Ordinary people talk only about life in this world. They have no interest in searching for the origin of life, the future of life, or the meaning of life. Buddhists, however, have an active interest in investigating all these topics.

If you want to know and understand the problems of human beings, you should know and understand the problems of the universe because the universe contains everything that Buddhism calls Dharma. Philosophers focus on this topic when they discuss ontology.

Buddhism also discusses the dharma of the universe in three categories: (1) ontology; (2) phenomena; (3) relationships among phenomena. Together, these constitute conditional causation. Buddhists consider that everything arises from conditions and that nothing, no matter whether it is spontaneous or self-contained, has a separate and independent nature.

Let me clarify what caused the universe to arise in terms of conditional causation, for which even Buddhists have many different explanations. Now, however, I only want to consider two of them: the causation of karma and the causation of alaya consciousness. Karma is caused by the action of human beings, and karma has some kind of power because it, in turn, further influences human action.

Referring to the causation of alaya consciousness, the School of Mere Consciousness asserts that the mentalities of all human beings have eight consciousnesses. The five senses (five organs) produce the first five consciousnesses; the sixth is mind consciousness; the seventh is manas (the active mind) consciousness; and the eighth is alaya consciousness. Alaya consciousness, which means store consciousness, can and, indeed, does contain and store the seeds of all things. These seeds are the causes, which, sooner or later, produce the fruits (effects). Thus, there are both good and evil seeds stored in the alaya consciousness, which, sooner or later, retributively crystallize as suffering and happiness in the world. This, then, is the alaya consciousness.

From the first causation (karma), we can understand that the substance of all things in the universe is due to the power of karma. Also, due to our own power and actions, all things are created by our own karma. Where, then, does the universe come from? It is created by people themselves. From the second causation (alaya), we can understand that the substance of all things springs from seeds. There are two kinds of seeds with their causations. The first causation is activated by the seeds of karma, and the second is activated by the seeds of consciousness. So, where do all things come from, and what appears from the seeds of consciousness? Why is the universe like this, and why are human beings also like this? Who created the universe? The answer is that everything is created by our own consciousness. Therefore, we can reasonably assert: "The three realms are or are created by mere mind, and all things are or are created by mere consciousness." Thus, the substance of the universe is the effect of karma and alaya. It is likewise with the substance of human beings, and even life itself also comes from karma.

What is the meaning of "All things are produced by correlatives"? It means simply that all things are produced by correlatives or conditions, which is to say that all dharmas are produced by causation. There are two different meanings of causation, which is produced by conditions. In one sense, causation means causes can give rise to all things.  In another sense, all things are produced by conditions, which are the dharmas of effect. The cause is the substance, and the effects are the phenomena. Therefore, some one has said: "From the theory of causation, we have the School of Mere Consciousness; and from  the theory of producing things by conditions, we have the Dharmalaksana School. We know that all the phenomena of all shapes and colors are created by conditions; other than conditions, there is nothing else. The Madhyamika Sastra says: "All things are produced by causes and conditions, which, I say, are voidness." Thus, the clear meaning here is that all things are produced by causes and conditions, which are nothing other than voidness.

What does the completion of conditions mean? The completion is the production of conditions: From nothing to have something come into being, or exist, is called production, which is the beginning of all things. After things are produced, they are in the cycle of birth-and-death. Birth and death are moment-to-moment change without surcease. However, average people, who do not understand the subtlety of this region of thought, cannot witness this with their fleshly eyes. When we see all kinds of phenomena produced, we should realize that they have only a short period of time to exist, and then they vanish gradually. How do all things come to exist? Just because all conditions exist! Of course, all things are produced by conditions; and this is why we say that all things are completed by each other. For this reason, we say: "Since this exists, that exists." The word exist here means both completion and existence. Therefore, all things in the universe never have a single existence, but depend on and interweave with each other. The Avatamsaka School has an adage, which says: "The Dharmadatu has no hindrance." This declaration tells us that all things are completed by conditions.