rowyourboat wrote:It is best to keep this admonition in mind when dealing with matters of DO. Ven Ananda, a stream entrant, the Buddha's close attendant and collector of the dhamma (dhamma baandagarika) from the Buddha and other Arahanths, speaks prematurely:I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was living among the Kurus. Now, the Kurus have a town named Kammasadhamma. There Ven. Ananda approached the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "It's amazing, lord, it's astounding, how deep this dependent co-arising is, and how deep its appearance, and yet to me it seems as clear as clear can be."
[The Buddha:] "Don't say that, Ananda. Don't say that. Deep is this dependent co-arising, and deep its appearance. It's because of not understanding and not penetrating this Dhamma that this generation is like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, and bad destinations.
Best not to jump into any conclusions that we can understand/edit/leave out bits of the DO. Its full meaning is probably in the realm of a Buddhas knowledge.
thanks for the reminder