The Buddhist Perspective on Cause and Condition

Medical science looks at it as a structure of bones,
muscles, nerves, and cells. Literature defines the hand
in terms of style, gesture, and expression. <strong>The</strong> philosophical
interpretation of the hand sees it as the
embodiment of destiny and friendship. In physics, the
extension and contraction of the hand is force and
movement. In summation, the hand is regarded as real,
as something that truly exists. In contrast, the <strong>Buddhist</strong>
view of my hand is like a penetrating X-ray,
which surmises that the hand is really only an illusive
form, unstable in nature, and will eventually decay
and vanish. It is a phenomenon that is ultimately
empty in nature. Let’s say I extend my hand and make
a grasping motion. Common knowledge and intellect
would say that I have grasped some air and dust particles.
It is a movement and gesture. From the <strong>Buddhist</strong>
point of view, the grasp is “like a dream, illusion,
bubble, or shadow, like the dew or lightning.” It is
only a phenomenon that exists because of the combination
of certain causes and conditions. Thus, we
can see that human perspectives are narrow and confined;
they often hinder us from looking at the world
in the radiance of ultimate wisdom. Worldly happiness
and suffering do not have an absolute existence
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