The Cycle of Dependent Origination

Buddhitakso

In the Buddhist context, the dependent nature is known as Samsāra.  Samsāra literally means ‘continuous flow’- referring to a repeating cycle of birth, life, death and re-birth.  In other words, there is a repeating cycle of rising and falling activities that in turn would give rise to the balance and imbalance phenomena as observed by the mind.  This scenario can be portrayed in the cycle of dependent origination as below: -

Balance leads to stability.  Stability leads to aggregation.  Aggregation leads to agitation.  Agitation leads to information.  Information leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to representation.  Representation leads to memory.  Memory leads to compulsion.  Compulsion leads to ignorance.  Ignorance leads to blindness.  Blindness leads to disorientation.  Disorientation leads to confusion. Confusion leads to irrationality.  Irrationality leads to impulse.  Impulse leads to sparkle.  Sparkle leads to inkling.  Inkling leads to volition.  Volition leads to awareness.  Awareness leads to consciousness.  Consciousness leads to manas.  Manas leads to mind and body.  Mind and body lead to sensation. Sensation leads to six sense bases.  Six sense bases lead to conductivity. Conductivity leads to contact.  Contact leads to stimulation.  Stimulation leads to feeling.  Feeling leads to experience.  Experience leads to craving.  Craving leads to grasping.  Grasping leads to clinging.  Clinging leads to unsettling. Unsettling leads to becoming.  Becoming leads to creation.  Creation leads to birth.  Birth leads to energising.  Energising leads to mobility.  Mobility leads to hauling.  Hauling leads to aging.  Aging leads to draining.  Draining leads to death.  Death leads to fragility.  Fragility leads to segregation.  Segregation leads to diffusion.  Diffusion leads to imbalance.  Imbalance leads to adjustment.  Adjustment leads to alignment.  Alignment leads to new balance.

The principle in effect: -

A stream of balance phenomena would conjure up aggregate activity,
A stream of aggregate activities would conjure up information,
A stream of information would conjure up memory,
A stream of memories would conjure up ignorance,
A stream of ignorance would conjure up volitional impulse,
A stream of volitional impulses would conjure up consciousness,
A stream of consciousness would conjure up body and mind,
A stream of body and mind would conjure up six sense bases,
A stream of six sense bases would conjure up contact,
A stream of contacts would conjure up feeling,
A stream of feelings would conjure up craving,
A stream of cravings would conjure up clinging,
A stream of clinging would conjure up becoming,
A stream of becoming would conjure up birth,
A stream of births would conjure up aging,
A stream of aging would conjure up death,
A stream of deaths would conjure up segregate activity,
A stream of segregate activities would conjure up imbalance phenomenon,
A stream of imbalance phenomena would conjure up new balance phenomenon.

Thus the conditional phenomena would continue repeatedly to depict the rising and the falling activities in the dependent nature.