The concept of engi(縁起) is a way of thinking about the origins of all things and phenomena in this world, and it is believed that all things are made up of causes (direct and indirect causes), are interconnected, and do not exist as entities. This is considered to be the fundamental teaching of Buddhism.
Engi is known in Sanskrit as pratītya-samutpāda, in Tibetan as རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེ, in Chinese as 緣起, and in English as dependent origination or dependent arising.
Example - Things
Let's think about smartphone. What we call as a "smart phone" is nothing but a collection of all kinds of parts. A display, a touch camera, a speaker, a battery, and many other things are all combined together and named "smartphone" by humans, so "smartphone" exists. The parts that make up a smartphone, such as the display, are also made up of something else. So there is nothing that exists as itself.
Example - Status
Let's think about the people around us, such as our friends and family. When you think of your friend, what do you perceive him/her to be? For example If you had a friend named John, you might perceive him as John based on a combination of the following facts such as:
- His name is John
- John's nationality is 〇〇
- John live in 〇〇
- John graduated from 〇〇 school and works at △△
- John likes 〇〇
- John is married and has a wife and two children
- etc...
In other words, John is a collection of elements and relation, and does not exist by himself.
Example - Phenomenon
This example can be applied not only to objects but also to movements or phenomenon. For example, by the time you read this sentence, various causal factors have piled up.
- If you hadn't been interested in Engi for some reason, you wouldn't have come across this text.
- If someone had not created the Internet, you would not have been able to find this article.
- Even before the creation of the Internet, there would have been many causal factors involved.
- In the first place, if Buddhism had not been born, the word "Engi" itself would not have been born.
It is because of these various causal factors that you are reading this article.
Engi is the core of Buddhism
It is said that based on this theory of Engi, Ryuju created the "theory of the Ku(空). This theory of the ku(空) has become the central theory of Buddhism.
Ku(空) is expressed in Sanskrit as śūnyatā, in Tibetan as སྟོང་པོ་ཉིད་, in Chinese as sky, and in English as emptiness, voidness, openness, It is expressed by emptiness, voidness, openness, thusness, etc. in English. (From wikipedia)
