Overview
This is perhaps the most profound binary in Buddhist ontology. It separates the entirety of reality into two absolute categories based on causality. If something requires a cause to exist, it is conditioned. If it exists independently of all causes, it is unconditioned.
The List
- Saṅkhatā dhammā - Conditioned states: Phenomena that have been created, formed, and fabricated by causes and conditions. This includes all consciousnesses, all mental factors, and all physical matter (the 5 aggregates). Because they are conditioned, they are all impermanent and subject to destruction.
- Asaṅkhatā dhammā - Unconditioned states: That which is not created, not formed, and not fabricated by causes. In orthodox Theravāda, there is only one unconditioned reality: Nibbāna. Because it is unconditioned, it is deathless and eternal.
Textual References
- Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Duka) – The ultimate dividing line of the Buddha’s teaching, proving that escape from the conditioned world is only possible because the unconditioned exists.