Hetu

hetu (T. rgyu; C. yin; J. in; K. in 因). Translated as “cause,” "seed," "origin," etc. That which produces a result. In contrast to "conditions" (pratyaya), hetu refers to the primary, or most intimately related cause of an effect. Regarding the relation between "causes" and "conditions", "cause" refers to a more internal and direct cause, while 'condition' refers to external, auxiliary, and indirect causes.

The Princeton Dictionary states:

In one of the first accounts of the Buddha’s teachings, he was said to have “set forth the causes of things that have causes and also set forth their cessation.” The process of causality is provisionally divided between hetu and pratyaya, “causes and conditions”: hetu designates the main or primary cause of production, which operates in conjunction with pratyaya, the concomitant conditions or secondary, supporting causes; these two together produce a specific “fruition” or result (phala): thus, the fruition of a tree is the result of a primary cause (hetu), its seed; supported by such subsidiary conditions as soil, sunlight, and water; and only when all the relevant causes and conditions in their totality are functioning cooperatively will the prospective fruition or effect occur.

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics (Vol 1) states:

As in contemporary science, one of the most important explanatory principles in Buddhist exploration of reality is the law of causality. Whether it is the framework of the four noble truths or dependent origination, the principle of causality lies at the heart of the Buddhist worldview, from the natural world to the process of mental purification. A well-known statement attributed to the Buddha reads, “When this exists, that exists; from the arising of this, that arises,” which encapsulates the principle of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and explicitly presents causation in terms of conditionedness. “This conditionedness” (idaṃpratyaya) is a ubiquitous phrase in Buddhist texts, tantamount to a slogan, especially to draw a contrast with those who explain the evolution of the cosmos in terms of a transcendent force such as God (Īśvara in Sanskrit).

In explaining the causal process inherent in the arising of things, we see a distinction drawn between two crucial terms, causes (hetu) on the one hand and conditions (pratyaya) on the other. When distinguished, cause is primary while conditions are complementary in that they help the cause produce its effect.

To give an example popular in Buddhist sources, the arising of a rice sprout, the rice seed is the cause while factors such as soil, moisture, warmth, and the farmer’s efforts are conditions. In some contexts hetu and pratyaya are used interchangeably, thus making cause and condition in fact equivalent. When used in this way, a distinction is drawn between what is a primary or substantial cause and what is a cooperative cause, with the former being unique — that is, having a one-to-one relation to a given effect — while those in the latter category are shared and common with other effects. In other words, a cooperative cause can have multiple effects.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Thupten Jinpa, ed. (2017), Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 1: The Physical World, translated by Ian James Coghlan, Wisdom Publications 

External links

• 因, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (to sign in, see DDB sign-in)
• rgyu, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• རྒྱུ་, Rigpa Shedra Wiki