1 Introduction

In previous articles (see:Spiritual Food Series: A Systematic Review of Buddhist Theory (I): From Interest to Rational Understanding of Buddhism), we talked about the compatibility between Buddhism and science—although the two have different paths, both use observation as a method and awareness as a destination. Science explores the laws of the world outward, while Buddhism explores the structure of the mind inward. Starting from the perspective of Buddhism, this article will outline the growth trajectory of Buddhist theory along the path of “dependent origination—five aggregates—cause and effect.” This is not only a mental map of “how the world works,” but also a path of practice from cognition to awakening.

If science is an inquiry from the “world” to the “mind,” then Buddhism is precisely an unfolding from the “mind” to the “world.” It does not reject the pole of science, but rather moves toward another symmetrical axis. The two paths meet in the depths, merging into our holistic understanding of “existence.”

When many people first come into contact with Buddhism, they treat it as a system of thought—like Western philosophy and ethics, using concepts and logic to describe the world. But once inside Buddhism, one will find that it is not just a set of abstract philosophy. It has a completemethodology, and also a clearoperational pathIt does not stop at telling you “how you should view the world,” but also points to “how to change this way of viewing in daily experience.” This combination of “theory + practice” is the key that distinguishes Buddhism from most philosophical systems.

For example, when Buddhism speaks of “dependent origination,” it is not for you to memorize “causality” as knowledge, but rather for you to, in meditation, awareness, and daily reflection,see with your own eyes how “causes and conditions” operate within the mind and the external world; speaking of “non-self” is not a metaphysical proposition either, but rather a psychological state that can be experienced—when you continuously observe the arising and ceasing of the self, you will truly see that “I” is only a temporary aggregation of countless conditions.

In other words, the theory of Buddhism does not remain on the pages of books, but is rather apractical scienceYou can experiment with it with your mind, observe it with awareness, and verify it with your life. Its “theory” and “method,” “observation” and “practice,” are one.

Therefore, to understand the overall theoretical framework of Buddhism is not just to understand a system of thought, but rather to understand a set ofself-verifying, progressively deeper mental structuresBuddhism does not require people to “believe,” but rather invites people to “see.” When you truly observe, experience, and verify, its theory is no longer words, but rather a living process of awareness.

Like a tree from roots to leaves, the theory of Buddhism is not static, but rather growing: the root is dependent origination, the trunk is non-self, the branches are karma and samsara, the leaves are suffering and liberation, and the flowers and fruits are wisdom and nirvana:

2 Root of the Tree: Dependent Origination and the Chain of Existence

1 Overview

If Buddhism is compared to a living tree, then “dependent origination” is its root. All teachings, practices, and concepts must ultimately return here to draw nourishment. Without dependent origination, Buddhism loses its vitality.

In the simplest definition, dependent origination refers to—All things arise due to conditions, and cease due to conditions. Nothing exists independently. The “existence” we see is actually just the intersection of countless conditions at a certain moment:

This sounds like a philosophical proposition, but it is actually a way of observing the world. The Buddha was not proposing a theory, but describing the facts he observed: the world has never had anything that “exists independently,” and everything is interconnected and mutually influential.

2 From Cause and Effect to Dependent Origination—The Starting Point of the Buddhist Worldview

When many people first understand dependent origination, they mistake it for merely a religious version of the “law of causality.” But if you contemplate it carefully, you will find that the directions of the two are completely different.

Scientific “cause and effect” emphasizes alinear deterministic relationship: where there is a cause, there must be an effect, and under the same conditions, the result must be the same. It focuses on laws, prediction, and control.

Whereas the Buddhist “dependent origination” is aconditional symbiotic relationship: no single factor can determine the outcome; everything depends on the simultaneous existence and change of countless conditions.

For example, the blooming of a flower seems to arise because of a “seed,” but it cannot do without sunlight, rain, soil, temperature, or even the very moment you observe it—because if no one perceives it, its “existence” is merely a state in the physical sense:

Dependent origination tells us:There is no single “cause,” nor is there an independent “self”. A flower does not exist independently because of the seed, just as the “self” does not exist solely because of the physical body or consciousness. Every experience of “self” we have is temporarily composed of countless conditions—body, environment, memory, language, relationships, thoughts...

In this sense, the Buddhist worldview isa thorough relationalism. It rejects the concept of independent entities and the setting of an “absolute starting point.” This is not only a philosophical insight, but also a profound psychological shift: when you truly understand that “nothing exists independently,” the way you view the world and yourself will change.

