Part 3 - How the Present Arises from the Past

“With ignorance as condition, formations.
With formations as condition, consciousness.”
— SN 12.2

Why this Part matters

A major confusion throughout Buddhist history is how the past influences the present — especially through the concept of kamma and rebirth.

Some treat Dependent Origination as only about:

  • past lives → present life → future life
    (“three-life model”)

Others insist it refers only to:

  • the present moment
    (here-and-now psychological model)

The Buddha taught neither position exclusively.

Instead, he taught a single integrated system operating on two scales:

Scale

Scope

Purpose

Temporal extension

past → present → future

explains kamma & continuation

Moment-to-moment

now → now → now

explains suffering & liberation

Both scales illuminate the same dependent process.

The continuity is not a self

The present is conditioned by past actions, yes —
but not by a traveler self-passing through time.

Instead:

Present experience is shaped by
what ignorance and craving have built up
as habits, tendencies, and identity momentum.

This continuity is:

  • causal, not personal
  • process-based, not soul-based

What is inherited is conditions, not a self.

The present is where the past shows itself

The Buddha emphasized not looking backward into stories, but looking here:

“The world, its arising, ceasing, and the path —
all are found in this very body and mind.”
— SN 12.44

This moment contains:

  • the result of past causes
  • the seeds of future becoming

If you want to know the past:

Look at what is here now.

If you want to change the future:

Change what is here now.

This makes the Path immediate and actionable.

How the integrated model works

When the Buddha explained Dependent Origination as:

  • ignorance & formations in the past →
  • consciousness & mentality-materiality in the present

He did so to show:

The present “birth” of a sense of self
is powered by accumulated conditioning.

Past causes give the present its launching momentum —
but the present decides the direction.

This is why liberation happens now, not later.

Practical insight

Notice:

  • impulses appear before we choose them
  • reactions fire before reflection
  • the sense of “me” arises already-prepared

This is the past expressing itself as:

  • present identity
  • present craving
  • present stress

And yet…

In the very point where the past asserts itself,
the future can be changed.

One moment of wisdom stops
the entire inheritance of avijjā.

Culmination Link for Part 3

The question “How does the present arise?”
and the question “Why does suffering continue?”
have the same answer:

The present arises from causes —
remove the causes, and the chain ends.

Therefore:

  • The past explains how the chain began
  • The present explains how to break it

Everything leads back to Dependent Origination:

Arising shows the problem.
Cessation shows the freedom.