Dependent origination (Pali: paticca samuppāda) refers to the intricate web of causally conditioned phenomena, according to the Buddhist teachings. This doctrine holds that the arising of any phenomena is dependent on the coming together of multiple factors, with each factor already conditioned by the prior sequence of causes and conditions that preceded it. Like the chain of a rope, dependent origination is a chain of cause and effect, arising in relation to each other. As a result, ultimately all phenomena are interconnected and no event or experience is ultimately self-created or independent. This view of conditioned arising gives rise to an understanding that all conditioned experience is impermanent and subject to change.

See also: dependent arising, mutual dependency, provisional truth, consciousness, suffering