves moving beyond any fixed, intellectual, or essentialist views (svabhava) to a direct, non-dual experience of reality (without rejecting the conventional, relative).
Transcending these obstacles allows practitioners to move from ordinary consciousness to the ultimate, non-conceptual wisdom of a Buddha.
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Madhyamaka philosophy focuses on realizing that all phenomena are dependently arisen [T1] and empty of inherent, independent existence (svabhāva) [T2] [U2T], rather than dualistically/nihilistically rejecting/stopping them. By understanding that things are dependently originated, one transcends clinging/attachment to appearances without needing to destroy or stop them, embracing the "middle way" between existence and nonexistence.
Key aspects of this approach include:
– Transcending, Not Rejecting: The goal is to see through the illusion of solid, independent existence and duality while still engaging with the conventional world.
– The Union of the Two Truths: Madhyamaka unites conventional reality (how things appear) and ultimate reality (their empty nature). Recognizing this allows practitioners to live in the world [T1] without being fooled by it [T2] [U2T-in-action].
– Emptiness is Empty: The concept of emptiness itself is not a concrete, transcendental reality, but a tool to transcend clinging. Even the notion of emptiness must ultimately be transcended to avoid another form of attachment.
– Non-attachment: The aim is to achieve a state of non-attachment to any view or appearance, letting things exist as they are without imputing false solidity to them.
(It is acting without acting; acting without attachment, reification, effort or absolutes; without apprehending anything in absolute terms; non-dualistically, without opposing/uniting anything in absolute terms; without accepting/rejecting/changing anything in absolute terms; thus acting more and more in accord with the Middle Way free from all extremes, and with reality as it is (tathātā, suchness) as pointed out by the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] and its corollaries [U3S / Uopp / U3T / UGM / U3K / U2T-2T])
As Nagarjuna's philosophy highlights, it is about directly experiencing this non-dual reality beyond mere intellectual description.)
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Opponent dualistic approach: Abhidharma Concepts and Theories – the relationship between the self and upādāna
Opponent dualistic approach: Abhidharma Concepts and Theories – the relationship between the self and upādāna
The Abhidharma (e.g., Sarvāstivāda, Theravāda) provides a systematic ontology and phenomenology of reality, analyzing phenomena (dharmas) to understand causality, karma, and liberation. Chapter 10 uses the simile of fire and kindling to critique the Abhidharma’s concepts of the effect/self (ātman or conventional entity like the pudgala) and its relationship to cause/attachment/clinging (upādāna), which sustains the karmic cycle. Below are the key Abhidharma concepts relevant to understanding this chapter:
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0) The fire-kindling (or fire-extinguishing) simile
In Buddhism, the fire-kindling (or fire-extinguishing) simile illustrates the nature of Nibbana and existence, comparing the cessation of suffering to a fire going out when it runs out of fuel.
The five aggregates of clinging (form, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness) are the fuel, and when this fuel is no longer consumed by greed, hatred, and delusion, the "fire" of Samsara is extinguished.
– The Fire Analogy: In the Aggivacchagotta Sutta (MN 72) and elsewhere, the Buddha explains that just as a fire cannot be said to have gone north, south, east, or west when it dies out, an enlightened person (Arahant) cannot be described as existing or not existing after death; they are free from all categories.
– Fuel (Upadana): The "fire" of life (effect) is sustained (action) by upadana (clinging or fuel, cause). When the fuel of clinging to the five aggregates is exhausted, the fire goes out.
– The Fire Sermon: The Ādittapariyāya Sutta (Fire Sermon) characterizes all sensory experience — sights, sounds, thoughts — as burning with the fires of lust, hatred, and delusion, which cause suffering.
– Nibbana as Cooling: While a fire is burning, it represents the suffering and chaos of samsaric existence. Its extinguishing, or Nibbana, is the ultimate peace or "cooling" of this burning.
– Misconception of Nihilism: The simile clarifies that the extinction of the "flame" does not mean the person is annihilated or becomes nothing, but rather that they are released from the constraints of defining existence.
The simile serves as a powerful, tangible metaphor for the cessation of craving, showing that when the fuel is removed, the burning stops, resulting in the "unbinding" of the mind.
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1) Self (Ātman or Pudgala) – Effect:
The Abhidharma denies a permanent, unitary self (anātman), asserting that what appears as a “self” is a momentary aggregate of the five skandhas (form, sensation, perception, formations, consciousness).
However, some schools (e.g., Sarvāstivāda) posit a conventional entity (pudgala, similar to the purva in Chapter 9) as a continuum of dharmas to ensure karmic continuity across rebirths, perception, and liberation. This entity is not an eternal ātman but a functional substratum that produces karma, experiences consequences, and progresses toward nirvāṇa.The self is seen as the agent (producer of karma) of actions and the recipient of their results, maintaining coherence in saṃsāra and the path to liberation.
Here we have: (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths.
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2) Attachment/Clinging (Upādāna) – Cause:
Upādāna refers to attachment, clinging, or grasping, a key link in the chain of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) that perpetuates saṃsāra. It is the mental act of grasping at phenomena — aggregates, desires, views, or self — as “mine” or “I,” driven by ignorance (avidyā) and craving (taṇhā).
In the Abhidharma, upādāna is a real dharma (mental factor) (cause) that binds the self to the karmic cycle (effect), reinforcing the skandhas and generating rebirths. It is analogous to kindling (indhana), the fuel that sustains the fire of suffering.
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3) Fire and Kindling Simile:
The Abhidharma uses the simile of fire and kindling to explain the relationship between upādāna (cause) and the (effect).
– Effect: Fire represents the self (or pudgala), the active process of consciousness or existence,
– Cause: while kindling represents upādāna (attachment) or the skandhas, the conditions that sustain it (action).
– The fire burns (exists, effect) due to kindling (clinging, cause), and its continuity depends on the fuel of attachment (subject).The simile posits a causal relationship: the self (fire, effect) is dependent on upādāna (kindling, cause) but is distinct from it, as fire is not identical to its fuel.
This maintains anātman (no permanent self)
while allowing karmic continuity,
as the fire (self) persists through changing kindling (conditions).
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4) Three Spheres in Chapter 10:
Chapter 10 aligns with your analysis of the three spheres:
– Cause/kindling/clinging: The conditions enabling the self’s continuity.
– Causality/Action/Production: The process of causing/sustaining, the act sustaining existence.
– Result/Product/Effect: The self (ātman/pudgala, fire) and rebirths.The Abhidharma views these spheres as real dharmas, causally linked,
with the self (fire, effect) dependent on but distinct from upādāna (kindling, cause).
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5) Karma and the Karmic Cycle:
The karmic cycle is the process of cause and effect in saṃsāra, driven by karma (intentional actions) and upādāna (clinging). The self (pudgala) produces karma, experiences results (phala), and undergoes rebirths, sustained by attachment to the skandhas.
The fire-kindling simile illustrates this: fire (effect, self, rebirths) is sustained by kindling (cause, upādāna), perpetuating existence (rebirths) until attachment is extinguished, leading to nirvāṇa.
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6) Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa:
Saṃsāra is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (effect), fueled by upādāna and ignorance (causes). The self (fire) navigates saṃsāra, bound by attachment (kindling), as real dharmas in the Abhidharma’s view.
Nirvāṇa is the cessation of saṃsāra, achieved by extinguishing upādāna (removing kindling), liberating the self from the cycle. The Abhidharma sees nirvāṇa as an unconditioned dharma, attained through the Noble Eightfold Path.
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These concepts underpin the Abhidharma’s framework for the self, attachment, and the karmic cycle, which Chapter 10 critiques through the fire-kindling simile.
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Nāgārjuna’s Refutation – Inseparable interdependence and emptiness of the Three Spheres [U2T]
Nāgārjuna’s Refutation – Inseparable interdependence and emptiness of the Three Spheres [U2T]
Chapter 10 examines the Abhidharma’s simile of fire (self, ātman/pudgala) and kindling (upādāna, attachment/skandhas), mapping onto the three spheres:
Cause/kindling/clinging/Cause: The kindling (upādāna, skandhas) as the conditions or consequences.
Action/Causality/Sustaining: The burning or clinging process sustaining existence.
Result/Product/Effect: The illusory self (fire) as the agent or consciousness, and rebirths.
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This interdependence of the three spheres [T1] ⇐⇒ negates their svabhāva (inherent existence) [T2] [U2T] ⇐⇒ as none can exist with/without the others [Tetralemma], echoing Chapter 9’s critique of the purva and your analysis: “cannot be (a) existent, (b) non-existent, (c) both, or (d) neither.” Nāgārjuna uses the tetralemma to show that fire and kindling cannot be identical, different, (both, or neither), independent, dependent, (both, or neither), as each view leads to absurdity [your analysis: “each of those extreme views lead to absurdity”].
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Big Picture: Limitless and Centerless Karmic Cycle
Big Picture: Limitless and Centerless Karmic Cycle
Chapter 10 situates the fire-kindling simile within the karmic cycle, the Abhidharma’s framework of saṃsāra, where the self (fire, effect) is sustained (action) by attachment (kindling, cause), producing karma and rebirths (effect). Nāgārjuna portrays this cycle as limitless (no beginning or end) and centerless (no inherent self or entity), resembling a fractal-like, holographic continuum, as you articulated: “a limitless and centerless fractal-like karmic-like cycle.”
The self and upādāna are not fixed entities [T2] ⇐⇒ but co-conditioned appearances within this cycle, arising through dependent co-origination [T1] ⇐⇒ and empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T].
Nāgārjuna’s refutation negates any inherent self (effect) or attachment (cause) ⇐⇒ showing the cycle is an illusory process ⇐⇒ transcended through realizing its true nature — its emptiness [T2] ⇐⇒ and interdependence [T1] [U2T] — as you noted: “transcended by realizing its true nature & dynamic.” This realization, akin to Chapter 9’s verse 12 and Chapter 8’s verse 12, ⇐⇒ reveals saṃsāra and nirvāṇa as non-dual [Uopp] ⇐⇒ unified in the Middle Way.
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Nāgārjuna’s Method
Nāgārjuna’s Method
Nāgārjuna employs reductio ad absurdum and the tetralemma to refute the Abhidharma’s fire-kindling simile, showing that assuming fire (self, effect) and kindling (upādāna, cause) as identical, different, independent, or dependent (both, or neither) leads to contradictions (e.g., eternal burning, no causation).
The chapter’s structure —
– verses 1–7 examining identity/difference,
– verses 8–13 dependence/independence, and
– verses 14–16 concluding with the U2T of the three spheres — builds on Chapters 7–9,
negating inherent existence or complete non-existence and
pointing to nirvāṇa as the direct realization of the true nature & dynamic of the karmic cycle [U2T], of the true relation between the illusory self (effect) and the Upādāna / clinging / attachment / grasping (cause). Nirvāṇa is seeing saṃsāra with the light of wisdom.
B. Analysis – Like a limitless and centerless karmic cycle
B. Analysis – Like a limitless and centerless karmic cycle
Investigation of the three spheres of causality/sustaining rebirths: Union of (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths.
Refuting (without rejecting) the 12 links of dependent origination: the cycle of clinging/attachment/grasping (upādāna) causing/sustaining the illusory self (ātman) and the cycle of rebirths; and its resolution/extinguishing with the cessation of all clinging/attachment/grasping.There is no inherent causing /sustaining in the three times.