3 The Two Levels of Dependent Origination—The External and Internal Worlds

Buddhism speaks of dependent origination in terms of both “external dependent origination” and “internal dependent origination”: external dependent origination is the world we are familiar with, where things arise and cease due to conditions, and all phenomena in the universe are interdependent; internal dependent origination is the psychological world, where thoughts, feelings, and emotions also arise depending on conditions.

For example, when you experience the emotion of “anger,” on the surface it seems like “he made me angry.” But looking closely, this “anger” is actually composed of countless conditions: physical fatigue, bruised self-esteem, past experiences, the current tone of voice, expectations of others... When these conditions interweave, “anger” arises. When one of these conditions disappears, this “anger” also dissolves.

Thus, Buddhism brings people back to the practice of “observing dependent origination”: to see that emotions, thoughts, and attachments are all composed of conditions. It is not “I am angry,” but rather “anger arises here and now due to causes and conditions.” When you observe this way, attachment loosens, and the boundaries of the “self” are no longer so rigid.

This is also where dependent origination connects with psychology and cognitive science. Modern psychology's research on “conditioned reflexes,” “emotional triggers,” and “cognitive biases” actually coincides with the Buddhist way of observation—only one starts from external experiments, while the other starts from internal experience.

In classical Buddhism, this law of dependent origination is further systematized as the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (Twelve Nidanas)：

It describes in detail the causal chain of life and psychological phenomena, revealing the interdependent relationship from ignorance to old age and death. In other words, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is the concrete unfolding of dependent origination at the physical and psychological levels, allowing us to understand the law of “arising and ceasing due to causes and conditions” as a whole.

2.4 From Observation to Awareness—The Practical Significance of Dependent Origination

Dependent origination is not a concept to be “believed,” but a method to be “seen.” The core of all Buddhist practice lies in “observing things as they are.” The deeper you observe, the more you can see: nothing happens in isolation, and there is no “self” in absolute control or possession.

This is not a passive nihilism, but an extremely clear understanding. It allows people to step out of the prison of “clinging to self” and see that they actually breathe and flow together with the world. When this understanding becomes an experience, compassion naturally arises—because you will find that no one can truly exist independently, and no one is not a part of the conditions: when you help others, you are actually adjusting the conditions in the entire system, allowing more wholesome causes to unfold; when you cultivate your own mind, you are also changing the direction of the entire system.

The wisdom of dependent origination is not just about explaining “why the world is the way it is”; more importantly, it lets us know that—everything can change. Since everything arises from causes and conditions, changing the conditions can change the outcome. This is the deepest hope of Buddhism: the world is not predestined, and life is not fated.

3 Trunk of the Tree: Non-Self and the Illusion of Self-Nature

1 Overview

If “dependent origination” is the root of the Buddhist world, allowing us to see that all things arise due to conditions, then “non-self” is the trunk of this tree—it is not a minor theory, but an inevitable result born of “dependent origination.”

Dependent origination tells us: there is no independent existence. Is the “self” then also born of conditions? If everything depends on conditions, then where is the “self” we cling to?

It is precisely in the extension of this reasoning that Buddhism reaches an extremely subversive conclusion:The so-called “self” is not a fixed entity, but a constantly changing process.

2 The Illusion of “Self”—A Temporary Combination in Experience

“Who am I?”—This is a question that philosophy, psychology, and even religion have always asked.

In daily experience, we all seem to feel a coherent “self”: I was me yesterday, and I am still me today; I have memories, emotions, a body, and thoughts; I am making decisions, feeling, and choosing.

But Buddhism points out that this feeling of “self” is actually anillusory continuity: it is not nothingness, but a “temporary aggregate formed by countless conditions.” To take the simplest example: every cell in the body is metabolizing and renewing; emotions are constantly changing in an instant; memory is reconstructed by time, emotion, and language; consciousness is constantly interrupted and restarted between thoughts.

And our so-called “self” is precisely the “comprehensive illusion” within these countless changes—just like a movie seems to move, but is actually just static images switching rapidly at twenty-four frames per second. When you realize this, the boundaries of the so-called “self” begin to blur. It is no longer a confined thing, but an open process.

This is what Buddhism calls “non-self”: it does not mean “I do not exist,” but rather “I am not the fixed existence you think I am.”

3 The Emptiness of the Five Aggregates—The Structural Anatomy of the “Self”

The Buddha once divided human existence into the “Five Aggregates”: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. These five elements combined form the “self” we experience:色is the physical body;受is sensation;想is the labeling and conceptualization of experience;行is volition and mental reaction;识Is the flow of awareness and cognition.

Buddhist practice begins precisely with observing the five aggregates: when you truly observe these five dimensions, you will find that they are all constantly changing, and not one of them is permanent; more importantly, theydo not exist independently of each other, but rather are interdependent and mutually conditioned.

