Gautama's Siddhartha's conception of religion, Will Durant notes about the theological disparity of Buddhism, is not a way to worship but a way to live: "He cared everything about conduct, nothing about ritual or worship, metaphysics or theology" (Oriental Heritage 431). As the giver of noble truths, Buddha does not depend on an anthropomorphic deity to validate them, or a supervisory priesthood to interpret their mantra-sounding meanings.
The concept of dependent origination forms one of the most important and profound teachings in Buddhism. Buddha expressed experience of enlightenment in one of two ways, either in terms of having understood the Four Noble Truths, or in terms of having understood the nature of dependent origination. Again, the Buddha has often mentioned that in order to attain enlightenment one has to understand the Four Noble Truths; or similarly, one has to understand dependent origination.
Buddha's own statements define a close relationship between the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination. That relationship is the law of cause and effect. The Four Noble Truths fall into two groups: A) suffering and the causes of suffering, B) the end of suffering and the path to the end of suffering. In both of these groups, it is the law of cause and effect that governs the relationship between the two.
Applied to the problem of suffering and rebirth, dependent origination serves as a teaching tool that illustrates causal links: ignorance, mental formation, consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, and old age and death. (Buddha Dharma)
The Four Noble Truths assert that Ignorance, desire, and ill will are the causes of suffering. Ignorance is fundamental. It is because of ignorance that we crave for pleasures of the senses, for existence and for non-existence. Similarly, it is because of ignorance that we cling to pleasures
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