The context of Buddhism

I am indebted to Pande's book Studies in the Origins of Buddhism which made possible the following observations about Buddhism if not its context or frame that surrounds it and its various schools.

1. According to Pande reality revealed itself to Buddha in two aspects, namely, dependent origination (P., paticcasamuppado; S., pratityasamutpada) and nibbana (nirvana).
   
2. To perceive dependent origination is to perceive the world of becoming which is suffering and rebirth into more states suffering.  Such a world is impermanent and therefore contingent (i.e., conditioned by something else).  It is neither absolute nor final.
   
3. Nirvana is the logical counterpart to dependent origination. It should be interpreted as the Absolute (the most essential and necessary)—the eternal and infinite principle.
   
4. In simpler terms dependent origination is our conditioned world whereas nirvana is the unconditioned this being the essence of reality rather than things which are never other than conditioned.
   

Buddhism is not just a teaching about dependent origination.  This is only half the teaching describing our finite world and our suffering in it.  Rather, Buddhism teaches nirvana as the way by which we can escape from the world of dependent origination.  The Buddha’s teaching, in addition, understands that nirvana is intuitively accessible by us even though it is an unconditioned reality.  The teaching of nirvana is proper to authentic Buddhism.