The Buddha said “the five aggregates are all empty”—the “emptiness” here is not “nothingness”, but rather refers tothe fact that all phenomena have no independent, self-existing inherent nature (lack of inherent existence)。

In other words, no single “aggregate” (form, sensation, perception, mental formations, consciousness) exists in isolation; they depend on and condition one another to form the “self” we perceive.

For example: “form” (the body) cannot be separated from conditions like air, water, and food; “sensation” (feeling) relies on the body's nervous system and external stimuli; “perception” (concepts) relies on language, memory, and cultural background; “mental formations” (volition) rely on preceding thoughts and habitual patterns; “consciousness” (awareness) relies on the interaction of the first four aggregates.

Once these conditions change, the state of the “self” changes accordingly. Therefore, the “self” is not a fixed, existing thing, but rather the result of these conditionsbeing temporarily combined。

This is the true meaning of “all are empty”—it is not to say that the “five aggregates” do not exist, but rather that the “five aggregates” have nopermanent, unchanging, independentessence. They exist, but their existence isarising from causes and conditions, and ceasing as those conditions dissolve. Precisely because of this, when the Buddha said “the five aggregates are all empty,” he was actually pointing out: the “self” you cling to is nothing but a process of continuous arising and passing away.

The same applies to the familiar saying ”the four elements are all empty” (the four elements refer to earth, water, fire, and wind, which are the basic elements constituting the world in Buddhism) and the ”emptiness” in ”form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”

Note: ”Emptiness” is one of the core concepts of Buddhism, which cannot be fully explained in a few sentences. A dedicated article will be written about it in the future; this article can only touch upon it briefly.

When you see that these five components are merely temporary aggregations and a flow of mutual conditioning, the illusion of the “self” begins to loosen. That is not a negation of life, but rather seeing the true structure of life. Just as you understand that a rainbow does not truly exist in the sky, yet you can still appreciate its beauty.

Understanding “no-self” does not make one cold and indifferent, but rather makes one softer—because you will no longer cling so tightly to a permanent, unchanging “self.” You will find that the “self” is actually an ongoing experience, rather than a fixed noun.

Note: “Impermanence” and “空” are often mentioned together, but they are not the same. Impermanence describesthe flow of phenomena in time—everything changes; whereas emptiness points tothe structural lack of independence in existence—nothing can exist independently of causes and conditions. The former reveals that “there is no permanent state,” while the latter reveals that “there is no independent entity.” When one truly experiences these two layers of meaning, one can simultaneously see the fluidity and interconnectedness of life—the world is no longer a collection of rigid, isolated “things,” but a web woven of causes and conditions, soft, dynamic, and full of vitality.

4 “Non-Self” and the Modern Mind—The Generation Mechanism of the Self

In modern cognitive science, we know that the “self” is actually a model generated by the brain. It is a simulation of the relationship between internal states and the external world, used to maintain a continuous sense of experience. When the brain pauses this simulation, such as in deep meditation or traumatic dissociation, the feeling of “self” temporarily disappears.

Do you remember the movie ”The Matrix”:

The “Anderson” and “Neo” he identified with are actually no longer him—they are just two projections in the system, identities that have been programmed. The reason he ultimately becomes “The One”is not because he gained greater power, but because he completely saw through—that he was never truly anyone.

When he lets go of the dualistic attachment to “Anderson” and “Neo” and no longer clings to any self-definition, he becomes “the freest one” in the system. From that moment on, he is no longer constrained by the framework of identity, nor is he bound by the rules of the system:

This is precisely what Buddhism calls “ease,” and it is the true meaning of “liberation”—when you are no longer limited by “I am someone,” only then are you truly free.

The “no-self” spoken of in Buddhism, rather than being an “escape from illusion,” is more likeseeing clearly the process of how the illusion is generated. The Buddha did not claim that there is a “higher true self” waiting to be discovered, but rather, by observing the workings of the mind, saw that the “self” itself is a psychological product constantly pieced together by conditions.

Practices like mindfulness meditation and Vipassana are actually training this power of observation: you can see how thoughts arise, how emotions spread, and how reactions form—everything happens within the web of causes and conditions. The clearer you see, the more you can experience that the “self” is not the center of the world, but merely a node in the flow of experience.

When the boundaries of the “self” loosen, the world also becomes wider. One becomes freer, calmer, and more able to feel the connection among all living beings: no one exists independently, and no one is not influencing others. True awakening lies not in discovering a “more real self,” but in the insight that—“the ”self" itself was empty all along.

