Karmapa on Emptiness

Interdependence is another way to introduce the idea of emptiness. When we talk about emptiness, it can draw a lot of confused and unwanted thoughts, fear, and all kinds of unnecessary conclusions. So that's why another way of interpreting it, another way of saying it, is by using the word interdependence. Because when you say 'interdependence', it naturally shows that there is no one separate entity that is autonomous or independent, yes, that each of the components must depend on another and therefore there is no singular entity. This is emptiness. Everything happens due to a cause and due to that cause there is that effect. And also between the cause and effect, there also need to be the conditions, so you see, all these chains of dependency. So that is another way of showing that everything is impermanent, everything is empty.

Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje