The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination

by Khenchen Thrangu

When the Buddha taught, he said that achieving enlightenment is due entirely to receiving correct teachings and then diligently implementing these teachings. One might ask, how does this phenomenal world work? The Buddha taught that it follows the process of interdependent origination in which one action or event causes another event, which causes another event, and so on. In personal terms, interdependent origination explains how the happiness and suffering in our present life is the result of actions in our previous lives, and how this process proceeds through twelve links.

Rinpoche discusses each of the twelve links of interdependent origination in sequence. He also discusses the five aspects of causality, the eight examples of interdependence, and the relationship of interdependence to the sutras and Mahamudra meditation. Finally, the twelve links are illustrated using a real-life example.

Genres: Buddhism

56 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2013

About the author

Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge (Tibetan: ཁྲ་འགུ་, Wylie: khra 'gu) is a prominent tulku (reincarnate lama) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

At the age of four he was formally recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and Eleventh Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku, the abbot of Thrangu Monastery, whose root incarnation was Shüpu Palgyi Sengé, one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Forced to flee to India in 1959, he went to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, where the Karmapa had his seat in exile. Thrangu Rinpoche then served as the main teacher of the four principal Karma Kagyü tulkus of that time—the four regents of the Karmapa (Shamar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche). In 1976 he began to teach in the West and became the abbot of Gampo Abbey—a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada—as well as to take charge of the three-year retreat centre at Samyé Ling in Scotland.

He is also the author of the widely studied The Practice of Tranquility and Insight, a commentary on the eighth chapter of Jamgön Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge, on shamatha and vipashyana.

Reviews

[Ike Lichtenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and Helpful

Basic yet very helpful. Short yet informative. Very practical and a worthwhile read. Our world is interdependent. The causes of happiness and misery are revealed.

[Suzann Hohe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emptiness explained

This book finally brings me closer to grasping the concept of emptiness. Very clear and easy to understand. Excellent book!

[T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly written with enough concrete examples to help understanding.

[Eunsung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read into Buddhist thought and philosophy. I thought Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche was very readable and his explanation of Karma was one of the best I've read.

[A.B. McFarland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author has a very clear way of expressing challenging concepts.

[Jangchub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear teaching!