5 From “Non-Self” to “Ease”—The Rebalancing of the Spirit

Buddhism does not ask people to negate the self, but rather to liberate themselves from the “solidified self.” When the illusion of the “self” dissolves, one actually becomes more powerful, because there is no longer a need to constantly defend that fictional self. At this point, “ease” is naturally realized—not because external conditions are perfect, but because the mind is no longer trapped by “clinging to self”:

When the boundaries of the “self” dissolve, you will find: suffering is no longer just “my suffering,” and happiness is no longer just “my happiness”; every flow of the world is the shared breath of life.

Dependent origination reveals the interdependence of things, and no-self reveals the illusion of the subject. Together, these two constitute the most solid theoretical foundation of Buddhism:The world has no fixed essence, and life has no fixed center.

4 Branches of the Tree: Karma and Samsara—The Feedback Law of the Life System

1 Overview

When the roots of dependent origination strike deep into the world, and the trunk of no-self stands in the heart, this tree of Dharma begins to grow branches. These branches carry the continuation of life, the echoes of actions, and the regeneration of experience—their name is “业” and “Samsara”。

When many people hear “karma” and “samsara,” they immediately think of fatalism or supernatural stories, as if the encounters of a person's life are predetermined. But in the true context of Buddhism,karma and samsara are not fatalism, but rather the natural operation of a causal systemIt is not the judgment of an external force, but rather a feedback mechanism determined by the structure of life itself.

2 The Original Meaning of “Karma”—The Psychological Trajectory of Action

“The word ”karma", in Sanskrit karma, originally is “action.” In the context of Buddhism, it refers not only to external behavior, but also includesintentions, motivations, thoughts, and psychological tendencies。

The Buddha once said: “Mind is the forerunner of all things.” A thought, an emotion, a reaction, will all leave an imprint in the depths of the mind—these imprints are not some mysterious “energy,” but rather the “inertia” of the psychological system.

For example: when you respond to setbacks with anger time and time again, the neural pathways in your brain are strengthened, and gradually, the “anger reaction” becomes your automatic mode. This is “karma” in the psychological sense:a tendency accumulated from behavior.

Buddhism goes a step further than psychology to point out—when this tendency accumulates deeply enough, it affects “how you see the world,” thereby shaping the direction of destiny. You suffer not because of “bad luck,” but rather because “inner habits” repeatedly create the same situations. Destiny, in fact, is the projection of habits.

3 The Meaning of “Samsara”—The Reproduction of the System

As karma continues to accumulate, life enters a kind of cycle: habits create experiences, and experiences in turn reinforce habits. This does not necessarily have to be understood in the religious sense of “rebirth after death,” but can also be understood as a kind ofpsychological and behavioral periodic structure。

You can see this samsara happening at any time: an obsession, a relationship, a reaction pattern, repeatedly playing out in life, until one day you perceive its root, and only then will that cycle naturally untangle.

The “six realms of samsara” spoken of in Buddhism can actually also be viewed as “six psychological worlds”: when you are driven by desire, you are a “hungry ghost”; when dominated by anger, you are an “asura”; when enveloped by delusion, you are an “animal”; occasional peace and joy is the “human realm”; and when awareness is clear and wisdom grows, only then does it count as the “heavenly realm” and the “path of liberation.”

4 From Karma to Liberation—The Self-Purification Path of the System

The Buddha did not make people escape cause and effect, but rather made them see cause and effect clearly. When you truly see the process of “karma” forming, it loses its control over you.

“Karma” is not an enemy, but rather a mirror. It allows you to see the unawakened parts of yourself. The process of practice is precisely to constantly wake up in feedback—seeing reactions, seeing inertia, seeing fear. When awareness is deep enough, the energy of karma is dissolved, and the mechanism of samsara naturally fails.

This is not “escaping the world,” but rather “transcending ignorance.” What Buddhism calls “liberation” is actuallythe system shifting from blind reaction to conscious self-regulation。

5 “Karmic System” and Modern Systems Theory

From the perspective of modern system theory, karma is almost precisely the feedback mechanism of the life system. Behavior → result → reaction → new behavior, this is a self-reinforcing or self-correcting closed loop. When feedback is positive (awareness, compassion, wisdom), the system tends toward stability and evolution; when feedback is negative (attachment, greed, anger, ignorance), the system falls into oscillation and a vicious cycle.

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to cut off the system, but ratherto change the quality of feedbackWhen you can insert “awareness” between cause and effect, the chain of karma is no longer an automatic reaction of ignorance, but becomes a wise self-regulation. This is extremely similar to the goals of modern psychotherapy: cognitive behavioral therapy and emotional regulation training both use awareness to interrupt old reaction patterns, allowing new positive pathways to be generated.

