these connected events in life can be both mental and physical. A thought or a physical act can manipulate a certain moment in time, which will lead life down a different path. A Buddhist concentrates on these variables and believes that they will lead him or her to an achieved ultimate enlightenment. All things, either mental or physical, arise and exist due to the presence of certain events and cease to exist once those variables also cease to exist. Consequently, these variables can question the Buddhist’s belief of the existence or non-existence of fate. A Buddhist believes that the outcome of life is based on actions alone instead of a pre-determined destiny. Dharma, or the moral conduct or duty of a Buddhist, is the one thing that the Buddhist strongly believes shapes their ultimate path towards a state of nirvana. Buddhists believe that their lives are connected and happen according to Dharma. Dharma is a variable, which causes one to perform actions and receive the results of those actions. Dependent co-origination and dharma practiced positively constantly condition the path to prevent rebirth, or achieve nirvana. Nirvana, therefore, is the only independent state of a “higher reality” in which dependent co-origination ceases to exist. A repeated idea within the dependent co-origination concept is that all things are constantly becoming. This means that life is constantly conditioned and ever changing. Buddhists place emphasis on what things become rather than what they are. Events that happen in the surrounding world are never structured or set in a certain way but always changing in an unstable environment. Therefore, the quote from Nhat Hanh describes Buddha’s dependent co-origination teaching that the outcome of a certain event is defined by and dependent on the outcome of previous event. Nothing can stand totally independent of any other event.For thousands of years, Buddhism has been an established...