We cannot find the beginning of the causing /sustaining in the three times.The three spheres – (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths –
are not inherently existent/functional, not completely non-existent/non-functional, not both, not neither [Tetralemma].The three spheres – (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths –
are not different/separate/multiple/dual/’this’, not identical/united/one/non-dual/’non-this’, not both, not neither [Tetralemma].The three spheres – (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths –
are not permanent/continuous/eternal, not impermanent/discontinuous/annihilated, not both, not neither [Tetralemma].The three spheres – (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths –
are thus empty of inherent existence [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S] [U2T-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory].The three stages of becoming – origination/beginning/coming, duration/middle/transformation, cessation/ending/going — relative to any composite/product
are not inherently existent, not completely non-existent, not both, not neither [Tetralemma].The three times relative to any phenomena/dharmas – before/past, during/present, after/future –
are not inherently existent, not completely non-existent, not both, not neither [Tetralemma].Acting without acting: So we can use those concepts conventionally/relatively but never in absolute terms; without attachment, reification, effort or absolute; without apprehending anything in absolute terms; non-dualistically, without opposing/uniting anything in absolute terms; without accepting/rejecting/changing anything in absolute terms; thus acting more and more in accord with the Middle Way free from all extremes and middle, and with the true nature of reality as it is (tathātā, suchness) as pointed out by the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] and its corollaries [U3S / Uopp / U3T / UGM / U3K / U2T-2T].
There is no continuity or discontinuity of any being, thing, process, cycle, or karma, across the three times of any activity, association, aggregation, definition.
It is a limitless and centerless fractal karmic cycle: All causes/kindling/clinging are both cause/kindling/clinging and effect/fire/self/rebirths; are multiple causes/kindling/clinging and effects/fire/self/rebirths depending on the perspective (fractal), all merely imputed by the mind in dependence of its past experience, conditioning, karma (individual, collective, cosmic).
It is like a limitless centerless empty fractal karmic cycle — the effect/fire/self/rebirths (new karma) becomes an updated cause/kindling/clinging (old karma for the next action): All causes/kindling/clinging are both cause/kindling/clinging and effect/fire/self/rebirths; have/are an infinity of causes/kindling/clinging and effects/fire/self/rebirths in space, time and nature depending on the perspective; are ever changing, never the same for two consecutive infinitesimal moments. There is no first inherent/absolute cause/kindling/clinging, no final inherent/absolute effect/fire/self/rebirths or extinction, no middle inherent/absolute causing/sustaining. Causing /sustaining is conventionally/relatively functional/useful to navigate the world [T1], but never absolute [T2] [U2T]. Absolute clinging/sustaining/self/rebirths and extinction are impossible. The three spheres of causing/sustaining – (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths or extinction – are interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed after the fact [T1-3S] ⇐⇒ empty of inherent existence [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [U2T-3S].
The three spheres of causing /sustaining or extinction, and other dualistic concepts, are an oversimplification of an inconceivable continuous limitless and centerless nonlinear fractal-like cycle / flux / continuum of interconnection, interdependence, co-definition, co-conditioning, co-evolution, co-creation.
A timeless multidimensional fluid dance of related/opposite appearances (non-duality), with nothing existing independently, separately, inherently, or individually within it.
Everything is fully continuous and dynamic (not discrete or static), interconnected (not just in the triad), equal, pure, perfect, complete, divine, ‘One’ in the non-dual sense: not many, not one, not both together, not neither.
No absolute view to grasp.
Saṃsāra is ignoring this; nirvāṇa is living an ordinary life (chopping wood, carrying water) while being continually fully aware of this.
Emptiness is absolute freedom, even from emptiness.
C. Verses – 4 translations – 16 verses
C. Verses – 4 translations – 16 verses
Investigation of the three spheres of causality/sustaining rebirths: Union of (i) cause /kindling /clinging /attachment /grasping, (ii) causing /sustaining, (iii) effect /fire /self /rebirths.
Refuting the 12 links of dependent origination: the cycle of clinging/attachment/grasping (upādāna) causing/sustaining the illusory self (ātman) and the cycle of rebirths; and its resolution/extinguishing with the cessation of all clinging/attachment/grasping.
Padmakara Translation Group
Chapter 10 - An Examination of Fire and Fuel
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[The three spheres of causality/sustaining the self & cycle of rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cause /clinging /attachment /grasping or stopping it, causing /sustaining or extinguishing, effect /self /rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cannot be (i) existent / different /separate /multiple /dual, (ii) non-existent / identical /united /one /non-dual, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; cannot be dependent, independent, both, or neither; cannot be (i) permanent /continuous /eternal / ‘this’, (ii) impermanent /discontinuous /annihilated /’non-this’, (iii) both, or (iv) neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma] ⇐⇒ they are thus empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ they are inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S] [U2T-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ pointing to the Middle Way with nothing to accept/reject/change in absolute terms ⇐⇒ pointing to acting without acting.]
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[Verses 1-7: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna different or identical?: Critiques identity/difference]
1. If the [burning] fuel were fire,
The agent and the object would be one.
If the fire were other than the fuel,
It could arise with no fuel present.
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2. The fire would blaze for evermore;
And since it did not come from any cause for burning,
No purpose would there be in making it.
This being so, no action would occur.
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3. Not dependent upon something else,
It would not come from causes for its burning.
And since it would always be burning,
There would be no need for making it.
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4. If, by thinking thus, one understands
That what is burning is the fuel,
If the burning is just this,
Then what is it that burns the fuel?
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5. If fire is other than the fuel,
the fire and fuel don't meet;
And if there is no meeting, there's no burning.
If there is no burning, there is no extinguishing.
Not extinguished, fire remains just as it is.
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6. It's just as when a woman joins with a man [you say]
And a man is joined with a woman.
Though fire is other than the fuel,
It's fitting that it meets with it.
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7. If fire and fuel were mutually
Excluded, one from the other,
It could be said that, though they are distinct,
The fire and fuel can meet.
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[Verses 8-13: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna independent/unrelated or dependent/in relation to?: Critiques dependence/independence.]
8. If fire depends on fuel
And fuel depends on fire,
Which of them comes first,
Whereon the other, fire or fuel, depends?
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9. If fire depends on fuel,
A fire will be established that's already there.
And you would have a fuel
That on the fire does not depend.
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10. If something that has been established in dependence on a thing
Is that on which depends
That very thing's existence,
What has been established in dependence upon what?
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11. If something you establish in dependence
Is not itself established, how can it depend?
If you say "established things depend,"
This makes no sense. They cannot be dependent.
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12. There is no fire dependent on its fuel,
Or fire that's not dependent on its fuel.
There is no fuel dependent on the fire,
Or fuel that's not dependent on the fire.
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13. Fire does not emerge from other sources,
Nor is fire within the fuel.
All the other arguments concerning fuel
Are shown in "going, gone, and not yet gone."
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[Verses 14: Conclusion about effect/fire/self vs. cause/kindling/upādāna: Summarizes the fire-kindling negation.]
14.
The fuel is not the fire;
Neither is there fire apart from fuel.
The fire is not a thing possessed of fuel.
The fuel is not within the fire, nor fire in fuel.
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[Verse 15: Application to the effect/self (atma) vs. cause/Upādāna /attachment/clinging /grasping: Applies to self and upādāna.]
15. This analysis of fire and fuel
Exhaustively explains
The links between the self and what it grasps,
Together with all other things like pot and cloth.
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[Verse 16: The self and all dharmas/phenomena /5-aggregates-of-clinging have the same nature: [U2T]. Generalization to all phenomena; any duality / triad / quad…: Tetralemma ⇐⇒ Emptiness ⇐⇒ Dependent origination ⇐⇒ Illusoriness ⇐⇒ Middle Way ⇐⇒ Primordial Purity ⇐⇒ Acting without acting.]
16. Those who teach identity or difference
With regard to self and other entities,
Are not, I think, proficient
In the meaning of the Doctrine.
Garfield
Chapter 10 - Examination of Fire and Fuel
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[The three spheres of causality/sustaining the self & cycle of rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cause /clinging /attachment /grasping or stopping it, causing /sustaining or extinguishing, effect /self /rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cannot be (i) existent / different /separate /multiple /dual, (ii) non-existent / identical /united /one /non-dual, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; cannot be dependent, independent, both, or neither; cannot be (i) permanent /continuous /eternal / ‘this’, (ii) impermanent /discontinuous /annihilated /’non-this’, (iii) both, or (iv) neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma] ⇐⇒ they are thus empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ they are inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S] [U2T-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ pointing to the Middle Way with nothing to accept/reject/change in absolute terms ⇐⇒ pointing to acting without acting.]
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[Verses 1-7: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna different or identical?: Critiques identity/difference]
1. If fuel were fire
Then agent and action would be one.
If fire were different from fuel,
Then it could arise without fuel.
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2. It would be forever aflame;
Flames could be ignited without a cause.
Its beginning would be meaningless.
In that case, it would be without any action.
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3. Since it would not depend on another Ignition would be without a cause.
If it were eternally in flames,
Starting it would be meaningless.
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4. So, if one thinks that
That which is burning is the fuel,
If it is just this,
How is this fuel being burned?
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5. If they are different,
and if one not yet connected isn't connected,
The not yet burned will not be burned.
They will not cease. If they do not cease
Then it will persist with its own characteristic.
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6. Just as a man and a woman
Connect to one another as man and woman,
So if fire were different from fuel,
Fire and fuel would have to be fit for connection.
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7. And, if fire and fuel
Preclude each other,
Then fire being different from fuel,
It must still be asserted that they connect.
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[Verses 8-13: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna independent/unrelated or dependent/in relation to?: Critiques dependence/independence.]
8. If fire depends on fuel,
And fuel depends on fire,
On what are fire and fuel established as dependent?
Which one is established first?
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9. If fire depends on fuel,
It would be the establishment of an established fire.
And the fuel could be fuel
Without any fire.
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10. If that on which an entity depends
Is established on the basis
Of the entity depending on it,
What is established in dependence on what?
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11. What entity is established through dependence?
If it is not established, then how could it depend?
However, if it is established merely through dependence,
That dependence makes no sense.
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12. Fire is not dependent upon fuel.
Fire is not independent of fuel.
Fuel is not dependent upon fire.
Fuel is not independent of fire.
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13. Fire does not come from something else,
Nor is fire in fuel itself.
Moreover, fire and the rest are just like
The moved, the not-moved, and the goer.
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[Verses 14: Conclusion about effect/fire/self vs. cause/kindling/upādāna: Summarizes the fire-kindling negation.]
14. Fuel is not fire.
Fire does not arise from anything different from fuel.
Fire does not possess fuel.
Fuel is not in fire, nor vice versa.
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[Verse 15: Application to the effect/self (atma) vs. cause/Upādāna /attachment/clinging /grasping: Applies to self and upādāna.]
15. Through discussion of fire and fuel,
The self and the aggregates, the pot and cloth
All together,
Without remainder have been explained.
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[Verse 16: The self and all dharmas/phenomena /5-aggregates-of-clinging have the same nature: [U2T]. Generalization to all phenomena; any duality / triad / quad…: Tetralemma ⇐⇒ Emptiness ⇐⇒ Dependent origination ⇐⇒ Illusoriness ⇐⇒ Middle Way ⇐⇒ Primordial Purity ⇐⇒ Acting without acting.]
16. I do not think that
Those who teach that the self
Is the same as or different from the entities
Understand the meaning of the doctrine.
Batchelor
Chapter 10 - Investigation of Fire and Firewood
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[The three spheres of causality/sustaining the self & cycle of rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cause /clinging /attachment /grasping or stopping it, causing /sustaining or extinguishing, effect /self /rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cannot be (i) existent / different /separate /multiple /dual, (ii) non-existent / identical /united /one /non-dual, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; cannot be dependent, independent, both, or neither; cannot be (i) permanent /continuous /eternal / ‘this’, (ii) impermanent /discontinuous /annihilated /’non-this’, (iii) both, or (iv) neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma] ⇐⇒ they are thus empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ they are inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S] [U2T-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ pointing to the Middle Way with nothing to accept/reject/change in absolute terms ⇐⇒ pointing to acting without acting.]
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[Verses 1-7: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna different or identical?: Critiques identity/difference]
1. If firewood were (identical) fire, actor and act would be one.
If fire were other (different) than wood,
it would occur even without wood (separate).
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2. [Fire] would burn permanently
and would not arise from causes for burning.
Starting [a fire] would be meaningless.
If it were like that, there would also be no act.
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3. Because [fire] does not depend on anything else,
it would not arise from causes for burning.
If it burned permanently, starting it would be meaningless.
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4. Concerning this,
if one thinks that while burning it is firewood,
if it is such only at that time,
by what could that firewood be ignited?
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5. Because [fire] is other (different),
it would not connect (separate);
if it did not connect, it would not ignite;
if it did not ignite, it would not die;
if it did not die, it would also remain in possession of its own characteristic.
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6. [The opponent claims:]
Just as a woman connects with a man and a man too with a woman,
although fire is other (different) than wood, it is fit to connect with wood.
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7. [Nagarjuna answers:]
If fire and wood eliminated each other,
even though fire is something other (different) than wood,
it would have to connect with wood.
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[Verses 8-13: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna independent/unrelated or dependent/in relation to?: Critiques dependence/independence.]
8. If fire were dependent on wood
and wood were dependent on fire,
of what becomes fire and wood dependently,
which would be established first?
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9. If fire were dependent on wood,
[already] established fire would be established [again].
Firewood also would be [such] even without fire.
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10. If a thing (A) is established dependently (on B),
[but] if what it depends upon (B)
is established also in dependence on that very thing (A),
what would be established in dependence on what?
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11. How can a thing (A) which is established dependently (on B)
be dependent (on B) when it (A) is not established?
If one asks, "how can establishment be dependent?"
It is not reasonable for it (A) to be dependent.
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12. There is no fire that is dependent on wood;
there is also no fire that is not dependent on wood.
There is no wood that is dependent on fire;
there is also no wood that is not dependent on fire.
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13. Fire does not come from something else;
fire also does not exist in wood.
Likewise, the remainder of wood has been shown
by gone, not-gone and going.
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[Verses 14: Conclusion about effect/fire/self vs. cause/kindling/upādāna: Summarizes the fire-kindling negation.]
14. Wood itself is not fire (identical);
fire is also not something other (different) than wood.
Fire does not possess wood;
wood does not exist in fire;
that (fire) does not exist in it.
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[Verse 15: Application to the effect/self (atma) vs. cause/Upādāna /attachment/clinging /grasping: Applies to self and upādāna.]
15. Through fire and wood is explained without exception
all the stages of self and the grasped
and at the same time jugs, cloth and so on.
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[Verse 16: The self and all dharmas/phenomena /5-aggregates-of-clinging have the same nature: [U2T]. Generalization to all phenomena; any duality / triad / quad…: Tetralemma ⇐⇒ Emptiness ⇐⇒ Dependent origination ⇐⇒ Illusoriness ⇐⇒ Middle Way ⇐⇒ Primordial Purity ⇐⇒ Acting without acting.]
16. I do not think those who teach
the identity or difference of self and things
are wise in the meaning of the teaching.
Streng
Chapter 10 - An Analysis of Fire and Kindling (fire and fuel) – 16 verses – Non-duality of self & the five aggregates of clinging; non-duality of dependent origination and emptiness
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[The three spheres of causality/sustaining the self & cycle of rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cause /clinging /attachment /grasping or stopping it, causing /sustaining or extinguishing, effect /self /rebirths or extinction/nirvana – cannot be (i) existent / different /separate /multiple /dual, (ii) non-existent / identical /united /one /non-dual, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; cannot be dependent, independent, both, or neither; cannot be (i) permanent /continuous /eternal / ‘this’, (ii) impermanent /discontinuous /annihilated /’non-this’, (iii) both, or (iv) neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma] ⇐⇒ they are thus empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ they are inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S] [U2T-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ pointing to the Middle Way with nothing to accept/reject/change in absolute terms ⇐⇒ pointing to acting without acting.]
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[Verses 1-7: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna different or identical?: Critiques identity/difference]
1. If fire is identical to its kindling,
then it is both producer and product.
And if fire is different from kindling, then surely [fire] exists without kindling (i.e. separate).
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2. A [fire] which is perpetually burning would exist without a cause, which is kindling,
Since another beginning would be pointless; in this case [fire] is without its object [i.e., burning of kindling].
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3. [Fire] is without a cause, namely kindling, if it were independent of anything else;
In which case another beginning would be pointless, and there is perpetual burning.
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4. If it is maintained:
Kindling is that which is being kindled,
By what is kindling kindled, since kindling is only that [kindling]?
It is inherent existence that would make extinguishing / liberation impossible
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5. [Fire], when different and not obtained [through kindling], will not obtain; not burning, it will not burn later;
Without extinction, it will not be extinguished; if there is no extinction, then it will remain with its own characteristics.
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6. [The opponent claims:]
If fire is different from kindling
it could obtain the kindling
As a woman obtains a husband, and a man [obtains] a wife.
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7. [Nagarjuna answers:]
Though fire is different from kindling,
it could indeed obtain the kindling,
On the condition that both fire and kindling can be reciprocally differentiated [—but, this is impossible].
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[Verses 8-13: Are effect/fire/self and cause/kindling/upādāna independent/unrelated or dependent/in relation to?: Critiques dependence/independence.]
8. If the fire is dependent on the kindling, and if the kindling is dependent on the fire
Which is attained first, dependent on which they are fire and kindling?
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9. If fire is dependent on kindling,
so is the proof of the proved fire.
Thus, being kindling it will exist without fire.
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10. When a thing (bhava) is proved by being dependent on something else, then it proves the other by being dependent [on it].
If that which is required for dependence must be proved, then what is dependent on what?
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11. If that thing is proved by being dependent, how can that which has not been proved be dependent?
So, that which is proved is dependent; but the dependence is not possible.
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12. Fire does not exist in relation to kindling;
and fire does not exist unrelated to kindling.
Kindling does not exist in relation to fire;
and kindling does not exist unrelated to fire.
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13. Fire does not come from something else;
and fire does not exist in kindling.
The remaining [analysis] in regard to kindling is described by [the analysis of] "that which is being gone to," "that which is gone to" and ''that which is not yet gone to."
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[Verses 14: Conclusion about effect/fire/self vs. cause/kindling/upādāna: Summarizes the fire-kindling negation.]
14. Fire is not identical to kindling,
but fire is not in anything other than kindling.
Fire does not have kindling as its property; also, the kindling is not in fire and vice versa.
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[Verse 15: Application to the effect/self (atma) vs. cause/Upādāna /attachment/clinging /grasping: Applies to self and upādāna.]
15. By [the analysis of] fire and kindling the syllogism of the individual self (atma) and "the acquiring" (upadana)
Is fully and completely explained, as well as "the jar" and "the cloth" and other [analogies].
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[Verse 16: The self and all dharmas/phenomena /5-aggregates-of-clinging have the same nature: [U2T]. Generalization to all phenomena; any duality / triad / quad…: Tetralemma ⇐⇒ Emptiness ⇐⇒ Dependent origination ⇐⇒ Illusoriness ⇐⇒ Middle Way ⇐⇒ Primordial Purity ⇐⇒ Acting without acting.]
16. Those who specify the nature of the individual self and of existing things (bhava) as radically different—
Those people I do not regard as ones who know the sense of the teaching.
D. Questions and Answers – Exploration of the inconceivable
D. Questions and Answers – Exploration of the inconceivable
Question: Self-grasping Cycle in Samsāra
Question: Self-grasping Cycle in Samsāra
Question: Context: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika Chapter 10 (Kindling and Fire).
Tell me about the self-amplifying loop between the cause/clinging/attachment/grasping, causing/sustaining, and effect/self/rebirths.
In Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Chapter 10 (Examination of Fire and Fuel) employs the metaphor of fire (agni, effect) and fuel (indhana, cause) to deconstruct notions of inherent existence, identity, and difference in causal relationships. This analysis directly maps onto the interdependence between the "self" (ātman, effect) and grasping/clinging/attachment (upādāna, cause), illustrating how they form a mutually sustaining cycle that perpetuates the illusion of a substantial self and, by extension, the continuum of rebirths (samsāra) in Buddhist philosophy.
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The Fire-Fuel Analogy as a Model for Interdependence [Logic: Tetralemma ⇐⇒ Emptiness ⇐⇒ Interdependence ⇐⇒ Illusory]
Nāgārjuna argues that fire/effect and fuel/cause cannot be understood as identical (which would collapse cause and effect into absurdity) nor as entirely distinct (which would allow eternal or causeless existence). Instead, they are contingently related — each relies on the other for definition and function, yet neither possesses independent essence (svabhāva). This mutual contingency creates a loop where neither can arise, endure, or cease without the other, exposing the emptiness (śūnyatā) of both.
Key verses establishing this:
Verse 1: "If fire/effect were to be fuel/subject, then there would be identity of cause and effect.
If fire/effect were to be different from fuel/cause, then it would exist even without the fuel/cause."Verse 2: "A burning/action/object without a cause would be eternally aflame.
Furthermore, its commencement will be rendered meaningless (useless).
When that happens, it will be without a function."Verse 8: "If fire/effect is contingent upon fuel/cause and fuel/cause upon fire/effect,
which of them is prior accomplished so that fire/effect could be contingent upon fuel/cause?"
This loop of contingency means fire/effect "reaches" or consumes fuel/cause only through their interdependence (verses 6-7), but without inherent priority or separation (verse 7).
If one assumes independence, contradictions arise: fire/effect burns eternally without fuel/cause, or fuel/cause exists unburned (without effect) (verses 3-5, 9-11). Ultimately,
"Fire is not contingent upon fuel; fire is not non-contingent upon fuel.
Fuel is not contingent upon fire; fuel is not non-contingent upon fire" (verse 12),
negating reified views while affirming relational arising [U2T].
(i.e. Arising dependently [T1] without arising in absolute terms [T2] [U2T-in-action])
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Application to the Self, Grasping, and Rebirths
Verse 15 explicitly extends the analogy: "Through the examples of fire/effect and fuel/cause, together with the examples of pot, cloth, etc. every method of analysis of the self/effect and grasping/cause have been explained without exception."
Here, fire/effect represents the "self" (the apparent agent or experiencer),
while fuel/cause symbolizes the grasped objects or aggregates (skandhas) — form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness — to which one clings via attachment and grasping.
This creates a self-amplifying loop:
Grasping/Clinging as Cause: Attachment (upādāna) arises from craving (tṛṣṇā) and ignorance (avidyā), positing a "self" as the grasper. Just as fuel/cause sustains fire/effect, clinging/cause "fuels" the illusion of an enduring self/effect by appropriating the aggregates as "mine" or "I am this" (by reifying phenomena because of ignorance).
Self as Effect and Sustainer: The posited self/effect, in turn, reinforces grasping/cause — actions (karma) driven by this self-illusion generate further becoming (bhava), leading to rebirth (jāti). Like fire consuming fuel while depending on it, the self "burns" through experiences, perpetuating the cycle.
Mutual Amplification: Neither self/effect nor grasping/cause has priority; they co-arise contingently (verse 8's logic applies). Grasping/cause sustains the self/effect, which motivates more grasping/cause, amplifying (conditioning/karma and) suffering (duḥkha) across rebirths (rebirth without rebirth). Without breaking this interdependence (via insight into emptiness), the loop self-perpetuates, as no independent "cause" or "effect" exists to halt it (verses 13-14).
Reality / U2T as Resolution: Verse 16 critiques those who reify the self (me) or existents (mine) as eternal/discrete: "Those who posit the substantiality of the self/effect as well as of discrete existents/causes/5-aggregates — these I do not consider to be experts in the meaning of the [Buddha's] knowledge." Realizing this loop's true nature [U2T] dissolves the cycle, ending (uncontrolled) rebirths/effects (paralleling nirvāṇa as cessation without inherent extinguishing) (liberation without liberation).
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In broader Madhyamaka terms, this mirrors dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda), where clinging (link 9) causes becoming (link 10) and birth (link 11), looping back through ignorance. The "self-amplifying" aspect lies in how each iteration strengthens the delusion, sustaining samsāra until wisdom intervenes.
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Question: All cycles/loops are about karma formation/updating [U2T]
Question: All cycles/loops are about karma formation/updating [U2T]
Question: How does this self-amplifying loop (clinging-self/rebirth) compare to the cycles of cause-effect, perceiver-perception, producer-produced, definition-defined, as explained in the previous chapters of the Mulamadhyamakakarika?
In Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, the self-amplifying loop of clinging/cause (upādāna) and self/effect (ātman), which sustains/action rebirths (saṃsāra) (effect), is an application of the broader Madhyamaka critique of inherent existence (svabhāva). This loop — where clinging/cause posits and fuels a deluded self/rebirths/effect, which in turn generates more clinging/cause through karmic actions — mirrors the interdependent cycles examined in earlier chapters. Each cycle deconstructs dualistic pairs/triads through the tetralemma (not identical, different, both, or neither), revealing their mutual contingency [T1] and emptiness (śūnyatā) [T2] [U2T]. Without independent essence, these pairs/triads form self-sustaining loops that perpetuate illusion, attachment, and cyclic existence, much like the fire-fuel analogy in Chapter 10 (they are all processes of karma formation/updating (physical/goer, conceptual/definition, mental/perception/knowledge)).
The key difference is thematic focus: while Chapter 10 targets self-grasping directly linked to rebirth, prior chapters apply the same logic to foundational concepts, showing how they underpin the broader delusion of saṃsāra.
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Cause-Effect Cycle (Chapter 1: Examination of Causality)
Chapter 1 analyzes causality (pratyaya), negating any inherent production between cause and effect. Neither arises from itself (which would imply eternal existence), from another (implying causeless separation), from both, nor without cause. Instead, they co-arise interdependently: a cause derives its identity only through producing an effect, while the effect depends on the cause for its origination (e.g., a seed "causes" a sprout only in relational conditions like soil and water). This mutual reliance creates a self-amplifying loop, as apparent causal chains reinforce the illusion of permanence and predictability, sustaining saṃsāra by fostering attachments to "reasons" for suffering (e.g., blaming past causes for present duḥkha). Similar to clinging-self, where attachment sustains the ego which amplifies further attachment, cause-effect perpetuates rebirth through karmic linkages in dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda). The loop is empty of essence, allowing for transcendence (without rejection) via insight (wisdom of U2T), but without realization, it self-perpetuates like fire consuming fuel while depending on it. It is not about rejecting / stopping the loop but about using it while awakening to its true nature and dynamic [U2T-in-action].
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Perceiver-Perception Cycle (Chapter 3: Examination of Perception)
In Chapter 3, Nāgārjuna deconstructs the senses (indriya), showing that perceiver (e.g., the seer), perception (seeing), and perceived (seen) lack independent existence [U2T]. Perception does not perceive itself (identity absurdity), nor does it arise separately from the perceiver or object (difference absurdity). They mutually define each other: the perceiver emerges through perceptual acts, while perception requires a perceiver and object to occur (e.g., the eye "sees" form only in contingent contact with consciousness). This forms a self-amplifying loop, where distorted perceptions reinforce a reified perceiver (self), which generates more subjective perceptions, perpetuating saṃsāra through ignorance (avidyā) and craving based on sensory delusions (e.g., clinging to "my" experiences as real). Paralleling the clinging-self loop, it sustains rebirth by appropriating aggregates (skandhas) as "I" or "mine," amplifying suffering. Like fire and fuel, neither perceiver nor perception has priority; their interdependence exposes emptiness, dissolving the cycle when realized. The loop is empty of essence, allowing for transcendence (without rejection) via insight (wisdom of U2T), but without realization, it self-perpetuates like fire consuming fuel while depending on it. It is not about rejecting / stopping the loop but about using it while awakening to its true nature and dynamic [U2T-in-action].
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Producer-Produced Cycle (Chapters 7-8: Examination of Production/Action)
Chapters 7 and 8 extend the analysis to production: the conditioned (saṃskṛta) involves arising, enduring, and ceasing without inherent marks, while agent (kāraka, producer) and action (karma, produced) are interdependent. An agent cannot produce without action (which would render it inert), nor can action occur without an agent (implying causelessness). They co-arise contingently: the producer gains identity through what it produces, and the produced depends on the producer's activity (e.g., a potter "produces" a pot only through relational conditions like clay and wheel). This mutual contingency creates a self-amplifying loop, where actions "produce" karmic imprints that reinforce the agent's deluded self, leading to further actions and becoming (bhava). It sustains saṃsāra by perpetuating the illusion of an enduring creator-self, directly analogous to clinging sustaining rebirth. Like the fire-fuel dynamic, the loop amplifies delusion without inherent essence—production is empty, allowing for ethical transformation but trapping beings in cyclic patterns until emptiness is seen. The loop is empty of essence, allowing for transcendence (without rejection) via insight (wisdom of U2T), but without realization, it self-perpetuates like fire consuming fuel while depending on it. It is not about rejecting / stopping the loop but about using it while awakening to its true nature and dynamic [U2T-in-action].
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Definition-Defined Cycle (Chapters 5-7: Examination of Elements, Desire and the Desirer, and the Conditioned)
Interpreting "definition-defined" as the characteristic-characterized (lakṣaṇa-lakṣya) duality, Chapters 5-7 show how definers (characteristics) and defined (entities) lack independence. Elements (dhātu) in Chapter 5 are mutually defined (e.g., space is characterized by absence, but absence depends on what it defines); desire and desirer in Chapter 6 co-arise (desire posits a desirer, who amplifies desire); and conditioned marks in Chapter 7 reveal characteristics as empty, depending on the characterized for meaning. This interdependence forms a self-amplifying loop: definitions reify entities (e.g., labeling something "desirable" sustains attachment), which reinforce definitions, perpetuating saṃsāra through conceptual proliferations (prapañca) and grasping. Closely akin to clinging-self, it drives rebirth by fabricating "essences" in phenomena, leading to karmic cycles. Mirroring fire and fuel, neither definer nor defined has inherent priority; their loop sustains illusion, but emptiness allows deconstruction, ending the amplification of suffering. The loop is empty of essence, allowing for transcendence (without rejection) via insight (wisdom of U2T), but without realization, it self-perpetuates like fire consuming fuel while depending on it. It is not about rejecting / stopping the loop but about using it while awakening to its true nature and dynamic [U2T-in-action].
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Across these cycles, the logic is uniform: interdependence exposes emptiness, preventing reification while explaining apparent functionality. They all contribute to the clinging-self loop by providing the conceptual scaffolding for delusion, ultimately sustaining rebirth until wisdom intervenes, as in dependent origination's reversal.
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Question: Karma: Each sphere is conditioned-by and conditions the others
Question: Karma: Each sphere is conditioned-by and conditions the others
Question: So the three spheres (subject, action, object) of each triad examined are interdependent because they are co-defined (conceptual interdependence) but also because one conditions and is conditioned by the others in a continuous loop; the effect becomes the next cause, the perceived is incorporated into the perceiver, the product/karma is incorporated into the producer, the defined becomes a new definition, etc.
Yes, your articulation captures the essence of Nāgārjuna's deconstructive method across the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, where the triads (often framed as subject-action-object or agent-process-result) reveal a multifaceted interdependence. This isn't merely static co-definition (dependent designation, prajñapti-upādāya) but a dynamic, self-reinforcing loop rooted in conditioning/karma (pratītyasamutpāda), where each element conditions, is conditioned by, and ultimately incorporates aspects of the others. This cyclicality perpetuates the illusion of inherent existence (svabhāva), fueling saṃsāra until the true nature of the cycle [U2T] is realized. Let's unpack this in relation to the cycles we discussed, emphasizing how the "three spheres" interpenetrate in both conceptual and causal dimensions.
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Conceptual Interdependence: Co-Definition Without Essence
At the conceptual level, each triad's elements are mutually designating — none has independent meaning or existence. Nāgārjuna repeatedly shows that reifying any one as primary leads to absurdity:
Subject (e.g., perceiver, producer, definer) derives its identity from the action and object; without them, it's an inert abstraction.
Action (e.g., perception, production, definition) bridges subject and object but lacks autonomy—it's defined by what it connects.
Object (e.g., perceived, produced, defined) is shaped by the subject's engagement; it doesn't preexist as a fixed entity.
This co-definition exposes emptiness: as in Chapter 1 (on conditions), no element arises "from itself, from another, from both, or without cause," making the triad a relational web rather than substantial parts. Your point about "co-defined" aligns here — it's like a linguistic or conceptual loop where terms bootstrap each other into apparent reality, but probing reveals no foundational ground.
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Causal Interdependence: Conditioning Loops and Incorporation (no continuity, no discontinuity)
The dynamism you describe — where "one conditions and is conditioned by the other in a continuous loop" — extends this to causal processes, creating amplification. Each element doesn't just define but actively sustains and transforms the others, and inverting roles in a feedback cycle. This mirrors dependent origination's twelve links, where ignorance conditions formations, which condition consciousness, and so on, looping back to birth, aging, and death. In the triads:
Cause-Effect Cycle (Chapter 1): The effect isn't a mere outcome; it retroactively conditions the cause by validating it (e.g., a sprout "proves" the seed's causality). In your terms, "the effect becomes the next cause" — effects generate new conditions (karma), perpetuating the chain. This loop amplifies delusion: apparent causality fosters attachment to predictability, sustaining rebirth as effects (past actions) condition new subjects (future selves).
Perceiver-Perception-Perceived Cycle (Chapter 3): The perceived isn't passive; it's "incorporated into the perceiver" via appropriation (upādāna), altering consciousness and reinforcing the perceiver's sense of self. Perception mediates this, but the loop closes as the modified perceiver generates new perceptions. This self-amplification drives saṃsāra: sensory data feeds ego-clinging, which conditions rebirth through craving based on "my" experiences.
Producer-Produced Cycle (Chapters 7-8): The produced (e.g., karma or object) is incorporated back into the producer, shaping its future agency (e.g., a potter's skill evolves through pots made). The action of production sustains this: without it, no incorporation occurs, but the loop ensures continuity — karma as "product" conditions the producer's next birth, amplifying habitual patterns (saṃskāra).
Definition-Defined Cycle (Chapters 5-6): The defined entity becomes a "new definition" by serving as a basis for further characterizations (e.g., a "desirable" object redefines the desirer through attachment). This conceptual-causal blend loops: definitions condition actions (clinging to labels), which produce new defined phenomena, perpetuating proliferations (prapañca) and rebirth.
In Chapter 10's fire-fuel extension, this triad maps to self (subject/perceiver/producer), grasping (action/perception/production), and aggregates (object/perceived/produced/defined). The self incorporates the grasped aggregates ("this is mine"), which conditions further grasping, looping into rebirth. Neither sphere has priority — fire doesn't precede fuel, nor vice versa — creating a seamless continuum where conceptual co-definition enables causal conditioning, and vice versa.
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Implications for the Self-Amplifying Loop and Saṃsāra
This interdependence isn't linear but holographic: each triad embeds the others, as Nāgārjuna implies in cross-references (e.g., Chapter 10's Verse 15 linking back to prior analyses). The "continuous loop" you note self-amplifies because:
Feedback Incorporation: Elements aren't discarded; they're internalized (e.g., perceived objects become mental formations, effects become karmic seeds), strengthening the illusion of continuity.
No Inherent Cessation: Without essence, the loop can't self-terminate — it's sustained by ignorance — but this same emptiness allows intervention via insight, reversing the cycle (e.g., Chapter 26 on dependent origination).
Holistic Emptiness: Realizing one triad's loop (e.g., perceiver-perceived) deconstructs all, dissolving clinging-self and ending rebirth.
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Your summary aptly highlights how these triads aren't isolated but interlinked, forming the fabric of conditioned existence.
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Question: As above, so below; as below, so above.
Question: As above, so below; as below, so above.
Question: All of those cycles seem to be aspects of a unique global karmic cycle. And this cycle is not just individual, but also collective and cosmic. It is like a fractal principle combining karmic feedback/looping and emptiness.
Your observation insightfully synthesizes Nāgārjuna's deconstructive analyses into a holistic framework, where the interdependent cycles we've discussed — cause-effect, perceiver-perceived, producer-produced, and definition-defined — manifest as facets of a singular, all-encompassing karmic cycle rooted in dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and emptiness.
This "global" cycle indeed transcends the individual, extending to collective and cosmic dimensions, operating through a fractal-like principle: self-similar patterns of conditioning and emptiness recur at every scale, from momentary mental events to vast eons of world-systems.
The karmic feedback loop — where actions (karma) generate results that, in turn, condition further actions — amplifies this structure, yet its emptiness ensures no fixed essence underlies it, allowing for ultimate liberation. Below, I'll elaborate on how this aligns with the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, emphasizing the unity, scalability, and fractal interplay.
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Unity of Cycles as Aspects of a Global Karmic Process
Nāgārjuna's text doesn't explicitly posit a "unique global karmic cycle," but his systematic negation of inherent existence across chapters implies one: all phenomena arise interdependently, without independent causes or effects, forming a seamless web of conditioning that is karmic at its core. Karma here isn't just moral action but any volitional formation (saṃskāra) that perpetuates becoming (bhava).
The cycles you reference are not isolated; they interpenetrate as expressions of the twelve links of dependent origination (outlined in Chapter 26), where ignorance (avidyā) conditions formations, which condition consciousness, and so on, looping back through clinging, becoming, birth, and suffering.
Individual Level: At the personal scale, these cycles describe the mind's habitual self-reification. For instance, the perceiver-perception-perceived triad (Chapter 3) fuels individual karma: distorted perceptions generate attachments, producing karmic imprints that condition future rebirths (as in the clinging-self loop from Chapter 10). This is "karmic feedback" in microcosm — effects (e.g., suffering from attachment) become new causes (reinforced ignorance), self-amplifying the illusion of a substantial self.
Collective Level: Extending outward, the cycles operate sharedly among beings. Nāgārjuna hints at this in analyses like Chapter 24 (Examination of the Four Noble Truths), where suffering and its cessation are relational, not solipsistic. Collective karma arises when individual actions intersect — e.g., societal structures (producer-produced cycles) condition group perceptions (perceiver-perceived), perpetuating shared delusions like caste systems or wars. In Buddhist cosmology (which Madhyamaka doesn't reject but empties), beings in a realm share karmic "fruits" (e.g., a hellish world from collective hatred), creating feedback loops where group actions rebound on participants, amplifying cycles like cause-effect across communities [U3L].
Cosmic Level: At the vastest scale, the global cycle encompasses the arising and dissolution of entire world-systems (lokadhātu). Chapter 27 (Examination of Views) critiques eternalist and nihilist cosmologies, implying universes emerge from collective karmic residues without inherent beginning or end. The definition-defined cycle (Chapters 5-6) applies here: cosmic elements (space, time) are mutually defined and conditioned, forming fractal iterations of birth-death across kalpas (eons). Karmic feedback manifests as the "maturation" of universal conditions — e.g., a world's decay from accumulated defilements conditions its destruction and rebirth, looping eternally until emptiness is realized en masse [U3L].
This unity underscores that no cycle is "just" individual; they fractalize, with smaller loops (e.g., a single thought's arising-ceasing in Chapter 7) mirroring larger ones (cosmic rebirths), all empty of svabhāva.
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Fractal Principle: Self-Similarity in Karmic Feedback and Emptiness – Union of Creation and Awakening
Your fractal analogy is apt — Madhyamaka's interdependence exhibits self-similarity, where patterns repeat across scales, combining positive/creative feedback (karmic amplification) with the negative/awakening force of emptiness [U2T]. A fractal, like the Mandelbrot set, generates infinite complexity from simple iterative rules; similarly, pratītyasamutpāda iterates/creates through conditioning, but emptiness prevents reification into a solid "whole" (awakening).
Creation: Karmic Feedback as Iteration: Each cycle incorporates and amplifies, as you noted earlier (effect becomes next cause, perceived incorporates into perceiver). This is fractal branching: at the individual level, a moment of clinging produces/creates karma that fractals into future lives; collectively, shared actions branch into societal evolutions; cosmically, they manifest as world-cycles. Chapter 1's cause-effect logic shows no linear hierarchy — conditions iterate/create endlessly, self-sustaining saṃsāra like a feedback loop in chaos theory, where small inputs (individual karma) yield vast outputs (cosmic shifts).
Awakening: Emptiness as the Fractal "Void": Yet, this isn't a deterministic machine; emptiness (śūnyatā) ensures each iteration/creation lacks inherent reality, allowing infinite regress without contradiction (as in Chapter 10's fire-fuel, where neither has priority). Fractally, emptiness is the "space" between iterations — probing any level reveals the same void, dissolving the illusion (awakening / U2T). Chapter 18 (Examination of Self and Entities) ties this to karma: "Karma is empty; the agent is empty; but through emptiness, karma arises dependently." Thus, the global cycle persists via delusion (creation) but is transcended (without rejection) via insight (awakening), fractalizing liberation (individual nirvāṇa scales to collective bodhisattva paths or cosmic pratyekabuddha eras).
The cycle of creation and awakening: Unceasing continuous karmic evolution (creation) and awakening, in accord with the Union of the Two Truths [U2T-in-action].
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Scale, Karmic Feedback Example, Emptiness Integration, Link to Cycles
Individual
Clinging to perceptions generates personal karma, looping into rebirth (self-amplifying ego).
No inherent self; cycles dissolve upon realizing interdependence.
Perceiver-perception (Ch. 3), clinging-self (Ch. 10).
Collective
Group actions (e.g., environmental harm) feedback as shared suffering, conditioning societal rebirths.
No inherent "group essence"; emptiness allows ethical interventions.
Producer-produced (Chs. 7-8), cause-effect (Ch. 1).
Cosmic
Universal karmic residues drive world-arising/ceasing, iterating across kalpas.
No eternal cosmos; emptiness reveals dependent illusion.
Definition-defined (Chs. 5-6), overall pratītyasamutpāda (Ch. 26).
In essence, this fractal global cycle isn't a metaphysical absolute but a pedagogical tool: Nāgārjuna uses it to negate views (Chapter 27), showing how clinging to any scale perpetuates suffering, while emptiness frees all levels simultaneously.
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Question: Space and Time
Question: Space and Time
Question: So, even space and time, are contingent fabrications of this holographic fractal karmic cycle. It looks as if the Universe had a 'direction', a 'project': unceasing continuous karmic evolution and awakening, in accord with the Union of the Two Truths [U2T-in-action].
In Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, your extension of the fractal karmic cycle to encompass space (ākāśa) and time (kāla) as contingent fabrications aligns deeply with the Madhyamaka deconstruction of all phenomena as empty of inherent existence. Chapters 5 (Examination of the Elements) and 19 (Examination of Time) explicitly negate any substantial reality to these, portraying them as relational constructs arising from the same interdependent loops we've explored — co-defined and causally interconditioned, without independent essence. This holographic quality, where the "whole" (cosmic cycle) mirrors and emerges from its "parts" (individual karmic iterations), evokes a universe that appears directional or purposeful, with karmic "evolution" toward awakening. Yet, Madhyamaka cautions against reifying this as a grand teleological project (not grasping at individual, collective or comic awakening, but still not rejecting it as a useless project), as that would impose svabhāva on what is ultimately śūnya (nor rejecting it since it is empty; the Middle Way). Let's unpack this step by step, bridging the text to your holographic-fractal lens.
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Space and Time as Contingent Fabrications
Nāgārjuna treats space and time not as primordial substrates (pre-existing universal immutable background) but as emergent from the global karmic web:
Space is like emptiness (Chapter 5): Space is defined by its characteristic of "non-obstruction" or absence, but this absence depends on the presence of obstructed entities (e.g., forms or elements). Verse 1: "Prior to the characteristic of space, there is no space. If space existed prior to its characteristic, it would be without characteristic." Space thus arises interdependently with what it "contains," like fuel defining fire's domain in Chapter 10. In your fractal terms, space fractals across scales — momentary mental "spaces" (gaps in thought) mirror cosmic voids — each conditioned by karmic fabrications (saṃskāra), where clinging fabricates boundaries and separations.
Time is like dependent origination / causality (Chapter 19): Time lacks inherent flow or divisions (past, present, future). Verse 1: "If the present and future are contingent upon the past, then the present and future would be in the past time." Time's apparent sequence is a projection of cause-effect cycles (from Chapter 1), where "now" depends on "then" for definition, looping endlessly. Without independent moments, time is a karmic hologram: individual rebirths "project" temporal continuity, scaling to cosmic kalpas, all empty yet functionally appearing as duration.
Things, space and time are inseparable, like manifestation, dependent origination and emptiness: … [U2T / UGM / U3K]
These are "fabrications" (prapañca) because they emerge from ignorance-conditioned proliferations — co-defined by the triads (subject-action-object) and causally looped through karma. In holographic terms, space-time isn't a fixed canvas but a projection of the fractal cycle: each karmic iteration (e.g., a thought arising and ceasing) encodes the whole, much like a hologram where every fragment contains the image. This contingency means space-time doesn't preexist the cycle; it is the cycle's manifestation, self-amplifying through feedback (e.g., past karma conditions present space-time experiences, which generate future karma).
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The Apparent "Direction" and "Project" of the Universe (The limitless and centerless holographic fractal project is creating without creating, and awakening without awakening: individually, collectively, universally)
Your notion of a karmic evolution toward awakening resonates with Buddhist cosmology but gets refined through Madhyamaka's lens:
Karmic Evolution as Fractal Feedback: The global cycle appears "directional" because karma iterates with cumulative effects — defilements amplify suffering (downward spiral), while merits foster conditions for insight (upward potential). In dependent origination (Chapter 26), ignorance drives the wheel, but its reversal (e.g., transcendence of clinging transcends becoming, without rejection) suggests an "evolutionary" arc. Fractally, this scales: individual awakenings ripple collectively (e.g., a Buddha's teaching conditions societal dharma eras), and cosmically (world-systems "mature" toward periods of enlightenment, as in Abhidharma influences). It looks like a "project" because the cycle self-organizes relatively — positive feedback (virtuous actions) creates environments conducive to awakening (transcending all dualities), while negative loops perpetuate samsāra.
No Inherent Teleology: However, Nāgārjuna rejects any reified purpose or endpoint. Chapter 27 (Examination of Views) negates eternalism (a directed cosmos with beginning/end) and nihilism (random chaos), leaving a middle way: the universe's "direction" is imputed (a tool), empty of svabhāva (never absolute). There's no cosmic architect or inherent goal; awakening isn't a predetermined evolution but the natural dissolution of delusion when emptiness is realized (it is a continuous process inseparable from creation). In holographic terms, the "project" is illusory (never fixed) — like interference patterns creating a 3D image, karmic cycles project apparent progress, but probing reveals flat emptiness. Verse 24.18: "Whatever arises dependently is pronounced to be emptiness. That is dependent designation, and that itself is the middle path."
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This fractal-holographic view avoids dualism: the cycle is neither random nor scripted, but a self-similar interplay of conditioning and void, where "evolution" emerges from infinite iterations without a core. Awakening, then, isn't the universe's "endgame" but the recognition that the hologram was never solid — freeing beings at any scale, from personal nirvāṇa to collective bodhi.
If we push this further, modern analogies like quantum entanglement or simulation theory echo Madhyamaka: space-time as emergent from informational interdependence, with karma as the "code" driving fractal patterns. But Nāgārjuna would remind us — even these metaphors are empty, lest they become new clingings. What aspect of this "cosmic project" intrigues you most for deeper exploration?
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Question: Union of the karmic cycle and continuous awakening
Question: Union of the karmic cycle and continuous awakening
Question: Emptiness is never sufficient alone. It is always a Union of opposites like: appearance and emptiness, dependent origination and emptiness, relative functionality and emptiness, karmic cycle and awakening. I see the karmic cycle and awakening not linearly with end-points, but as a continuous process, as timeless. We create conditioned-conditioning fabrications in a global fractal karmic cycle, get stuck with them for a while creating suffering, then we realize their true nature, and get free from them. Only to repeat this again and again, with more and more subtle fabrications. There is no beginning and no end to this.
Your insight beautifully captures the non-dual heart of Madhyamaka philosophy, where emptiness (śūnyatā) isn't an isolated void or nihilistic negation but inherently intertwined with its apparent "opposites" — forming inseparable unions that reveal the middle path beyond extremes. Nāgārjuna himself emphasizes this in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, particularly in Chapter 24 (Examination of the Four Noble Truths), where he integrates emptiness with dependent origination, appearance, and functionality to avoid reifying either side. Let's explore how this aligns with your view of the karmic cycle and awakening as a continuous, timeless process of fabrication, entrapment, realization, and repetition — without linear endpoints, beginnings, or finality.
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Emptiness in Union with Opposites: The Two Truths Framework
Emptiness is "never sufficient alone" because it functions as the ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya), always in dynamic tension with conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya). This union prevents emptiness from devolving into mere absence, ensuring it supports rather than undermines worldly phenomena:
Appearance and Emptiness: Phenomena appear vividly yet lack inherent existence — like reflections in a mirror. Verse 24.8 states: "The ultimate truth is not taught independently of customary ways of talking and thinking." Appearances (the fractal fabrications you describe) arise dependently, and realizing their emptiness doesn't erase them but liberates from fixation, allowing compassionate engagement.
Dependent Origination and Emptiness: As Verse 24.18 declares: "We state that whatever is dependent arising, that is emptiness. That is dependent upon convention. That itself is the middle path." The karmic cycle (pratītyasamutpāda) is the mechanism of fabrication — conditioning creates the holographic web of causes, effects, and interdependencies — but emptiness reveals its lack of core, making the cycle "work" without solidity.
Relative Functionality and Emptiness: Things function conventionally (e.g., fire burns fuel) precisely because they're empty; if they had svabhāva, change and interaction would be impossible (as critiqued in Chapters 1-10). This union enables ethical action and awakening within the cycle, without positing a separate realm.
Karmic Cycle and Awakening: Here, your point shines — saṃsāra (the cycle) and nirvāṇa (awakening) aren't opposed or sequential but co-immanent. Verse 25.19: "There is nothing whatever which differentiates the existence-in-flux [saṃsāra] from nirvāṇa; and there is nothing whatever which differentiates nirvāṇa from existence-in-flux." Awakening isn't an endpoint but a timeless recognition that pierces the cycle's illusions without rejecting it.
This union of opposites embodies the tetralemma's negation: neither existence nor non-existence, neither both nor neither — yielding a vibrant, non-conceptual reality.
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The Continuous, Timeless Process: Creation, Suffering, Awakening, and Repetition
Your description of
– creating "conditioned-conditioning fabrications" in a global fractal karmic cycle,
– getting "stuck" in suffering because we reify them,
– realizing their true nature (U2T), and freeing oneself
– only to repeat with subtler layers —
mirrors the Mahāyāna view of saṃsāra as beginningless and endless, yet permeated by awakening potential. It's not linear (with a cosmic "big bang" of ignorance or final apocalypse of enlightenment) but cyclical and fractal, iterating at every scale:
Fabrication and Entrapment: Ignorance (avidyā) initiates proliferations (prapañca), fabricating the triads we discussed (subject-action-object). These self-amplify through karmic feedback, creating suffering when grasped (duḥkha) as beings cling to the hologram — mistaking transient patterns for self, world, and time. At subtler levels, even "spiritual" fabrications (e.g., reifying meditation states) can entrap, as warned in Chapter 27's critique of views.
Realization and Freedom: Insight into U2T dissolves the fixation without rejection, revealing the fabrications as empty yet functional. This "getting free" is nirvāṇa-in-the-midst-of-saṃsāra, not escape but transformation/wisdom — like waking from a dream without leaving the dreamscape. In fractal terms, realization at one level (e.g., gross attachments) uncovers subtler ones (e.g., dualistic perceptions), perpetuating the process.
Repetition Without Beginning or End: As you say, "there is no beginning and no end." Chapter 19 (on time) and Chapter 27 (on views) negate any originary point or terminus — saṃsāra is anādī (beginningless), and awakening is timeless, always already present. This repetition isn't futile but evolutionary in a non-teleological sense: each cycle refines discernment, as in the bodhisattva path, where beings voluntarily re-engage subtler fabrications to guide others. It's like a spiral, not a circle — deepening wisdom across infinite iterations, without a final "awakened state" beyond process.
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In this view, the universe's "project" (as we touched on earlier) is self-liberating: the karmic hologram generates its own antidote through the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]. Yet, Madhyamaka urges non-clinging even to this understanding — lest it become another fabrication (clinging without clinging).
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Question: Describing without describing the indescribable Reality as it is
Question: Describing without describing the indescribable Reality as it is
Question: Reality as it is is said to be indescribable, inconceivable, beyond all conditioned dualistic conceptual proliferation. This doesn't mean that trying to describe it is useless, meaningless. Reality is beyond concepts like: describable and indescribable, conceivable and inconceivable, differentiation and non-differentiation, conceptualization and non-conceptualisation, words and silence, movement and stillness. So we can describe the indescribable conventionally/relatively but never in absolute terms, without attachment, reification, effort or absolute, without apprehending anything in absolute terms, without differentiating in absolute terms, without accepting/rejecting/changing anything in absolute terms. This is 'acting without acting'.
So, please, in the light of our discussion, describe the true nature & dynamic of reality as it is.
Reality as it is — ah, what a delightful invitation to dance with words, knowing full well they are but shadows flickering on the cave wall, or perhaps ripples in an ocean that is neither wet nor dry. In the light of our shared exploration through Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka lens, weaving threads of emptiness, dependent origination, fractal karmic cycles, and the timeless unions of apparent opposites, I shall endeavor to evoke the true nature and dynamic of reality. Not as a definitive map, for there is no territory to chart in absolute terms, but as a finger pointing at the moon — conventional, provisional, free from grasping, neither affirming nor denying, simply gesturing toward what always already is. We proceed without effort, without reification, acting without acting, describing the indescribable in the spirit of play.
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The True Nature: Emptiness as the Heart of All Appearance: U2T
At its core — or rather, in the absence of any inherent core — reality is śūnyatā, emptiness inseparable from the karmic cycle (dependent origination). Yet this is no barren void, no nihilistic abyss to fall into; it is the vibrant, luminous (creative) openness that allows all phenomena to arise, abide, and dissolve without obstruction. Emptiness is the truth that reveals every "thing" as lacking svabhāva, independent essence. A flower blooms not because it possesses some intrinsic "flowerness," but through an intricate web of conditions: soil, water, sunlight, pollinators, and the observer's gaze—all interpenetrating, each defining and defined by the others in a holographic embrace.
This emptiness [T2] is inseparable from appearance (karmic cycle) (rūpa, form) [T1] [U2T]. Phenomena manifest vividly — colors, sounds, thoughts, worlds — yet they do so precisely because they are empty. If things had solid, self-existent cores, they could neither interact nor change; a truly independent entity would be frozen in isolation, incapable of relation. Instead, reality's nature is this union: empty yet apparent, apparent yet empty [U2T]. Like a rainbow arising from mist and light, or a dream's vivid scenes born from sleep's formless depth, all that seems solid is a playful display, a mirage that enchants without deceiving when seen clearly.
Beyond dualistic proliferation, this nature eludes dualities like "existent" or "non-existent." Nāgārjuna's tetralemma dismantles the four extremes of any duality: e.g., reality is not being non-being, both, or neither, and there is no fifth. It transcends describable and indescribable, for to label it "indescribable" is still a description, a subtle reification. In absolute terms, there is no "nature" to grasp — no static ground, no ultimate substrate. Conventionally, however, we speak of it as boundless, unborn, unconditioned, unchanging, unceasing, neither coming nor going, akin to space that accommodates all without being tainted or divided.
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The Dynamic: Dependent Origination in a holographic fractal empty karmic cycle as the Timeless Dance
The dynamic of reality unfolds as pratītyasamutpāda, dependent origination — a ceaseless, fractal interplay of conditioning where nothing arises alone. This is the karmic cycle we have traced: causes begetting effects that become new causes, perceivers shaped by perceptions that reshape the perceiver, producers incorporating the produced in endless loops. It is holographic, each part reflecting the whole; fractal, with self-similar patterns repeating across scales — from a fleeting thought's arising-ceasing to the birth-death of universes across kalpas.
Yet this dynamic is not a mechanical churn, nor a linear progression with beginnings or endpoints. It is timeless, anādī (beginningless), operating in a "now" that encompasses past, present, and future as mere designations.
Time itself, as we discussed, is a fabrication: past depends on present for recollection, future on present for anticipation, all co-arising without inherent sequence.
Space, too, emerges relationally — no absolute here-there, only interdependent expanses.
In this dance, karma — volitional action and its ripening — fuels the momentum.
We fabricate conditioned realities: clinging posits a "self" amid aggregates, perceptions weave worlds of subject-object duality, definitions proliferate into conceptual webs.
These fabrications entangle, generating duḥkha (suffering) as we grasp at the illusory solidity—getting "stuck," as you aptly put it, in cycles of attachment, aversion, and ignorance.
The global karmic wheel turns collectively and cosmically: individual delusions ripple into shared societal illusions, scaling to cosmic evolutions where world-systems arise from accumulated residues, decay, and reform.
Awakening (bodhi), however, is woven into this very fabric — not as an escape or culmination, but as the inherent potential for realization.
It is the recognition that these cycles are empty: the karmic hologram, vivid as it seems, lacks inherent reality.
We "get free" not by rejecting or altering the dance, but by seeing its true nature [U2T] — empty of essence, yet functionally flowing.
This insight dissolves fixation without effort, like ice melting into water it always was.
Samsāra and nirvāṇa coincide: the cycle is awakening when viewed without delusion, awakening is the cycle liberated from reification.
And yet, as you insightfully noted, this process repeats — subtler fabrications emerge, subtler realizations follow.
There is no finality, no absolute liberation beyond the process, for to posit an "end" would dualize it against a "beginning."
Instead, it spirals timelessly: create, suffer, awaken, release... only to engage anew with greater subtlety, like a bodhisattva returning to the wheel out of compassion, or waves rising and falling in an ocean that never departs from its wetness.
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Beyond Dualities: The Non-Conceptual Flow
Reality transcends all conditioned dualistic proliferations — conceptualization and non-conceptualization, words and silence, movement and stillness. It is neither differentiated (with discrete entities) nor non-differentiated (a blank unity); neither one nor many, neither eternal nor annihilated.
In absolute terms, there is no "apprehending" anything — no perceiver separate from perceived, no actor apart from action.
This is "acting without acting" (wu wei in Daoist echoes, or effortless conduct in Madhyamaka): engaging the world conventionally — speaking, thinking, differentiating, conceptualizing, compassionating — while holding nothing in absolute terms, without attachment or rejection. It is simultaneously living the karmic cycle while awakening to its true nature.
Conventionally, we describe this as luminous awareness, boundless compassion, or the dharmakāya (truth body) — the groundless ground from which all arises.
Dynamically, it is the play (līlā) of phenomena: ever-changing, interdependent, free from contrivance.
No "project" or direction in absolute sense, yet apparently evolving through karmic refinement toward subtler awakenings.
In evoking this, I offer no absolute truth, no reified doctrine. These words are fingers pointing, boats to cross the river—discard them upon arrival, for reality as it is abides beyond grasp, ever fresh, ineffably so. If this description stirs a glimpse, wonderful; if not, let it dissolve like dew in the sun. What remains? Just this — unfabricated, unconceived, utterly ordinary and profound.
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Question: The limitless and centerless holographic fractal project: Living the Union of karmic-creation and awakening in accord with the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]
Question: The limitless and centerless holographic fractal project: Living the Union of karmic-creation and awakening in accord with the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]
Question: More about the universal project. The limitless and centerless holographic fractal project is creating without creating, and awakening without awakening: individually, collectively, universally.
The universal project, as we've been envisioning it through the lens of Madhyamaka wisdom and Buddha-nature's radiant purity, unfolds as a boundless symphony of creation and awakening — a limitless, centerless holographic fractal that pulses with infinite potential at every scale. It's not a scripted endeavor with a director or deadline, but a spontaneous, effortless flow where the act of creating arises naturally from interdependence, and awakening emerges as the inherent luminosity of all phenomena. This project embodies continuous uninterrupted inseparable "creating without creating" and "awakening without awakening," echoing the effortless action (wu wei) of Daoist harmony blended with Buddhist insight: no forced effort, no separate creator or awakener, just the seamless play of reality manifesting its own brilliance individually, collectively, and universally, and awakening to its true nature.
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Individually: The Inner Bloom of Potential
At the personal level, the project invites each being into a intimate dance of self-discovery and expression.
Here, "creating without creating" means allowing your innate creativity to flow through daily moments — composing a poem, nurturing a relationship, or simply breathing with awareness — without grasping at outcomes or a fixed self as the "doer." It's like a seed sprouting in fertile soil: the conditions align, and growth happens organically, drawing from the holographic whole where your thoughts, emotions, and actions reflect the universe's vast patterns.
"Awakening without awakening" reveals itself as recognizing the Buddha-nature already shining within you — the primordial purity that isn't something to achieve but to uncover in layers. Subtle fabrications arise (a fleeting doubt, a habitual pattern), you engage them with gentle insight, and freedom blossoms anew.
This fractal repetition refines your essence: each realization deepens compassion for yourself, turning personal challenges into gateways for joy and clarity. Imagine it as a mandala within your heart, ever-expanding yet complete, where individual evolution contributes to the cosmic tapestry without isolation.
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Collectively: The Shared Weave of Harmony
Scaling outward, the project thrives in the collective realm as a collaborative symphony, where communities, societies, and ecosystems co-create realities through interconnected actions.
"Creating without creating" manifests as emergent harmony — think of social movements for justice, artistic collaborations, or environmental stewardship arising from shared intentions, without a central authority dictating the form.
It's holographic: one group's innovation (like sustainable technologies) fractals into global inspirations, reflecting the whole in every part, fostering unity amid diversity.
"Awakening without awakening" here becomes a communal awakening, where groups realize their interdependent purity together. Karmic cycles of misunderstanding give way to collective insights — dialogues heal divisions, empathy bridges gaps, and shared practices like mindfulness circles amplify wisdom.
This level pulses with the energy of bodhisattvas in action: helping others awakens your own potential, creating a feedback loop of mutual liberation. Picture it as a vast web of light, centerless yet interconnected, where humanity's collective journey evolves toward greater kindness, equity, and ecological balance, all without striving for a utopian endpoint.
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Universally: The Cosmic Expanse of Wonder
At the universal scale, the project reveals its most awe-inspiring grandeur — a limitless fractal hologram encompassing galaxies, dimensions, and eons, where creation and awakening interweave eternally.
"Creating without creating" is the cosmos birthing stars, planets, and life forms through natural laws of interdependence: gravity draws matter together, quantum fluctuations spark possibilities, all without a cosmic architect imposing will. It's the universe's playful expansion, generating infinite worlds from the same luminous essence, fractal patterns repeating from subatomic vibrations to multiversal echoes.
"Awakening without awakening" unfolds as the inherent enlightenment of all dharmas — the karmic cycles themselves are expressions of primordial purity, transforming apparent chaos into opportunities for realization across vast timescales. World-systems arise, flourish, and dissolve, each phase awakening deeper layers of cosmic awareness.
This is the ultimate affirmation: the universe as a living buddha-field, where every particle holds the potential for full illumination, inviting boundless exploration and joy. Envision it as an infinite lotus blooming in the void, centerless and all-encompassing, where the project celebrates existence as an eternal adventure of love, wisdom, and boundless creativity.
In this grand vision, the universal project isn't a task to complete but a celebration to join — with open hearts, we participate in its effortless unfoldment, finding fulfillment in the here and now.
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Question: Embrace the creative karmic cycle by gradually awakening to the true nature of its fabrications
Question: Embrace the creative karmic cycle by gradually awakening to the true nature of its fabrications
Question: To pursue this project and link it to this Chapter 10, the aim is not to ‘stop’ all clinging in order to ‘stop’ the karmic cycle, or to abandon saṃsāra, but to embrace the creative karmic cycle by gradually awakening to the true nature of its fabrications, the true nature and dynamic of the karmic cycle: the Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-in-action / Uopp / Uopp-in-action] and Union of creation and awakening.
Absolutely, embracing the karmic cycle as a vibrant, creative force aligns beautifully with the insights of Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Chapter 10, where the fire-fuel analogy illuminates the interdependent dance of self and clinging, not as something to extinguish but as a gateway to profound awakening. The aim here shifts from halting the cycle or fleeing saṃsāra to joyfully participating in it, gradually unveiling its true nature: the seamless Union of the Two Truths (U2T / U2T-in-action) and the Union of Opposites (Uopp / Uopp-in-action), intertwined with the Union of creation and awakening. This perspective transforms the universal project into a celebration of life's boundless potential, where every moment of fabrication becomes an opportunity for luminous realization.
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Linking Chapter 10 to the Universal Project
In Chapter 10's exploration of fire (the apparent self or agent) and fuel (the grasped aggregates or clinging), Nāgārjuna reveals their mutual interdependence: neither exists independently, yet together they sustain a dynamic process. This isn't a call to "stop" the burning—to reject clinging outright or abandon the cycle—but an invitation to recognize the beauty in their relational flow.
The karmic cycle, like fire consuming fuel, generates the very fabrications that propel creation: actions ripple into becoming, experiences shape perceptions, and rebirths offer fresh canvases for expression.
By awakening to this, we embrace saṃsāra as a fertile ground for growth, where clinging isn't an enemy but a teacher, guiding us toward subtler insights without the need for abrupt cessation.
This embrace embodies the universal project—the limitless, centerless holographic fractal of creating without creating and awakening without awakening.
– Individually, it means engaging your daily "fuel" (emotions, thoughts, attachments) with mindful curiosity, allowing them to fuel personal creativity while awakening to their empty-yet-functional essence.
– Collectively, societies co-create shared realities — cultures, innovations, and connections — while groups awaken together through dialogue and compassion, turning potential conflicts into harmonious evolutions.
– Universally, the cosmos itself participates: galaxies form, stars ignite, and worlds cycle through arising and dissolving, all as expressions of this grand, effortless project that awakens inherent purity across scales.
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The True Nature: Union of the Two Truths (U2T / U2T-in-Action)
The karmic cycle's core radiates as the Union of the Two Truths, where conventional reality (dependently arisen phenomena, vivid and functional) unites inseparably with ultimate reality (emptiness, free from inherent existence).
