C AU S A L C O N D I T I O N S nothing ever really happens We must realize that arising and birth are not real Therefore, Nagarjuna analyzes causes, conditions, and arising, and he proves that they are in fact empty of any inherent nature Let us begin by looking at this verse spoken by the Buddha Whatever thing it might be in samsara or nirvana, it can come into existence only in dependence upon its specific causes and condi tions There is nothing that can arise; there is no event of arising at all that can occur without the presence of these causes and condi tions to make it happen This holds for the arising of all the impure phenomena of samsara and all the pure phenomena of nirvana Whatever arising it is, it can occur only in dependence upon a spe cific gathering of causes and conditions Otherwise it will not take place Furthermore, whatever arises in dependence upon causes and conditions does not truly arise One way to understand this is to see that it is not the case that just one single cause or one single condi tion can bring something into existence, but rather, that many causes and conditions must come together for any one particular result to arise Thus, if we look at any particular result and first see that it re quires a number of causes and conditions to come together to pro duce it, we can then look at those causes and conditions and see that each one of them as well requires an incredible number of causes and conditions to cause it to arise We can go back and back and get to even the most subtle causes and conditions, and we find that these too not exist independently, but rather can only exist in dependence upon a multitude of their own causes and condi tions Then we realize that nothing exists independently with a na ture of its own, that there is nothing truly there Everything is like a dream and an illusion The same can be said for all of the thoughts that arise in our minds, whether they are good thoughts, bad thoughts, or neutral ones There is not a single thought that can arise on its own, that CAU S A L C O N D I T I O N S can decide to come to existence and then be born Thoughts can arise only when many causes and conditions come together to pro duce them Since these causes and conditions also exist only in de pendence upon their own causes and conditions, and those causes and conditions themselves need their own causes and conditions in order to arise, and on and on, all of them are empty of inherent existence The arising of thoughts is therefore empty of any inherent nature In this way, we can see that whatever arises in dependence upon causes and conditions is empty of true existence because it does not really arise at all To know this emptiness is the best way to be conscientious The reason for this is that everything we experience in this life is appearance-emptiness; however, if we think it is real, we can try very hard to be conscientious, but in fact our confusion about the basic nature of our experiences will make us careless On the other hand, those who gain stable certainty that their experi ences are appearance-emptiness, and are therefore no more real than illusions, correctly understand the true nature of things, and even if they appear to us to be careless, they are in fact more consci entious than anyone! The first verse of this chapter reads: Not from self, not from other, Not from both, nor without cause: Things not arise At any place, at any time This verse proves that things not arise because they not arise from any of the four extremes: They not arise from themselves, from something other than themselves, from both themselves and something other than themselves, and they not arise without any cause at all These are the only four possible ways in which things