“Dependent origination” is the basis of [the] “no-self” concept. It is a fundamental part of Śākyamuni’s teachings, unique to the Buddha, and is not found in Hindu schools. The term “dependent origination” is a translation of the Sanskrit “pratītyasamutpāda.” “Pratītya” means “condition” and “samutpāda” means “to arise together.” Dependent origination holds that all beings arise based on conditions. They come into being and are mutually dependent. This was the antithesis of the theory, generally accepted in India, that everything comes into existence based on the ātman or self.

This idea of dependent origination developed into teachings such as the “twelvefold chain of dependent origination,” which describes the cause of suffering in this world and the conditions for its extinction. It holds that (1) ignorance, (2) volitional formations, (3) consciousness, (4) name and form, (5) the six sense bases, (6) contact or impression, (7) feeling or sensation, (8) craving or desire, (9) clinging or attachment, (10) becoming or existence, (11) birth, and (12) old age and death, each of these arise due to the link that comes before it. This way of looking at the twelve links is called anuloma or “sequential observation.” Observing that volition is extinguished when ignorance is extinguished, and that extinguishing the suffering of old age and death comes from extinguishing ignorance is called pratiloma or “reverse observation.”