(A) HERETICAL VIEWS IN CONTRAVENTION OF THE LAW OF CAUSE AND THEORY
1) The Non-Cause Theory and Effect
In principle, this Theory is absurd and illogical. If all things and phenomena
were produced without any cause, why would not gold, silver, and jewels come
from the sky? And why should we go into different lines of work at all? Those
adherents of the Non-Cause Theory generally are happy-go-lucky fellows, adopting
let-fate-decide-everything attitude and waiting for something to
turn up tomorrow, consequently they are apt to be indolent, easy-going and passive
in character. Because the question of causation requires careful and patient
study, and cannot be easily grasped by the imprudent and the unobserving, most
people may take for granted that all the happenings and affairs of the world
come about just accidentally and unexpectedly; in reality, however, invariably,
everything, every event or every phenomenon, in undergoing the recurring process
of its alternate arising and cessation, is strictly governed by the Law of Cause
and Effect. The cause-and-effect relationships of material things, comparatively
simple, can be apprehended more easily, but, regarding those phenomena, in which
both matter and mind are involved, and, where the mind usually plays the dominant
role, the cause-and-effect relationships are far more complicated and generally
would take much longer time, may not be present in this life but may come in
the next two, three or more generations. Of course, this cannot be known by
people at large, and would appear incredible, except those who have the transcendental
powers to read past lives; because the causes of those phenomena are unknown,
the phenomena are said to be uncaused or non-caused. However, if the cause-and-effect
relationships between matter and matter can be known deductively from their
transformations, logically it can be inferred that in those phenomena of combined
matter and mind, the Law of Cause and Effect is also operative, and there is
no reason to believe that those phenomena would be immune from the Law; again,
if the causes are still unknown, pending further investigations, it must not
be assumed that the phenomena in question are non-caused, or one would foolishly
fall into the errors of the Non-Cause Theory.
2) The Unequal Cause Theory and The Multiple Unequal Causes Theory
According to the Unequal Cause Theory, the Unequal Cause is the
creator of everything but himself is uncaused; for this, he is said to be an
Unequal Cause. While some believers of this theory maintain that everything
is created by one Cause only, some others assert, however, that things may be
produced by non-associated causes. The Omnipotent Creator of everything
of the world is a typical example of the Unequal Cause. But if all things
were produced by this Cause only, and without any conditions whatsoever, (secondary
causes) then all of them should have been produced at one time. Certainly, this
is not true, as, for example, all scientific appliances, one after another,
were made at different times, and the most advanced inventions, as a rule, are
the most up-to-date. Someone may argue to say that the Creator has the free
will to make things at different times, so in counter-argument, the writer would
like to ask this question: Is the will to make things at different times
conditioned or not? If it is, then the Creator cannot be said to make
things at his will, and so is not omnipotent; if it is unconditioned, logically,
all things should have been made simultaneously. Moreover, if the Creator is
uncaused, it is difficult to understand why other things should be caused and
made by the Uncaused at all. Again, what is the Creators objective in
making things diametrically opposed to each other? Would he be pleased to have
made such horrible things as devils, hells and what not? And why should the
Omnipotent Creator have not produced more and more people of good appearance,
fine character, and high intelligence, and, why should he not prevent people
from doing evils, instead of redeeming their sins? If he cannot do this, obviously,
he is not omnipotent; if he can, but does not do it, this would be a gross injustice
to humanity. From this viewpoint, the existence of the Unequal Cause is hardly
logical.
In the early days of science, atoms, classified into ninety two components, were regarded as the smallest indivisible unit and the source of all material things of the world. This gave rise to the Multiple Unequal Causes Theory. Later, when scientists discovered that electrons, not atoms, were the smallest immutable unit, the Multiple Unequal Causes Theory was nullified and gave way to the Unequal Cause Theory. However, with the discovery of atomic energy, the One Unequal Cause Theory was proved also fallacious; firstly, the old Law of Immutability of Material Things was repudiated by the discovery of modern science that material things can be turned into energy; secondly, energy and material things, formerly considered to be two separate things, are proved to be members of the same family. This indicates that the repeal of the Unequal Cause Theory by scientists themselves is in keeping with the Universal Law of Cause and Effect of Buddhism.
