This was sent around on the Shambhala listserv. I liked it, so I’m passing it along.
(Note: the 12 Nid?nas are traditionally described as a process that spans three lifetimes or more. The Abhidharma-ko?a of Vasubandhu describes a scheme whereby all occur in any given moment, and some modern teachers teach this interpretation, but this is traditionally a tertiary view. Nobody teaches that it transpires over an hour or so, as below. Nonetheless, as a metaphor for the process, I think the following is useful).
One Situation: Going to a Party
An illustration of the Twelve Nid?nas by Douglas Penick
1. Ignorance – enter the door, don’t know anyone, no reference point, freeze, go numb, heightened self-consciousness
2. Formations – can’t stay at the door all night, must do something, impulse to find a landing spot, vision narrows to find a reference point, head for the bar
3. Consciousness – have now made it into the party, but need to nourish yourself, oral compulsion, have a drink
4. Name/Form – feel warmth pervading body, feel fortified, empowered, embodied, feel more expansive
5. Six Senses – survey the situation, look for someone to talk to
6. Contact – see someone interesting who catches your eye.
7. Feeling – person looks good, attractive, worthy of our attention, we feel good
8. Craving – desire to talk to them, engage them, irresistible impulse, so lonely
9. Grasping – mind is fixated on how to approach them, can’t ignore them, already caught
10. Becoming – go over to talk to the person, yak, yak, yak
11. Birth – get to know the person, give birth to a relationship
12. Aging & Death – conversation, focus starts to flag, diffuse, interrupted, reference point dies, gap, no one to talk to
1. Ignorance – panic, go numb again, heightened self-consciousness, aloneness
2. Formation – head back to the bar for another drink ETC!