5 Leaves of the Tree—Suffering and Liberation: Awakening in the Flow of Experience

1 Overview

In “dependent origination,” we see how all things are causes and conditions for one another; in “non-self,” we see how the “self” temporarily emerges from these causes and conditions. Arriving at the level of “suffering and liberation,” Buddhist theory finally touches upon the most direct part of life experience:feeling。

Leaves are the contact surface between the tree and the world. Sunlight, wind, rain, and dust all fall on the leaf surface first. Human feelings are the same—we touch the world through pain, pleasure, cold, and warmth, to understand the texture of this thing called “life.”

The Buddha proposed the “Four Noble Truths” precisely to help us see the full picture of this layer of experience:

• The Truth of Suffering, is the realistic observation of the current state of life—birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, and not getting what one wants, none of which fail to bring anxiety and concern. The Buddha did not want us to be weary of the world, but rather wanted us to firstacknowledge the existence of suffering。
• The Truth of the Origin, is to explore the source of suffering. All suffering has causes and conditions, which often stem from attachment, desire, and ignorance. Seeing where suffering comes from is the beginning of understanding.
• The Truth of Cessation, is to discover that suffering can be ceased. Not through escape, but rather through insight—when the root of attachment is loosened, suffering naturally loses its foothold.
• The Truth of the Path, points out the path leading to the cessation of suffering—the Noble Eightfold Path. That is a direction of practice, a path that allows the mind to gradually return to peace and freedom.

The Four Noble Truths are like a map of life, from “seeing suffering clearly,” to “deconstructing suffering,” and then to “transcending suffering.” This is not only a religious declaration, but also a psychological and existential practical method.

On this path, the Buddhadharma overlaps deeply with human “empirical science” for the first time—it likewise requires observation, analysis, and verification; only what it observes is not the external world, but ratherthe world of the mind。

2 Suffering: The Starting Point of Observation

Buddhism takes the “Four Noble Truths”—suffering, origin, cessation, and path—as its core framework. Many people mistakenly believe that “Buddhism speaking of suffering” is a negative worldview, but the opposite is true:“Suffering” is not pessimism, but rather the starting point of observation。

“Suffering” in Pali is suffering, which does not simply refer to pain, but rather means “imperfection,” “instability,” and “difficulty to last.” What it reveals is:all experiences cannot be permanent or completely satisfyingHappiness dissipates, relationships change, the body ages, and thoughts waver—this is not a tragedy, but rather the true face of existence.

The Buddha did not want us to be weary of the world, but rather wanted us toSeeing the impermanence and unreliability of existence as they truly are. Only when we no longer escape and no longer deny can we truly understand the deep meaning of “suffering”.

In the *Madhyama Āgama*, the Buddha further divides “suffering” intoEight Sufferings: the suffering of birth, the suffering of old age, the suffering of sickness, the suffering of death, the suffering of being separated from what one loves, the suffering of being joined with what one hates, the suffering of not getting what one wants, and the suffering of the five clinging-aggregates.

These eight kinds of suffering are not external punishments, but rather the natural state of life: birth means being involuntary; growth is accompanied by aging and sickness; emotions have separation, and desires are unfulfilled; even the “existence of body and mind” itself cannot be stable due to constant change. In other words,suffering is the norm of life, not the exception. It runs through a person's entire life and has never truly left. The Buddha pointed these out not to make people afraid, but rather to have uslook clearly with a calm eye: this is what life looks like.

From this perspective, “suffering” is not an emotion, but rather a “phenomenology of awareness”: when we cling to pleasure and hope it lasts forever, suffering arises; when we resist pain and hope it disappears immediately, suffering also arises; when we grasp at any fixed “self” or “state”, suffering still follows.

Therefore,“Suffering” is not the enemy of life, but rather the first teacher that life gives us. It reminds us to observe—what exactly is suffering? Is it the body? Is it the emotions? Is it that constantly grasping “self”?

When you quiet your mind and truly observe, you will find that “suffering” has no fixed owner; it is merely a state of gathered causes and conditions. When you no longer cling to “I am suffering” but simply see the arising and ceasing of suffering as they truly are, the power of suffering will naturally weaken.

“The meaning of the ”Truth of Suffering" lies not in escaping pain, but in seeing the nature of suffering—at that moment, awakening has already begun.

There is a Japanese drama called ”Kotaki Brothers and Four Sufferings and Eight Sufferings” which revolves around the Buddhist concept of ”suffering”. Although it doesn't correspond perfectly, it's quite close. If you are interested, you can watch it:

P.S. Kyoko Yoshine is very cute!

3 “Origin”: The Generation Mechanism of Suffering

If the “Truth of Suffering” is to let us see imperfect existence as it truly is, then the “Truth of the Origin” asks:Where does this imperfection come from?

