z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 04.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 249
WHAT IS NOT—DHAMMA
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§ 1. Belief in the Supernatural is Not— Dhamma
Whenever any phenomenon occurs, humanity is always wanting to know how it has happened, what is the cause of it.
Sometimes cause and the effect are so proximate and so close that it is not difficult to account for the occurrence of the event.
But often-times the effect is so far away from the cause for the effect is not accountable. Apparently there appears to be no cause for it.
Then the question arises: How has this event occurred ?
The commonest answer is that the occurrence of the event is due to some supernatural cause which is often called a miracle.
The Buddha’s predecessors gave very different answers to this question.
Pakauda Katyana denied that there was a cause for every event. Events, he said, occurred independently.
Makhali Ghosal admitted that an event must have a cause. But he preached that the cause is not to be found in human agency but is to be sought in nature, necessity, inherent laws of things, predestination or the like.
The Buddha repelled these doctrines. He maintained that not only every event has a cause but the cause is the result of some human action or natural law.
His contention against the doctrine of Time, Nature, Necessity, etc., being the cause of the occurrence of an event, was this.
If Time, Nature, Necessity, etc., be the sole cause of the occurrence of an event, then who are we ?
Is man merely a puppet in the hands of Time, Nature, Chance, Gods, Fate, Necessity ?
What is the use of man’s existence if he is not free ? What is the use of man’s intelligence if he continues to believe in supernatural causes ?
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