Understanding teachings
Twelve Links of Dependent Origination: A Reading Guide
Identify the list, its three categories and the traditional context before comparing explanations.
When a Buddhist teaching refers to the twelve links, start by identifying the list and the explanation being used. The names are easier to study when you can see their order, their categories and the question the teacher is addressing.
Identify the twelve links
The following names follow Loter Wangpo's commentary in Adam Pearcey's translation. Keep the numbering available when reading explanations that refer to a link by its position. [1]
- Ignorance
- Formations
- Consciousness
- Name and form
- The six sensory sources
- Contact
- Sensation
- Craving
- Clinging
- Becoming
- Birth
- Old age and death
A familiar English word may still need explanation in the passage you are studying. Mark the term and the sentence around it. Ask your teacher what it means in that particular presentation before substituting an everyday meaning.
Read the three categories alongside the list
Loter Wangpo groups links 1, 8 and 9 as mental afflictions; 2 and 10 as karma; and the remaining seven as suffering. The categories gather related functions rather than dividing the list into three consecutive sections. [1]
In his July 12, 2008 teaching at Lehigh University, the Dalai Lama explains that suffering in this classification means the truth of suffering, extending beyond painful sensations. He presents the twelve links as an elaboration of the Four Noble Truths: the arising of suffering through its origins, together with the possibility of ending that process. [2]
Our introduction to the Four Noble Truths gives a starting point for that connection. When reading a new explanation, note whether it is identifying a cause, a result or the cessation of a process. Bring that observation to your next study discussion.
Keep rebirth in the explanation
The Dalai Lama's account explicitly relates causes in one lifetime to results in another. It describes a cycle of links extending across at least two lifetimes, with a third in a longer case. This is a traditional account of cyclic existence. [2]
In that teaching, ignorance is discussed as an active misunderstanding, and formations concern karmic action. Becoming concerns the activation of a karmic imprint, rather than an action still being performed. Those explanations show why ordinary dictionary meanings need care. [2]
A moment from daily life may help you formulate a question, but it should not replace the source's account. If you notice wanting something after a pleasant experience, ask how the teacher would relate that observation to the terms in the text. Leave room for the answer to be more specific than your initial analogy.
Keep notes about personal experience separate from notes about what the source states. For example, label one line “my example” and another “the passage's explanation.” That makes it easier to ask for correction without presenting an interpretation as settled doctrine.
Prepare one question from the passage
This is a reading aid supplied by this site, not a new meditation instruction. Choose a short section from the text you are studying and record its title, translator and location. Copy only the brief phrase needed for your question.
Write the link number and name, then describe what remains unclear. You might ask, “What does becoming mean in this explanation?” or “Why is this link grouped under suffering?” Point to the passage so the teacher can respond to the wording you encountered.
If you compare two translations, put their terms side by side with their source details. Ask whether a difference concerns wording, a technical definition or the broader presentation. Do not decide that two teachings disagree solely because their English labels differ.
Our guide to hearing, reflection and meditation discusses the place of study and examination. Take time with an unanswered question rather than treating recognition of the twelve names as complete understanding.
Sources and further reading
- Commentary on Dependent Origination. Jamyang Loter Wangpo; translated by Adam Pearcey, 2019. Lotsawa House, version 1.2, December 13, 2021.
- Teachings on Lamrim Chenmo: Day Three, Afternoon Session. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lehigh University, July 12, 2008; translated by Thupten Jinpa. Transcript provided by Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center; hosted by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Sources checked October 31, 2026. Written with AI assistance and checked against the linked texts. The examples and brief review are supplied by this site; they do not replace instruction from a qualified teacher.