Dependent Origination or
Dependent Co-arising
(Pali: Paṭiccasamuppāda; Sans.: Pratī̄tyasamutpāda).

Dependent Origination or Dependent Co-arising is the fundamental doctrinal core of Buddhism. In fact, it is also the quintessence of all other esoteric religions as it is parallel with the eternal Truth of Unity or Non-duality. Dependent Co-arising reveals every thing or phenomenon exists in unity without separation. Ultimately, there exists no independent or discrete entity.

Dependent Co-arising may be expressed as Dependent Genesis, Conditioned Relations, Conditioned Genesis or Interdependent Arising. It connotes interdependence and inter-relationship. In actuality, it is the same absolute Truth of Unity or Non-duality expounded by Vedanta of Hinduism, Taoism, Christianity and Islam. They are merely dissimilar religious denomination communicating an identical or congruent dependently co-arisen Unty or Non-duality.  

 Succinctly put, Dependent Co-arising corresponds strictly to the universal concept of ‘One in many and many in One’ universally expounded by all esoteric religions. An esoteric religion is a religion by which the adherents seek inwardly towards self-redemption at the centre of the human heart. Without discerning this eternal Truth of dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-unity, emancipating self-redemption is not possible. The intuitive discernment of Unity or Non-duality obliterates the superimposed self or ego which is illusive and unreal.

This universal Truth is conventionally expounded or promulgated as ‘One in many; many in One’. ‘One’ refers to the absolute Essence or the ‘Principle’ and ‘many’ refers to the multiplicity or diversified phenomena. Dissimilar religions employ dissimilar designations to express this ineffable Truth of Unity or Non-duality. Human perfection is consummated only when this identical eternal Truth is intuitively discerned to annihilate the superimposed, illusive self or ego. Therefore, it is the very crucial religious doctrine to produce the Perfect Men. Perfect Man is the image of the Tathāgata or God in terms of living in the knowledge of ultimate Truth of Unity or Non-duality or the manifest of divine attributes.

From the Theravāda perspective, Dependent Co-arising is defined in the Pāli canon thus:

When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this is not, that is not
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that

Imasmiṃ sati idaṃ hoti
Imassa uppādā idaṃ uppajjati
Imasmiṃ idaṃ na hoti
Imassa nirodhaṃ, idhaṃ nirujjhati

This interdependent or contigent relations can be explained briefly thus:  When A is present, B is also present; When A is absent, B is also absent. For instance, when there is water in the pool, the pool exists. When there is no water in the pool, no pool ceases to exist. Likewise, when ignorance is present, there exists a sentient being. If there is no sentient being (who has become a Tathāgata), there is no ignorance. A Tathāgata is not a sentient being. Hence, ignorance ceases in a Tathāgata.

When this conditioned relations are comprehended, it is relatively easy to understand the 12-link conditions of Dependent Origination which is expounded by Gotama Buddha thus:

Conditioned by ignorance, there arises volition.
Conditioned by volition, there arises consciousness.
Conditioned by consciousness, there arises name and form.
Conditioned by name and form, there arises six senses bases.
Conditioned by six sense bases, there arises contact.
Conditioned by contact, there arises craving.
Conditioned by craving, there arises grasping.
Conditioned by grasping, there arises becoming.
Conditioned by becoming, there arises birth.
Conditioned by birth, there arises old age and death.

If these 12-link conditions are discerned intuitively, a Buddhist can be liberated or saved.

 In the Kaccāyanagotta-sutta (SN2.17). Gotama Buddha elucidates the right view of Dependent Co-arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda) to his disciple Ven. Kaccāyana thus:

What the Buddha preaches is that the middle view is the avoiding the pair of extreme views of either absolute existence (atthitā) or absolute non-existence (na’tthitā). This middle view is the right view of Paṭiccasamuppạda. Since only existence and non-existence can be expressed linguistically, the transcendence of existence and non-existence is ineffable.  The eternal Truth of Unity or Non-duality is ineffable as it is also neither absolute existence nor non-existence. This transcendence or emptiness of inherent existence is not a vision that is tantalizing. It can be experienced empirically through intuitive discernment known as self-realization or self-enlightenment. It is designated as a mystical experience or gnosis in monotheism.

Paṭiccasamuppāda teaches us that the world is empty of inherent existence. The multiplicity or the many are unreal; only the Principle or the One is real. What is real is only the eternal Principle of Dependent co-arisen Unity or Non-duality. Everything or every phenomenon in the empirical world is dependently co-arisen from multiplie conditions. This is revealed in the Theory of Elements (Dharmavāda) in the Theravāda Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma unveils the Truth of Dependent Co-arising that a single cause does not produce a single effect. The cause does not contain the effect; the effect is not contained in the cause. If the effect is contained intrinsically in the cause, this is tantamount to substantial view of a permanent substance or self-nature or ontological commitment to signs, marks or characteristics.

 In other words, the perceived multiplicity of all forms is mere cosmic illusion. The one and only Truth is the eternal Truth of Unity or Non-duality. Unity or Non-duality is non-discriminative truth beyond linquistic description. Unity or Non-duality is also the same ultimate Truth by promulgated by all major esoteric religions, such as Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. This mirrors the universality of Truth declared by all esoteric religions. Such inter-faith understanding leads to the alliances of civilizations rather than the clashes of civilizations bitterly experienced by the imperiled world today.

This eternal Truth of Unity or Non-duality is expounded in Mahāyāna Buddhism as Emptiness (of inherent existence or permanent self-nature). The celebrated, towering figure of Mahāyāna philosophy is Nāgārjuna. He defines Emptiness (Śūnyatā) thus:

According to Nāgārjuna, Pratītyasamutpāda is synonymous with Śūnyatā. This can be logically explained. When a phenomenon is empty of a permanent self-nature (svabhāva), the phenomenon may change according to the change of conditions which constitute the phenomenon. Because of Emptiness or Insubstantiality, every phenomenon is impermanent and mutable. When all phenomena are dependently co-arisen from impermanent and mutable contigent conditions, they are signless, markless or characteristicless. Hence, the signs of multiplicity of the empirical world are mere illusions. Nāgārjuna’s exposition of Śūnyatā,equated with Pratītyasamutpāda, concurs with the exposition of Mahāyāna’s Large Sūtras of Perfection of Wisdom, Diamond Sūtra and Heart Sūtra.

The Vimalakīrtinirde’sa-sūtra of Mahāyāna tradition expounds the Buddhist fundamental doctrine of Dependent Co-arising as the doctrine of Non-duality (Advaita). Non-duality is therefore synonymous with Emptiness of inherent existence. The eternal Truth of Unity that there is non-duality between the perceiver and the perceived. In other words, there is non-duality between subject and object, between substance and attribute, and subject and predicate. In other words, self-nature and other nature do not exist discretely or separately. Everything is dependently co-arisen in the forms of either micro-unity or macro-unity.

 In the monotheistic’s gnosis, the union or unity with God is attained when the non-duality between the lover (saved believer) and the Beloved (God) is transcended. This is micro-unity of microcosm expanded into the macro-unity of macrocosm. If we truly discern theosophy of all esoteric religions, God is not perceivable as personality or figure perceivable by the human senses. It is actually the knowledge of ultimate divine or eternal Truth of dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-duality. Buddha and God are synonymous in terms of this eternal Truth. All esoteric religious adherents seek for this identical Truth of salvation resulted from the annihilation of illusive self or ego and the intuitive discernment of the relationship between the multiplicity or many and the Unity or One or between the world and Buddha or God.

 Gotama Buddha declares that the Truth is one and not two. Logically put, it can not be two as unity is the negation of duality. When one experiences peace, he or she lives in the harmony of unity. When ones lives in conflict, he or she lives in the disharmony of disunity. Disharmony or disunity is the breach of Truth. This is rebellion against the God, the Buddha or Truth. In Buddhism, the Saddharma is violated and is followed by dukkha (suffering). Gotama Buddha declares that whoever sees the Dependent Co-arising sees the Dharma.The word ‘Sees’ means ‘Intuits’ or ‘Intuitively discerns’.

 The natural Principle of Dependent Co-arising conveys this one and only Truth of the cosmos applicable to all human beings. Islamic Sufi Ibn ‘Arabī designates it as the ‘The Unity of Being’ (Waḥdat al-Wūjud). God is the Truth (Ḥaqq); Buddha also is the Truth (Pali: Sacca; Sanskrit: Satya). Brahman, Buddha and Allah refer to the identical Truth of Unity or Non-duality.