In this volume, I will be discussing a central idea within Buddhism called Dependent Origination. Most are familiar with The Four Noble Truths, which I will cover in a future book, but this particular teaching I will discuss has all of the Buddhist core ideas within it. Dependent Origination: When we look at the world, we see all the vast interdependencies at play. For one thing to occur, something else had to occur that preceded it and on and on ad infinitum. This includes the suffering "Dukkha" that we experience in this world. All suffering, as Buddhism states, is based on attachments to "things" and "ideas." All suffering is a result of causality, if we do not jump off this wheel of causality, it controls our every move and we will be forever slaves to it, its cause and effect. Buddhism offers a way out of this cycle of suffering. However, it is not only suffering on this earth that occurs when we stay on the wheel of cause and effect; according to Buddhism, we create conditions in which we will need to reincarnate yet again in this world and live through the suffering yet again. In some instances, one may not reincarnate on earth but, in other spiritual dimension in which suffering is taking place there as well. The first step to stopping the insanity is to know how these dependent originations come about. Buddhism explains this through something called The Twelve Nidanas. Each Nidana or "link" leads us to further understand how these dependencies arise. Let us take a look at each one.

The Harmony of Emptiness and Dependent-Arising is a commentary to Tsong Khapa’s The Essence of Eloquent Speech, Praise to the Buddha for Teaching Profound Dependent-Arising. The subject of the work concerns two important themes of Buddhist philosophy: emptiness and dependent-arising. All schools of Buddhism expound theories of emptiness and dependent-arising, but their interpreptations vary greatly and are even contradictory. Here Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, very skilfully explains these two theories through logical analysis combined with simple and wonderful illustrations. Late Ven. Lobsang Gyatso was born in Kham province, Tibet, in 1928 and educated at Drepung Monastic University. He escaped from Tibet in 1959 and was one of the first trained Tibetan teachers in exile and was also a member of the Tibetan Textbook Committee of Council for Tibetan Education. In 1973, with the blessing of H. H. the Dalai lama, he founded the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala. He has toured and lectured in many countries of the world, and has authored many books and articles. Above all, he is a meditation master, who lives his life according to the Buddhist philosophy of wisdom and compassion.

Enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, moving on from the sense of self, is what lies at the core of Buddhism. This enlightenment in turn brings about a natural desire to benefit others. But there is a long journey before one can achieve this. Namely, it isn't just truly understanding the realities of the world but also questioning and realizing the cyclical nature of things in the world. But how does one begin? And how does one make progress? Understanding each stage is a process in itself. And even though one is supposed to look inwards to make progress, one still needs guidance from a teacher, a guru, to help you along the way. After all, our existence is dependent on our birth, which in turn is dependent on our parents. In Dependent Arising, His Holiness the Dalai Lama throws light on this exact point: By understanding our relationship with our existence, we can ourselves rise and help others around us also make progress on their spiritual journey. From one of the many teaching sessions that took place at the Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre in New Delhi, Dependent Arising is a simple but effective guide to help you identify your role in the universe.

An accessible and demystifying look at the Dependent Origination and Emptiness as described in the suttas of the Pali Canon and in Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamaka-karika.