The Wheel of Life: Death, Rebirth and Dependent Origination

Please note date change: No class on February 12 as originally scheduled.

Join us for a 2-week class led by long-time practitioner and Dharma Leader Anne Macquarie.

Classes March 5 and March 12

Paticca Samupadda – Dependent Co-arising, Dependent Origination

About 2,500 years ago, the Buddha said to his attendant Ananda “Paticcasamuppada (the law of dependent origination)  is a profound teaching, [and most people] are not able to penetrate it.”

So it is little wonder that 2,500 years later dependent origination still has the reputation of being hard, profound, difficult to grasp. Yet the concept of causation is central to the Buddhist understanding: it is the way things work. Studying dependent origination helps us to see clearly not only how we remain caught in the round of suffering, but how we break free. 

In this three-session study, we will start with an overview of dependent origination; then we will go step-by-step around the wheel of dependent origination and look at how each aspect of dependent origination is conditioned by the previous step, and conditions the next step.  We will conclude with a look at transcendent dependent arising – the way out.

To register or for questions, contact Anne Macquarie at annedzimc@gmail.com.

There is no charge to attend. Donations to DZIMC and the teacher will be gratefully accepted.

Anne Macquarie

Dharma Leader

Anne began her Buddhist practice with Dharma Zephyr Sangha (now renamed Dharma Zephyr Insight Meditation Community) in 1990 when her kids were very young and she was looking for a way to calm herself down amidst the chaos of toddlers. Several years ago, her attention was caught and held by dependent co-arising. She thinks it is a beautiful, practical, and profound teaching, and she is offering this study so others can learn from it and delight in it as she has.

Resources

There are many, many resources for studying and contemplating dependent origination. In this study we will chiefly use the following, though there is no requirement that you read any of them. They are given here in case you want to go deeper into Paticca Samupadda on your own.

Ajahn Amaro,  Catastrophe/Apostrophe: The Buddha’s Teaching on Dependent Origination/Cessation, Amaravati Publications, 2021

 Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Santikaro, trans.  Under the Bodhi Tree: Buddha’s Original Vision of Dependent Co-arising, Wisdom Publications, 2017

Andrea Fella, three Dharma Talks on Dependent Origination and Transcendent Dependent Origination:

Dharma Seed

• Dependent Co-arising Part 1 2022-03-08
• Dependent Co-arising Part 2 2022-03-14
• Transcendent Dependent Arising 2025-05-23

Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans., The Great Discourse on Causation: The Mahaniddana Sutta and its Commentaries, Buddhist Publication Society,  Kandy, Sri Lanka, Digital edition 2007