Dependent arising explains the mechanism through which beings remain trapped in uncontrollably recurring rebirth and suffering. Unawareness of voidness functions as the root cause that motivates karmic actions and plants karmic potentials within consciousness. These karmic processes unfold through the stages that eventually culminate in conception, aging and death within samsara. Craving, obtainer and further existence activate karmic seeds at the time of death, thereby propelling future rebirths and continued suffering. The five aggregate factors of experience are analyzed to demonstrate how all nonstatic phenomena may be classified and understood. They include constructive and disturbing mental factors that shape our behavior and perpetuate either liberation or further bondage within cyclic existence. Understanding dependent arising and the aggregates deepens insight into the noble truths and the internal causes of suffering. Realizing voidness and eliminating unawareness lead to renunciation, freedom from samsara and ultimately enlightenment.