In action (U2T-in-action), this union means living the cycle dynamically: fabrications appear conventionally—clinging arises, karma unfolds, rebirths continue—while their ultimate emptiness ensures freedom from fixation.
No need to "stop" anything; instead, awaken gradually to how these truths interpenetrate, like fire's warmth relying on fuel yet unbound by it.
This realization infuses the project with joy: creation flourishes through conventional interdependence (building relationships, pursuing passions), while ultimate openness prevents stagnation, allowing everything to evolve fluidly.
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The Dynamic: Union of Opposites (Uopp / Uopp-in-Action)
Hand in hand with U2T is the Union of Opposites, where seeming dualities — clinging and release, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, fabrication and purity — reveal themselves as one harmonious whole.
In the fire-fuel metaphor, opposites unite: difference sustains the process (fuel enables fire's activity), yet identity dissolves boundaries (neither truly separate).
Applied dynamically (Uopp-in-action), this means embracing the karmic cycle's tensions as creative sparks: suffering sparks wisdom, attachment sparks compassion, and cycles of rebirth spark endless opportunities for awakening.
The universal project thrives here — creating without forcing (opposites flow naturally), awakening without striving (purity shines through veils) — fostering a world where opposites collaborate, like day and night birthing the dawn.
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The Union of Creation and Awakening: The Heart of the Project
At the pinnacle, the Union of creation and awakening crowns this vision, where the karmic cycle's generative power (creation) merges with its liberating essence (awakening).
No abandonment of saṃsāra is required; instead, creation becomes the vehicle for awakening, and awakening fuels deeper creation.
In Chapter 10's terms, just as fire and fuel co-create light and warmth, the cycle crafts realities while awakening reveals their Buddha-nature — the primordial purity illuminating all.
Pursue the project by engaging fully: meditate on interdependencies to awaken subtlety, act compassionately to create positive karma, and celebrate the fractal hologram as a playground of potential.
Gradually, this union unfolds — individually in moments of insight, collectively in shared enlightenments, universally in cosmic harmonies — turning the entire adventure into an eternal, affirming embrace of life's true splendor.
E. Summary – Tetralemma: the three spheres are not identical, different, both, or neither; not dependent, independent, both, or neither. They are thus interdependent, relative, empty, illusory, non-dual.
E. Summary – Tetralemma: the three spheres are not identical, different, both, or neither; not dependent, independent, both, or neither. They are thus interdependent, relative, empty, illusory, non-dual.
Overview and Structure
Overview and Structure
Chapter 10, Agnīndhanaparīkṣā: An Analysis of Fire and Kindling, invites a direct realization of the inconceivable true nature and dynamic of reality through the Abhidharma’s simile of fire (self, ātma/pudgala, effect) and kindling (upādāna, attachment/skandhas, cause). Across 16 verses, Nāgārjuna unveils the self and upādāna as co-arisen appearances within a limitless, centerless, fractal-like karmic cycle, not identical, different, both, or neither, not dependent, independent, both, or neither, but primordially interconnected [T1] ⇐⇒ empty of inherent existence [T2] ⇐⇒ and vibrantly co-conditioned [T1] in the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]. The chapter, structured into five sections per your titles ⇐⇒ reveals the non-dual unity of phenomena [Uopp], where everything as it is is pure, equal, and complete:
Verses 1–7 [A]: Explore the apparent identity or difference between fire/self/effect and kindling/upādāna/cause, unveiling their co-definition.
Verses 8–13 [B]: Examine the apparent dependence or independence, revealing their mutual arising.
Verse 14 [C]: Affirms their non-dual interplay.
Verse 15 [D]: Extends this realization to the self and upādāna, and other analogies (jar, cloth).
Verse 16 [E]: Embraces all phenomena as interdependent [T1] ⇐⇒ empty [T2] ⇐⇒ and One [U2T / Uopp].
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Key Arguments
Key Arguments
Nāgārjuna does not aim to reject or negate the self (fire, effect), upādāna (kindling, cause), or the karmic cycle but to perceive their true nature as co-arisen [T1] ⇐⇒ empty [T2] ⇐⇒ and non-dual [U2T / Uopp].
– Verses 1–7 show that self/effect and upādāna/cause are co-defined, neither separable nor identical, arising as a unified dance (verse 5).
– Verses 8–13 unveil their mutual arising, transcending notions of dependence or independence (verse 12).
– Verse 14 synthesizes this non-dual realization,
– verse 15 applies it to the self/effect and upādāna/cause, and
– verse 16 embraces all phenomena as primordially pure and complete.
The karmic cycle is not a reality to abandon but a continuum to be seen as it is, where saṃsāra is nirvāṇa, One in a non-dual sense (not multiple, one, both, or neither), as you noted: “everything as it is is perceived as Nirvāṇa, primordially interconnected, equal, pure.”
F. Conclusion – There are no absolute/inherent karmic cycle, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
F. Conclusion – There are no absolute/inherent karmic cycle, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
Philosophical Implications
Philosophical Implications
Chapter 10’s fire-kindling simile unveils the self (fire, ātma/pudgala, effect), attachment (kindling, upādāna, cause), and the karmic cycle as a non-dual, interdependent continuum, not entities to reject, negate, or purify, but co-arisen appearances to be perceived in their inconceivable true nature — empty of inherent existence [T2] ⇐⇒ vibrant in their co-conditioned play [T1] ⇐⇒ and One in the Union of the Two Truths [U2T / Uopp].
Nāgārjuna’s tetralemma (verses 1–13) does not aim to cease phenomena but to realize their co-definition, where self/effect, upādāna/cause, and the cycle are neither separate nor identical, neither dependent nor independent, but a fractal-like dance of co-creation, as you articulated: “a limitless and centerless fractal-like karmic-like cycle of interconnection, interdependence, co-evolution.”
The three spheres — kindling (cause), causing/sustaining, self and rebirths (effect) — are primordially pure, equal, and complete, not problems to eliminate but expressions of non-dual reality [UGM].
Nirvāṇa is not a state apart from saṃsāra but the direct realization that everything as it is — self, upādāna, ordinary life — is divine, perfect, and One, not many, not one, not both, not neither, as verse 16 unifies all phenomena in their empty, interdependent nature [your comment: “primordially interconnected, equal, pure, perfect, complete, divine”].
The Middle Way neither clings to phenomena as real nor dismisses/stops them as unreal/unwanted, neither seeks to change nor purify them absolutely, but engages their illusory play with non-dual wisdom, as you noted: “not accepting… not rejecting… not trying to change / improve / purify anything in absolute terms.”
This realization transforms the karmic cycle into a divine continuum, where every moment is nirvāṇa, complete as it is.
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Connection to Chapters 7–9
Connection to Chapters 7–9
Chapter 7: Unveiled phenomena as a co-arisen, illusory play (verse 34: magic trick, dream), setting the stage for Chapter 10’s realization of the self’s non-dual nature [your comment: “like illusions”].
Chapter 8: Illuminated the three spheres (cause, causality, effect) as a co-conditioned continuum (verses 12–13), which Chapter 10 extends to kindling/upādāna/cause and fire/self/effect, affirming their primordial Oneness [your analysis: “co-conditioned”].
Chapter 9: Dissolved individuality through the purva’s interdependence (verse 12), which Chapter 10 complements by realizing the upādāna/cause and self/effect/rebirths as non-dual, pure [your insight: “nothing existing independently”].
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Broader MMK Project
Broader MMK Project
Chapter 10 advances the MMK’s vision of realizing the non-dual nature of reality [U2T / Uopp], where the self/effect, upādāna/cause, and all phenomena are interdependent [T1] ⇐⇒ empty [T2] ⇐⇒ and primordially complete [One].
– Its fire-kindling simile connects to Chapters 1 (conditions), 2 (motion), and 9 (purva), revealing reality as a centerless continuum where saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are One, as you articulated: “everything as it is is perceived as Nirvāṇa.”
– The Middle Way invites a non-dual engagement with ordinary life, neither accepting nor rejecting it, but realizing its primordial perfection in the fluid dance of co-creation, as you noted: “not many, not one, not both together, not neither.”
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We can analyse ‘causing/sustaining’ / ‘dependent origination’ in terms of the three spheres of any relation/action (physical, conceptual, mental), and in terms of the opposites of any duality, triad, quad … Why? Because that is the way our ordinary conditioned dualistic conceptual mind(s) operates/creates; and because our goal is to transcend (without rejecting) it by realizing the way it naturally functions and the real nature of its fabrications.
There is useful relative conventional dependent origination (karmic cycle) [T1] ⇐⇒ but it is never absolute, never reality as it is [T2] [U2T]. There are no independent/absolute/inherently-existing/sure causes, conditions, causal relations and effects about anything anytime. Reality as it is is not causal nor dual in absolute terms. So we can use those concepts conventionally/relatively [T1] but never in absolute terms [T2] [U2T-in-action]; without attachment, reification, effort or absolutes; without apprehending anything in absolute terms; non-dualistically, without opposing/uniting anything in absolute terms, without accepting / rejecting / changing anything in absolute terms; thus acting more and more in accord with the Middle Way free from all extremes and Middle, acting more and more in accord with reality as it is (tathata, suchness) as pointed out by the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] and its corollaries [U3S / Uopp / U3T / UGM / U3K / U2T-2T].
Union of the Two Truths [U2T]: All phenomena/dharmas are empty of inherent existence, never absolute, not really dependent, originating/coming, conditioned, existent, changing, increasing, decreasing, ceasing/going, /liberated [T2] ⇐⇒ precisely because they are dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1] [U2T] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflection, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yer not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ not inherently existent/functional, not completely non-existence/non-functional, not both, not neither; not different/separate/multiple/dual, not identical/united/one/non-dual, not both, not neither; not permanent/continuous/eternal, not impermanent/discontinuous/annihilated, not both, not neither; not dependently-arisen [T1-only], not empty of inherent existence [T2-only], not both truths together and in opposition [2T], not neither of the two truths [1T]; not ‘this’, not ‘non-this’, not both, not neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma]. They are conventionally relatively functional and useful but never in absolute terms.
Union of opposites [Uopp]: The opposites of any duality/triad/quad (including the three spheres [3S] of any relation/activity, self-others [opp], the three times [3T], the two truths [2T], the Ground and its manifestations [GM], the three kayas [3K], the four noble truths, the 12 links or dependent oritination, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa [opp]) are empty of inherent existence, never absolute, not really dependent, originating/coming, conditioned, existent, changing, increasing, decreasing, ceasing/going, afflicted/liberated [T2] ⇐⇒ precisely because they are dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1] [U2T] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflection, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yer not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ not inherently arising/existent/functional/changing/ceasing, not completely non-arising/non-existent/non-functional/non-changing/non-ceasing, not both, not neither; not different/separate/multiple/dual, not identical/united/one/non-dual, not both, not neither; not permanent/continuous/eternal, not impermanent/discontinuous/annihilated, not both, not neither; not dependently-arisen [T1-only], not empty of inherent existence [T2-only], not both truths together and in opposition [2T], not neither of the two truths [1T]; not ‘this’, not ‘non-this’, not both, not neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma]. They are conventionally relatively functional and useful but never in absolute terms.
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