3) Fatalism
This theory holds that in life everything is prefixed either by fate or by Heavens
appointment and there is nothing one can do against this, consequently, believers
of this theory are inclined to be passive and irresponsible. The happy-go-lucky
type of optimists may be said to be fatalists. The conventional Chinese conception
of fate is this; if it is based on some established principle, it is fatalism;
if it is not, it can hardly be inferred to be the Lifes appointment at
all. According to the Buddhist Theory of Causation, thought bad karma may have
been sown in the past life, it is possible that by cultivating good deeds diligently,
they may be deferred and even neutralized; moreover, without the necessary conditions,
they would not emerge and bear fruit in the present life; if one cherishes but
profound repentance, not only would the emergence of bad seeds be averted but
also the bad karma would be counteracted. This truth was borne out by the personal
experience of the celebrated Chinese scholar Yuan, Liao-Fan of the Ming Dynasty
in the well-known autobiography Liao-Fans Four Precepts, in
which we can find substantial proofs to show that by practising good deeds,
the so-called Lifes Appointments can be transmuted eventually. Moreover,
in Fatalism what is said to be stable and invariable turns out to be in reverse;
in other words, in the stable there is the unstable, and in the invariable there
is the changeable; if the Buddhist Theory of Causation is realized, certainly
we would not believe in Fatalism nor would lead such a passive life. Inasmuch
as happiness and misery are self made, obviously, we cannot seek happiness or
avert misery by depending on external aids, However, on the good understanding
that weal and woe are fundamentally void, and by practising good deeds incessantly,
but without giving any thought of them, one may be said to be making a big stride
on the way towards enlightenment.
4) Mechanism
In the view of philosophers of Mechanical Materialism, when a thing makes a
change or an event takes a turn, this comes about under the influence of both
the tradition and the environment of that time. Furthermore, they assume that
inasmuch as the mind is nothing but manifestation of material phenomena, factors
responsible for causing the changes of those phenomena are material things and
time only. To illustrate, if a person was brought up in a prominent family,
say, like that of President Roosevelt, and his environment was also identical
with that of the latter, hypothetically speaking, he would be also a President
in future and make great accomplishments. From the standpoint of the Mechanism
Theory, this hypothetical case may be said to be similar to the making of motor
cars; cars of the same brand are assembled with identical parts and so they
function all the same. In other words, things of the same pattern are set up
mechanically. The Theory further assumes that all changes in the events and
human affairs all over the world take place mechanically, inasmuch as they are
governed by the laws of science. However, Buddhism looks into the question of
phenomenal transformations in a different way. However important is the factor
of material things, it must be conceded that usually the mind plays the predominating
role. Of course, things may cause reactions of the mind, but also may be changed
by the mind. Moreover, the old Law of Conservation of Matter, on which the Mechanism
Theory was based, had been invalidated by the discovery of the new Physics that
material things can be turned into immaterial energy. Again, considering that
time and space are the important elements of energy, and the mind is an indispensable
element of time, it can be inferred that not only material things and energy
are of one family, but material things and the mind are also of one and the
same entity. From this, it can be seen that the foundation of the Mechanism
Theory has crumbled and lost its ground completely.
The aforementioned four Theories are called Mere Imaginations in Buddhism terms. Because of their false discriminations, likely they would produce the following detrimental effects: 1) Their attitude of work held by those believers shows their lack of self-respect and sense of responsibility; if they fail, they would say that it is fate of God or the social environment that goes against them, and if they are successful, they would claim that one cause has done it and it is not others they themselves have dont it; 2) As their efforts are expended for their own interests, they are not active in social work at all; 3) To other people, they show no compassion, but self-conceit, arrogance and aggressiveness. In short, to rid ourselves of those defilements, the only way is to believe and to hold on to the Universal Law of Cause and Effect of Buddhism.