What is Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti? In 2000, I asked a young monk about
this question. He gave me a load of Buddhism jargons which made me utterly
confuse. Then another young monk stepped in and gave me another load of
Buddhism jargons which made me more puzzled. I’ve read many books and Buddhist
dictionaries and still couldn’t understand. I’ve gave up on this until last
Sunday when Thay talked about Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti.
Ksanti means to endure, but this endurance is different from the
worldly endurance. My mother used to tell me: “Endurance is gold.” What she
meant was we don’t fight with others, we just accept and tolerate/endure. I
told my mother if we just accept and endure when someone is doing bad things to
you; we will explode when we surpass the level of toleration. A good example
was how my aunties used to make my mother suffer by telling something bad in
front of my father. My mother told me she endured it, but until now she is still holding the grudge
on my aunties. All her stories were more than 50 years ago but when she
re-tells her stories, she is ignited with anger. I told my mother to let go of
them. This kind of endurance is not Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti because she
couldn’t see the nature of all these hurtful words from my aunties.
Anutpattika-dharma means no arising and no perish. It is stated in the
Heart Sutra that all phenomena are expressions of emptiness or the interconnection relationship of nature. Because
phenomena are empty nature, they are neither born nor destroyed; neither pure
nor defiled; neither coming nor going.
So all phenomena are impermanent and non-existent that is why we should
not grasp on the worldly things (material, and verbal praise and criticism). Once
we understand the impermanence and the nature of all phenomena (forms, sounds,
smells, tastes, touches and thoughts), we should accept these truths. This
acceptance is called Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti. By accepting these truths, we
come out of misery. We are no longer chained by the phenomena around us; this
includes our most treasurable body. Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti can also mean
equanimity.
Notes: The following are the definitions from different website.
Japanese English dictionary: Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti is the
recognition that nothing really arises or perishes.( http://www.eudict.com/?lang=engjpk&word=%28Buddh%29%20anutpattika-dharma-ksanti)
The Zennist: Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti, that is, the acceptance that inevitably all phenomena are illusory and
nonexistent, is realized by the Bodhisattva in the eighth bhumi (acalâ, i.e., immovability) being
completed at the stage of Buddhahood according to some accounts (cp. Yogacarabhumi Shastra). (http://zennist.typepad.com/zenfiles/2011/07/accepting-the-illusory-and-nonexistent.html)
From an introduction to MadhyamakaPhilosohpy by Jaideva Singh :
Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti means capacity to endure and sustain the truth of the
unborn dharma, then he enters the true status (nyama) of the Bodhisattva.
From the classification of Buddhismby Bruno Petzold, Shinsho Hanayama:
The state of acquiescence with the insight of the non-origination of dharmas;
the insight of which acknowledges non-arising of psycho-physical phenomena.