The Buddha pointed out that the root of suffering lies in “craving” (Craving) and “clinging” (Clinging). Craving is desire, the pursuit of pleasure, existence, and permanence:

Clinging is grasping, mistaking transient experiences for an eternal self. They are like two undercurrents, driving the mind to constantly grasp, resist, and react—thus starting the flow of Samsara.

In the Buddha's “Twelve Links of Dependent Origination”, there are also the links of “craving” and “clinging”, which drive the continuous cycle of “birth, old age, sickness, and death”. But this is not a metaphysical theory of reincarnation, but rathera psychological chain of cause and effect: whenever craving (love/desire) arises in the mind, grasping (clinging) closely follows; once grasping occurs, attachment arises; and attachment is precisely the seed of suffering.

These two together weave the web of suffering: we long for happiness but cannot make it stay, so anxiety arises; we fear loss, so we hold on tightly; we mistake experience as part of “me”, so suffering takes root in our hearts.

From a psychological perspective, this is precisely the human nervous system's natural preference for “certainty”. We long for a predictable world, hoping to control our environment and maintain stability—but reality is precisely fluid. The stronger the desire to control, the deeper the anxiety.

The Buddha revealed this psychological mechanism in concise language: “With craving as condition, clinging arises; with clinging as condition, existence arises; with existence as condition, birth, aging, and death arise.” This is not a distant cosmic cycle, but ratherthe generative logic of the mind in the present moment: craving arises—grasping follows; grasping arises—attachment follows; attachment arises—suffering follows.

The cycle of suffering does not occur in the future or in another world, but is an automatic reaction in every “present moment”. Whenever the mind gives rise to craving, rejection, or fear, suffering restarts.

“The meaning of the ”Truth of the Origin" lies in letting us see:Pain is not destiny, but habit.It is not imposed from the outside, but is a repeatedly reinforced pattern of craving in the mind. When awareness arises and the chain of craving is illuminated, suffering loses its root.

At that moment, liberation is no longer a mysterious other shore, but the instant the mind loosens itself from inertia.

4 "Cessation": Cessation and Tranquility

When craving and clinging cease, the chain of suffering no longer continues—this is the “Truth of Cessation”.

“Cessation” is not the annihilation of life, nor is it the suppression of feelings, but ratherceasing—a return of the mind: from continuous chasing and resisting, back to pure awareness. When the fire of desire naturally goes out and the mind no longer clings outwardly, it quietly dwells in its own clarity and purity.

This “ceasing” is not a transcendent state of holiness, but rathera real state of mind that can be experienced. When you, in meditation or daily awareness, no longer chase “feelings you should have” and no longer reject “emotions you shouldn't have”, you will find that thoughts, pain, and desires actually never needed you to “solve” them. They come, and they go—you are merely the witness.

“Cessation” is precisely seeing this truth of “natural coming and going”:no need to control, nor any need to escape. At that moment, the mind is no longer pulled by desire, nor driven by fear. The Buddha called this “Nirvana” (Nirvana)—a state of freedom independent of external circumstances. It is not the other shore, but the clarity and peace of this moment; not emptiness, but inner abundance. From a psychological perspective, “cessation” also symbolizesthe de-tensioning of the nervous system: When the brain no longer reflexively pursues certainty and control, the body's tension releases, and the senses become soft again. That is not a loss of feeling, butrestoring the space for feeling。

Mountains and rivers remain, the mundane world remains, but within them there is no longer an “I” bound by desire. At that moment, the root of suffering is seen, the engine of samsara stops, and life reveals its inherent silence and light. The “Truth of Cessation” tells us: liberation is not leaving the world, butceasing the mechanism of suffering within the worldIt is not in the future, nor on the other shore—it is right here in the clarity of this present breath.

5 "Path": The Path to Awakening

“The ”Truth of the Path" is the most practical part of the Four Noble Truths, answering that crucial question:Since suffering can cease, how should we walk toward cessation?—The answer given by the Buddha is the “Noble Eightfold Path”.

