The beginning and the end of the world - the Buddhist point of view

by Daya Sirisena, President, Board of Trustees, Sirisena Dharmamandiraya, Meditation Centre, Moratuwa

The universe is a complicated yet entirely consistent whole and we ourselves are part of its mechanism. We cannot dissociate ourselves from natural processes which brings into being and destroy the physical objects around us.

They all follow the law of cause and effect, or to express it more correctly, an intricate pattern of conditionality, a pattern which is universal and all pervasive. It is the same law which has determined the structure of the atom, and the structure of the atom in its turn has determined the character of material forms from the smallest grains of dust to the colossal planetary systems scattered throughout space.

When an action is performed, a tendency is set up to repeat that action; when it is repeated a number of times, the tendency grows stronger. This is what is called habit formation and is found to some degree even in inanimate objects, the most familiar example being a piece of paper that has been rolled.

When it is unrolled, it rolls up once more, although there is no force causing it to roll up, except that it had been rolled previously and certain minute alterations in the structure had taken place accordingly. Thus it can be seen that habit formation has its counterpart in a physical or 'natural' law, and operates even where volition is absent or is represented by a volitional action from outside.

Every action that we perform therefore, is potentially the forerunner of a long line of actions of a similar kind. When the planets emerged from the fiery nebulae, they continued revolving in space, not because there is any mechanism to keep them going, but simply because there is nothing to stop them.

The initial impulse goes on recurring. It will continue until it is exhausted. Motion and the thing moving are merely a series of events in time and space, and this is the law governing the psychic tendencies.

In the Samyutta Nikaya (11,178), the Buddha speaks of the succession of 'great kalpa' (Pali Kappa);

"Undetermined Bhikkhu is the beginning of this world. The past extremity (pubba-koti) begins running on in birth after birth bound by ignorance and the bonds of craving are not manifest."

The past extremity or ultimate beginning of the cycles is not known by calculation. There is no limit by which it can be defined. "The past extremity is not manifest" is equivalent to saying that it does not exist. In another paragraph in Samyutta Nikaya (11, 52), the Buddha asks: "If Ananda, there be no birth, can old age and death be manifested"? To which Ananda replies: "Truly they cannot, Lord".

From this it is clear that "to be manifest" means to exist and "not manifest", means not to exist. Buddha says in the Anguttara Nikaya, Vol. II p 142: "There are four incalculable epochs, Bhikkhus. The four are: the Enveloping Epoch; the Enveloped Epoch; the Developing Epoch; the Developed Epoch. The Epoch Bhikkhus during which there is cosmic development is not easy to reckon as so many years, or centuries or tens or hundreds of centuries."

The Enveloping Epoch is the period during which the world system is in decline; the Enveloped Epoch is that in which it is in a state of dissolution; the Developing Epoch is the period of growth when life evolves from lower to higher stages; Developed Epoch is that in which evolution has reached its highest peak.

Having once been reinstated, while the world systems continues to be in that state, it is said to be Developed. Each of these periods is a fourth part of a great Kalpa. So it will be seen that every Great Kalpa involves the full development of sentient life followed by its total disappearance from a world system.

The idea is that from time to time there is a disturbance of the balance between the primary constituents and when one or other of them increases to such an extent that it passes a critical point, it gains ascendancy over others.

"Now there comes a time brethren when, sooner or later, after the lapse of a long long period this world system passes away.

"Now there comes a time brethren when sooner or later this world system begins to re-evolve." This is how the Buddha preached the Dhamma to mankind 2549 years ago as a peerless teacher of gods and men.