Pratītyasamutpāda

[2][3] These processes are expressed in various lists of dependently originated phenomena, the most well-known of which is the twelve links or nidānas (Pāli: dvādasanidānāni, Sanskrit: dvādaśanidānāni).

"[42] Richard Gombrich writes that this basic principle that "things happen under certain conditions" means that the Buddha understood experiences as "processes subject to causation".

"[3] Ajahn Brahm argues that the grammar of the above passage indicates that one feature of the Buddhist principle of causality is that "there can be a substantial time interval between a cause and its effect.

The Paccaya sutta states that whether or not there are Buddhas who see it "this elemental fact (dhātu, or "principle") just stands (thitā), this basic-pattern-stability (dhamma-tthitatā), this basic-pattern-regularity (dhamma-niyāmatā): specific conditionality (idappaccayatā).

[59]The Kaccānagottasutta then places the teaching of dependent origination (listing the twelve nidanas in forward and reverse order) as a middle way which rejects these two "extreme" metaphysical views which can be seen as two mistaken conceptions of the self.

[24] SĀ 80 also discuss an important meditative attainment called the emptiness concentration (śūnyatā­samādhi) which in this text is associated contemplating how phenomena arise due to conditions and are subject to cessation.

[4][7] Alex Wayman notes that "according to Buddhist tradition, Gautama discovered this formula during the night of Enlightenment and by working backward from "old age and death" in the reverse of the arising order.

[101] In SN 12.59 and its counterpart SA 284, there is a chain that starts by saying that for someone who "abides in seeing [the Chinese has grasping at] the flavour in enfettering dharmas (saññojaniyesu dhammesu), there comes the appearance (avakkanti) of consciousness."

This is the origin of suffering … [the same formula is repeated with the other six sense bases and six consciousnesses, that is, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind]Other depictions of the chain at SN 12.52 and its parallel at SA 286, begin with seeing the assada (taste; enjoyment; satisfaction) which leads to craving and the rest of the list of nidanas.

Jurewizc further argues that the rest of the twelve nidanas show similarities with the terms and ideas found in Vedic cosmogeny, especially as it relates to the sacrificial fire (as a metaphor for desire and existence).

Yet, as Gombrich notes, samkhara, vijnana, and vedana also appear as separate links in the twelvefold list, so this equation can't be correct for this nidana.

According to Nakamura, "the main framework of later theories of Dependent Origination" can be reconstructed from the Sutta Nipata as follows: avidya, tanha, upadana, bhava, jaramarana.

[135] Likewise, Waldron notes that the anusaya, "underlying tendencies, are the link between the cognitive processes of phassa ("contact") and vedana (feeling), and the afflictive responses of tanha ("craving") and upadana ("grasping").

[148] Against the view that the 12 link chain is later, Alex Wayman writes "I am convinced that the full twelve members have been in Buddhism since earliest times, just as it is certain that a natural division into the first seven and last five was also known.

"[76] Bhikkhu Bodhi writes that the suggestions of some scholars the twelvefold formula is a later expansion of a shorter list "remain purely conjectural, misleading, and objectionable on doctrinal and textual grounds.

[153] Attwood cites numerous other Pali suttas which contain various lists of dependently originated phenomena that lead to liberation, each one being a "precondition" (upanisā) for the next one in the sequence.

[note 45] According to Attwood, AN 11.2 (which has a parallel at MA 43) is a better representative of transcendental dependent origination passages and better conforms "to the general outline of the Buddhist path as consisting of ethics, meditation and wisdom.

"[155] The following chart compares various transcendental dependent arising sequences found in Pali and Chinese sources: B. Bodhi (commenting on SN 12.23): "The retrospective cognition of release involves two acts of ascertainment.

[176] As a result of their doctrinal development, the various sectarian Buddhist schools eventually became divided over the question of whether or not the very principle of dependent origination was itself conditioned (saṃskṛta) or unconditioned (asaṃskṛta).

Paul Williams sees dependent origination as closely connected with the doctrine of not-self (anatman) which rejects the idea there is a unchanging essence that moves across lives.

[192][193][194] The three-lives model, with its "embryological" interpretation which links dependent origination with rebirth was also promoted by the Sarvāstivāda school as evidenced by the Abhidharmakosa (AKB.III.21–4) of Vasubandhu (fl.

"[76] Vasubandhu's presentation is fully consistent with Nagarjuna's: "nescience, craving, and indulgence are defilement; motivations and gestations are karma; the remaining seven are the basis (asraya) as well as the fruit (phala).

[76] As outlined by Wayman, Asanga's Abhidharma-samuccaya divides the nidanas into the following groups:[76] According to Gombrich, the "contorted" three lives interpretation is rendered unnecessary by the analysis provided by Jurewicz and other scholars which show that the 12 link chain is a composite list.

[3][25] Prayudh Payutto notes that in Buddhaghosa's Sammohavinodani, a commentary to the Vibhaṅga, the principle of dependent origination is explained as occurring entirely within the space of one mind moment.

Perhaps the earliest of these sutras, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, contains a passage which describes the suchness (tathatā) of dharmas using various terms including shūnyatā, cessation (nirodha) and unarisen (anutpāda).

The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra mentions that Vaidehi had, on listening to the teaching in this sutra, attained "great awakening with clarity of mind and reached the insight into the non-arising of all dharmas.

"[211] The Lotus Sutra states that when the "thought of the highest path" arises in sentient beings "they will become convinced of the nonarising of all dharmas and reside in the stage of non-retrogression.

24.18–19 [216]According to Nāgārjuna, all phenomena (dharmas) are empty of svabhāva (variously translated as essence, intrinsic nature, inherent existence, and own being) which refers to a self-sustaining, causally independent and permanent identity.

According to Jay Garfield, in the first chapter, Nāgārjuna argues against a reified view of causality which sees dependent origination in terms of substantial powers (kriyā) of causation (hetu) that phenomena have as part of their intrinsic nature (svabhāva).

Westerhoff states that Nāgārjuna thinks all conceptual frameworks of causality that make use of such ideas are based on a mistaken presupposition which is that "cause and effect exist with their own svabhāva".