The “Noble Eightfold Path” proposed by the Buddha is not a set of religious commandments, but is a system of mental training with deep psychological significance. It does not demand belief, but invites experience; it is not an external regulation, buta path to inner freedomIf “Suffering, Origin, and Cessation” reveal the structure and mechanism of life, then “the Path” isbringing understanding down to earth as the practice of life。

“Right” is not a rigid “right” and “wrong”, butaligning with reality, aligning with awarenessThe Noble Eightfold Path is not eight isolated practices, but rather like eight interconnected streams of mind, generating and nourishing one another—from view to action, from thought to concentration, all are different unfoldings of the same mind:

• Right View: Contemplating the world through the principles of dependent origination, impermanence, and non-self, seeing the flow of things without clinging to appearances.
• Right Thought: Letting thoughts be gentle and clear, not starting from greed, anger, or harm, and letting the mind act from goodness.
• Right Speech: Speaking truthfully without causing harm, aiming for communication rather than division, and with compassion rather than sharpness.
• Right Action: Reflecting goodwill and non-harm in actions, letting every movement have propriety and awareness.
• Right Livelihood: Maintaining life in a pure way, not exchanging the suffering of others for one's own security.
• Right Effort: Continuously training the mind to grow wholesome qualities and cease unwholesome ones, like constantly clearing the dust of the mind.
• mindfulness: Maintaining present awareness while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, so that the mind is no longer swept away by thoughts.
• Right Concentration: Through focus and meditation, allowing the mind to abide in clarity, stability, and softness.
  
  

If we compare Buddhist theory to a tree, then the “Noble Eightfold Path” isthe invisible veins running through it—It allows the sunlight of understanding to enter, and the nutrients of compassion to flow back to the roots. Every practice of “Right” is a process of letting awareness take root and sprout in life.

“The Path” is not a road leading to a certain destination, but is away of living that can be practiced at all times and in all placesWhen you see the ups and downs and reactions of the mind while speaking, thinking, walking, and working—at that moment, you are already on the Path.

“The ”Truth of the Path" reminds us: liberation is not in the distance, nor is it on the other shore.It is in your every gesture, in every conscious breath.

When “view” is right, thought and action follow suit; when everything returns to the center of awareness and compassion, suffering has no place to stand—that is precisely the ordinary path to awakening.

6 The Cycle of Suffering and Liberation: Wisdom in Experience

“The ”Four Noble Truths" are not a straight line, but are aconstantly spiraling and deepening structure of experience: “Suffering” is not a stage to be discarded after the starting point, but is a gateway of awareness that runs through the entire process. Every time we truly see “suffering”, it is a new awakening; every time craving ceases, it is a small “nirvana”.

The wisdom of the Buddha lies precisely here—he did not teach people to escape suffering, but taught people to see the truth through suffering. When we stop resisting pain, but instead face it with clear awareness, we will find:suffering itself is the material for awakeningIt lets us see clearly the roots of attachment, let go of the desire for control, and allows wisdom to naturally sprout from experience.

Just as leaves move because of the wind, and the wind lets us see their shape. The turbulence and unease of life are precisely where awareness manifests. Liberation is not leaving the wind, butremaining peacefully still in the wind—seeing the wind, seeing the leaves, seeing everything arise and cease according to conditions, yet without lingering.

6 Flowers and Fruits of the Tree—Wisdom and Nirvana: The Ultimate Blossoming of Existence

1 Overview

The life of a tree rises from the roots, passes through the branches and veins, and finally completes its existence with flowers and fruits. The roots draw nutrients from the earth, the trunk transmits vitality, the leaves touch light and wind, and finally, it blossoms and bears fruit in the cycle of time.

The theoretical system of Buddhism is the same—fromdependent originationstructural understanding, tonon-selfmental insights; fromkarma and samsaradynamic operation, tosuffering and liberationexperiential transformation—growing all the way, progressing layer by layer, and finally converging towardwisdom and Nirvanathis ultimate state.

What is called “wisdom” is not the accumulation of knowledge, but rathera transparent insight that thoroughly sees all causes and conditions; what is called “Nirvana” is also not a shore beyond the world, but rathera peaceful ease of being free and unattached in the present moment。

Therefore, the flower and fruit are not the end of a myth, but rather the moment when the observer and the observed merge into one—when “seeing” and “being seen” are no longer split, when the mind and the world reflect each other, at that moment,the flower of awakening has bloomed, and the fruit of freedom has ripened。

2 Wisdom: Not Knowledge, but “Knowing Things as They Are”

In Buddhism, “wisdom” (paññā) is not from accumulated knowledge, but rather acapacity for insight that directly perceives the truth. Knowledge relies on memory and reasoning, belonging to the level of thinking; whereas wisdom originates fromdirect seeing—a clear awareness, not clouded by concepts and language.

Therefore, the Heart Sutra says: “Because there is nothing to attain, the Bodhisattva relies on Prajna Paramita.” — True wisdom does not lie in “attaining” anything, but inletting go of the mind that wants to attain。

When the mind is no longer attached to the “object of knowing,” the “nature of knowing” will naturally manifest—this is Prajna. It is both the insight of “seeing the essence through phenomena” and the freedom of “letting go of attachment to the essence.”

