Dependent co-arising

Interdependent co-arising is a very key concept of The Buddha’s teachings. The other interesting names of this concept are dependent co-arising and dependent origination. Dependent co-arising is a deep concept. The depth requires an understanding of the concepts of Buddhism. So, I keep writing at a very shallow level examples to drive home the point. Whenever I read the book – Old path white clouds by Thich Nhat Hanh I get itched to this very concept. He explains this concept in easy words – “From interdependent origins, all things arise and all things pass away.”

I have shared multiple examples specifically for dependent co-arising on my blog. These examples were shallow yet practical relationship between the teachings of the Buddha and the present-day Business.

Here are some examples

Vaccination and interdependence (pulse polio elimination initiate of Govt of India)
Societal impact
Interdependent co-arising a farmers example
Entrepreneurship
Intra-country example and macro-economic example

Whenever I try to interpret this concept; besides the interdependence, this concept touches on another concept of Hinduism (or Indic religions) – the concept of Karma. Karma gives us a guiding principle of cause and effect. It is easy to understand with the help of an English proverb – as you sow; so shall you reap. A very easy example of the cycle of Karma can be seen in an episode – Lucky penny – of How I met your mother.

However small we think we’re as an individual, we’ve the power to make an immense impact on the world. You may have heard – if a butterfly flutters its wings in Amazon forest, it may cause a hurricane in Japan. I came across this interesting Domino effect video. I could relate it to the butterfly effect and thus to dependent origination.

Watch this and relate the accumulated energy of the bar to Karma, the first piece as the butterfly fluttering wing and in effect interdependence of everything as a cycle.