The Paṭṭhāna: 24 conditions

What is the Paṭṭhāna?

The commentaries explain “Paṭṭhāna” as pa (various) + ṭhāna (condition): “various conditions”. The book takes all the states in the matrix of the Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Lesson 1), pairs them in every possible way, and shows by which conditions each pair is related — in positive terms (anuloma), negative terms (paccanīya) and combinations, giving 24 methods of presentation.

The commentary relates that in the fourth week after his awakening, as the Buddha contemplated the Abhidhamma in the Jewelled House, his knowledge found full scope only when he came to the Paṭṭhāna, and six-coloured rays (chabbaṇṇaraṃsī) streamed from his body.

Three basic terms

Before studying each condition, it helps to know three terms used throughout the book:

• Conditioning state (paccaya-dhamma) — the giver, the supporter, such as the eye-sensitivity that helps seeing arise.
• Conditioned state (paccayuppanna-dhamma) — what arises because of the condition, the receiver, such as seeing.
• Conditioning force (paccaya-satti) — the “power” or way in which the condition supports, such as the eye-sensitivity supporting seeing as a support (dependence condition) and by arising earlier (prenascence condition). The 24 conditions are these 24 kinds of force.

All 24 conditions

The list in the order of the text. The last passage chanted at Thai Abhidhamma funerals is this very list, “hetupaccayo, ārammaṇapaccayo…”, through to “avigatapaccayo”.

Conditions concerning time

Several conditions describe how cause and effect relate in time:

• Previous and next — proximity, contiguity, absence and disappearance: the preceding consciousness ceases, giving the next its chance to arise immediately and in order (Lessons 3 and 9).
• Arising before — prenascence: matter that arose earlier and still persists, such as the eye-sensitivity and the visible colour, supports seeing, which arises later.
• Arising after — postnascence: consciousness arising later supports the body that arose earlier, like water poured later that nourishes a tree already grown.
• Arising together — conascence and mutuality: states arising together support one another, like a flame and its light, or a tripod whose three legs prop each other up.
• As long as present — presence and non-disappearance: a state that has not yet ceased can condition as long as it is present.

Strong dependence: the condition closest to daily life

Strong dependence (upanissaya) is a support of great power. It has three kinds; the third is the broadest and the one we see every day.

• Object as strong dependence (ārammaṇūpanissaya) — an object so weighty that the mind treats it as important, such as recalling merit one made and feeling rapture.
• Proximity as strong dependence (anantarūpanissaya) — the preceding consciousness as a powerful support for the next.
• Natural strong dependence (pakatūpanissaya) — what has been accumulated or is familiar: habits, knowledge, faith, friends, teachers, food, climate and dwelling all condition the mind, for good or ill.
• In the Upaḍḍha Sutta, Ānanda says good friendship is half of the holy life. The Buddha says not to say so: good friendship is the whole of the holy life. This is an example of a very powerful natural strong dependence.

Predominance and nutriment

• Conascent predominance (dominance) has four forms: desire-to-act (chanda), energy (vīriya), consciousness (citta) and investigation (vīmaṃsā). Only one can be dominant in a given consciousness. These four are the four bases of success (iddhipāda) used to get things done.
• Object predominance is an object the mind values so highly that it dominates, such as a cherished possession, or Nibbāna for noble ones.
• Nutriment has four kinds: edible food, which nourishes matter; contact, which nourishes feeling; volition (mental volition as nutriment), which nourishes rebirth; and consciousness, which nourishes mind-and-matter.

Mind and matter condition each other in six ways

The Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha arranges the 24 conditions by “who gives to whom” in six ways, showing how closely mind and matter depend on each other. Neither can stand alone.

Analysing one moment: wanting to eat cake

A simple feeling like “wanting to eat the cake I see” has more than one cause. The diagram shows just some of the conditions at work at that moment. A full analysis by the text would be far more detailed.

From 24 down to 4

The Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha concludes that all 24 conditions can be included in four: object, strong dependence, kamma and presence. If you remember only four for daily life: What is the mind knowing (object)? What is supporting it (strong dependence)? What am I intending (kamma)? What is actually here right now (presence)?

Common misunderstandings

• “One effect comes from one cause.” — No. Every moment has many conditions working together. Success or failure never comes from “me” alone, or “them” alone.
• “The Paṭṭhāna is a chant for the dead.” — The chant is only the list of conditions. The book itself explains the relationships among everything in the lives of the living.
• “Someone creates or controls the network of conditions.” — No. Conditions work by their own nature, with nobody directing them and no self behind them.
• “If everything happens by conditions, I'm not responsible for anything.” — No. Our own volition is a kamma condition, and what we choose to associate with and practise is natural strong dependence. We are a major condition of our own life.