While practically all the schools of thought begin with a static first principle, Buddhism begins with the actual, dynamic world, and the individual, by cultivating oneself, strives to realize the ideal in the end. Samsara (the rise and fall of life) is not an onward flow, but a ‘wavicle’ circle, each wave being a cycle of life appearing on the great orbit of Samsara. It has no beginning nor end, just as one cannot point out the beginning of a circle.

There is, therefore, no room for the idea of a First Cause or Creation which might determine things. In the Dhamma-pada (Book of Religious Verse) the idea is described as follows: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts.” We must remember, however, that though the will is free or undetermined in the human world, it may appear as abstract energy-instinct or animal desire which is not un determined among the beasts and lower forms of life which are the lesser waves in the continuity of self-creation. The individual is self-creating and freely so, largely because he has no determinate nature or character.

Buddhism has nothing to do with fatalism, for it does not admit the existence of anything like destiny or the decree of fate. According to Buddhism all living beings have assumed the present life as the result of self-creation, and are, even at present, in the midst of creating themselves. In other words, every being is a stage of dynamic becoming. Although the grade and form of life vary in each birth, one should not think of the strict distinction of time as past or future. In truth there is present only. That is to say, we have a long continuity of existence, birth and death being simply the rise and fall of the waves in the ocean of life. Birth and death are not the predestined fate of a living being but a ‘corollary of action (karma),’ as it has been called by some. One who acts must sooner or later reap the effect; while experiencing an effect, one is sowing seeds anew, thus causing the next wave of life to be high or low according to the nature of one’s preceding actions.

Although the idea of the interdependence and simultaneous rise of all things is called the Theory of Universal Causation, the nature of the rise being universal, it is rather a philosophy of the totality of all existence than a philosophy of origination.

According to this theory, four states of the universe are to be distinguished: (1) the real, or the world of actual life—the factual world; (2) the ideal, or the world of law or principle; (3) the ideal realized, or the world in which the principle is applied in actual life, or the fact and the principle harmonized; (4) the real harmonized, or the world in which actuality attains harmony in itself. The first, second and third states are easily understood, for those are the ideas often discussed by thinking men. But the fourth may be somewhat difficult to understand, because in these individualistic modern times it is usually thought that one individual is inevitably opposed to another, that classes in a society are opposed among themselves, that a business concern is in competition with another.

The idea of Universal Principle, on the other hand, demonstrates that all things in the real world ought to have harmony among themselves, and it advances the following reasons : (1) Because of the simultaneous rise of all things; (2) Because of the mutual permeation of the influence of all things; (3) Because of the necessity of reciprocal identification between all beings (mutual self-negation to agree with each other) for the realization of harmony; (4) Because of the necessity of unity, or harmony, between the leaders and the followers for the attainment of a purpose; (5) Because all things have their origin in ideation—therefore a similar ideal ought to be expected of all; (6) Because all things are the result of causation and therefore are mutually dependent; (7) Because all things are indeterminate or indefinite in character but mutually complementary —therefore they are free to exist in harmony with all things; (8) Because of the fact that all beings have the nature of Buddha dormant in them; (9) Because of the fact that all beings, from the highest to the lowest, are parts of one and the same Mandala (circle) ; (10) Because of mutual reflection of all activities—as in a room surrounded by mirrors, the movement of one image causes the movement of the thousand reflections. Buddhist writers enumerate twenty reasons, but for our purpose the above ten will suffice.

The universe (all things) is the dynamic manifestation or expression of the static principle. All things are mutually dependent, mutually permeating without giving any hindrance to one another, Dharma-dhatu means ‘the elements of the principle’ and has the two aspects of (1) the state of Thusness or noumenon and (2) the world of phenomenal manifestation. In this Causation Theory it is usually used in the latter sense, but in speaking of the ideal world as realized, the former sense is to be applied.

Buddhism holds that nothing was created singly or individually. All things in the universe – matter and mind – arose simultaneously, all things in it depending upon one another, the influence of each mutually permeating and thereby making a universal symphony of harmonious totality. If one item were lacking, the universe would not be complete; without the rest, one item cannot be. When the whole cosmos arrives at a harmony of perfection, it is called the ‘Universe One and True,’ or the ‘Lotus Store.’ In this ideal universe all beings will be in perfect harmony, each finding no obstruction in the existence and activity of another.