The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda, often translated as "dependent arising", is a cardinal doctrine inBuddhism, that refers to the causal relations between psychophysical phenomena that sustain dukkha(dissatisfaction) in worldly experience. It is variously rendered into English as "dependent arising", "conditioned genesis", "dependent co-arising", and "interdependent arising".
Some scholars believe that pratītyasamutpāda is Buddhist metaphysics, but it has no relevance to cosmology(origin and nature of the universe), theology, or an absolutist (absolute soul, self, etc.) or relativistic philosophy. However, a small part of metaphysics deals with the question of free will and whether worldly phenomena are solely a consequence of other causal factors. Determinists argue that everything is completely deterministic, based on natural causal laws that can never be changed; others argue that everything is totally up to one's free will, and still others posit a compatibility of these two positions (see Compatibilism, Determinism andLibertarianism).
In so far as it describes the nature of experiences as consequences of volitions (sankhara or mental fabrications) and resolves the seeming dichotomy between determinism and free will, we can perhaps call pratītyasamutpāda ametaphysic of volitions (or karma). Despite the determinism built into these mental and physical phenomena, beings can choose volitions to either continue wandering in samsara, or break the pattern of habitual wandering. Understanding the relationships between the phenomena that sustain dukkha would help understand the natural conditions that can lead to freedom from the process of samsara, (nibbana) the Buddhist ideal
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