The doctrine of dependent origination is a fundamental Buddhist teaching on causation. Dependent origination holds that nothing is ‘a thing in itself’, with all things being dependent on other things. In other words, life and everything associated with it is built on a set of relations, in which it’s arising and cessation is conditional on other factors that arise/cease due to natural causation rather than by the will of some Devine entity. This principle can be given in a short formula of just four lines:
When this is, that is
This arising, that arises
When this is not, that is not
This ceasing, that ceases
(Dhammananda, 2010. p. 142)
The important consequence of this teaching is that there is nothing that comes into being through its own power or decision, and there are therefore no entities or metaphysical realities such as God or a soul/self (attā).
There are a variety of formulations of this doctrine, but the most common one explains the implications of causality, as it applies to existence, in a series of twelve stages or links (nidāna) highlighting that suffering (dukkha) and being trapped in the round of rebirth (samsāra) arises principally from craving (tanhā) and ignorance (avijjā).
These 12 nidāna are central to the Buddhist understanding of causality – i.e. dependent origination operates in terms of links on a chain such that:
Conditioned by (1) ignorance are (2) formations, conditioned by formations is (3) consciousness, conditioned by consciousness is (4) mind-and-body, conditioned by mind-and-body are (5) the six senses, conditioned by the six senses is (6) sense-contact, conditioned by sense-contact is (7) feeling, conditioned by feeling is (8) craving, conditioned by craving is (9) grasping, conditioned by grasping is (10) becoming, conditioned by becoming is (11) birth, conditioned by birth is (12) old age and death – grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair come into being.
(Gethin, 1998, pp. 141-2).
This is how life arises, exists and continues, and how suffering arises. And this is a significant point for it is precisely because everything arises as it does that small changes in the nature of any of these conditions can produce different effects. In other words, by developing wholesome actions – non-attachment, friendliness and wisdom, etc – the causes of suffering, such as ignorance and craving can be lessened and eventually done away with all together. Thus, the mechanism of dependent origination need not only lead to suffering, but equally, to the elimination of suffering.
One final note with respect to understanding dependent origination from the Buddhist perspective – at a macro-level, the 12 links (nidāna) are understood to sequentially span three lifetimes – the past life, the present life, and the future life. At a micro-level too, they sequentially span any three moments, three thoughts, and three actions, etc. – past, present and future. At both the macro- and micro-levels, the actual breakdown is such that previous (1) ignorance and (2) formations represent the past causes of the present conditions (3) consciousness, (4) mind-and-body, (5) six senses, (6) sense-contact, and (7) feeling. Likewise, the way we react to our present conditions by way of (8) craving, (9) grasping, and (10) becoming, creates the present causes that will inform the conditions of our future (11) birth and (12) aging and death.
(Dhammananda, 2010, pp. 141-7; Gethin, 1998, pp. 141-153; Guide to Buddhism A to Z, n.d.; Kang, ca.2012d; Prebish and Keown, 2010, pp. 48-9; Tsering, 2009, pp. 153-8).