rten 'brel - Dependent Origination

To continue on the steps of going through the second truth of suffering, another classical way to present this is using the twelve steps of dependent origination, which are also shown in the Wheel of Life Image.

To start with, dependent origination is rten 'brel. rten is a very good word to memorize, it's used here and there, it means basis. 'brel here is link or relation.

So another way to interpret this word is the basis for all, or the basis of interdependence.

You could also look at this as the other aspect of emptiness, the positive side of connections within connections, within connections, and so on. Every cause has a reason, and the reason before has a cause, and there are even many kinds of dependencies one could establish. There's absolutely no magic, everything that happens has an original cause -- it's just that sometime it's hard to figure out why. Going through the ten non-virtues is one way to learn more about the subtle causes that triggers various experiences we have just now.