The wisdom spoken of in Buddhism is not control, but ratherunderstanding and resting in impermanence: it is a mirror reflecting all phenomena—clear, complete, yet grasping no image.

3 Nirvana: Not the End Point, but Complete Freedom

“Nirvana” (Nirvana) is often misunderstood as “extinction” or “the dissolution of the soul,” but that is actually just an illusion of language. The Buddha said “Nirvana is peace,” which is not the disappearance of life, but ratherthe extinguishing of defilements and craving in the mind—like a fire calmly blown out by the wind, no longer burning.

Nirvana is not the shore of death, but rathera state where the mechanism of suffering is thoroughly seen and completely released. As the Samyutta Nikaya says: “Whatever is subject to origination is subject to cessation; when cessation is reached, there is peace.” This “peace” is not that the external world no longer changes, but rather that the mind no longer resists change.

Therefore, Nirvana is not an “otherworld” to escape the world, but ratherbeing in the world, yet not bound by the world. It is not an “end point”, but rather an ultimate “freedom”—like the flowers and fruits of a tree, which are not escaping the soil, but rather fulfilling themselves amidst the wind, rain, and earth.

4 The Path of Perfect Enlightenment: Wisdom, Compassion, and the Flow of Life

The blooming of flowers is for the ripening of fruit; the ripening of fruit, in turn, nurtures new seeds. Wisdom and compassion are precisely such a cycle in Buddhism:Wisdom is self-awakening, and compassion is awakening others.

When a person truly understands “non-self,” they are no longer driven by a narrow ego. What arises in the heart at this moment is not indifference, but rather a gentle compassion—because when the boundary between “self” and “other” loosens, the suffering and joy of all living beings are seen as the same breath of life.

This is precisely the “Bodhisattva Path” spoken of in Mahayana Buddhism:Awakening oneself and then awakening others, benefiting oneself and thus being able to benefit others.

Wisdom allows one to see through to the truth, and compassion allows one to dwell in it; the former is like a flower blooming toward the light, the latter like a fruit falling back to the earth. The flower is the blooming of realization, and the fruit is the fulfillment of practice.

When these two operate simultaneously, life enters true harmony:both clear and gentle, both insightful and inclusive. Wisdom keeps one from being deluded, and compassion keeps one from being cold—the two rely on each other, like day and night continuing each other, accomplishing the complete path of awakening.

7 Afterword: The Convergence of Science and Dharma

This “tree of cognition” grows from its roots, from the insight of dependent origination, growing into the trunk of awareness, branching out into thought and language, and then stretching into the leaf veins of suffering and liberation, finally welcoming the blossoming of life—the flowers and fruits of wisdom and compassion.

This is not some miracle of the other shore, but rather the natural result when all causes and conditions ripen.Nirvana is not the end point, but rather the freedom of life after understanding itself. It does not mean disappearance, but rather the harmony after attachment ceases; it does not mean transcendence, but rather seeing the balance in which all things are inherently interdependent. The awakened person has not escaped the world, but is rather in the world, seeing the world as it is.

Just like a tree, not rejecting the wind, not rejecting the rain, yet always standing upon the earth. That stability does not come from control, but from understanding—understanding that everything flows within causes and conditions.

If science is exploring the “shape of the tree,” then what Buddhism contemplates is the “heart of the tree”: science reveals order through equations, while Buddhism perceives impermanence through awareness; science explores the structure of the universe, while Buddhism discerns the structure of the mind. They seem to travel different paths, yet they converge at the summit—because both are actually answering the same question:Who is observing?

In the quantum world, scientists have discovered that observation is not a neutral act, and the intervention of the observer changes the observed result (double-slit experiment); while in the nature of mind, the Buddha discovered that observation and the observed have never been separated, sharing the same root in the “mind”, and the so-called “world” is not an external object that exists independently of the mind (form is emptiness, emptiness is form). The former reveals the fact that consciousness participates in reality, while the latter reveals the truth that consciousness and reality are inherently one. When these two understandings meet in awareness, fragmented perception returns to wholeness, and the flower of wisdom blossoms accordingly—it belongs neither to the individual nor to religion, but to the self-awareness of existence as a whole.

From this perspective, Nirvana is not static, but ratherexists as a balance of continuous self-renewal; it is not the other shore beyond life and death, but ratherdwelling freely in the present moment within life and death. When we truly understand that “emptiness” is not nothingness, but rather the matrix of all possibilities, we can experience eternity in impermanence and feel peace in the flow of change.

One day, this “tree”—which is ourselves—will sway freely in the wind, no longer fearing change, no longer chasing eternity. Because by then we will have understood:In all the flow of causes and conditions, Nirvana is already here—like a flower blooming, silent yet omnipresent.