Dependent Arising

Useful Definitions

Dependent arising is the idea that everything depends on something else. There is a chain of cause and effect for everything. For example, for a tree to exist, it needs:

• Rain, which needs
  • Proper weather conditions to form
• Sunlight, which needs
  • The Sun, which needs:
    • The Universe
• Soil, which needs
  • Organic matter from past plants and animals, which needs
    • Food
• etc.

This means that everything is constantly changing, because the supporting conditions are always changing, which themselves have changing supporting conditions.
Our distance from the Sun is constantly changing, changing lengths of days and the amount of light the tree receives. The rain changes during different seasons, etc.

All events and incidents in life are so intimately linked with the fate of others that a single person on his or her own cannot even begin to act. Many ordinary human activities, both positive and negative, cannot even be conceived of apart from the existence of other people. Because of others, we have the opportunity to earn money if that is what we desire in life. Similarly, in reliance upon the existence of others it becomes possible for the media to create fame or disrepute for someone. On your own you cannot create any fame or disrepute no matter how loud you might shout. The closest you can get is to create an echo of your own voice.

— Tenzin Gyatso (the Dalai Lama)