The First Nidana is a poetic rendition of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching on the Paṭiccasamuppāda (Pali) or Pratītyasamutpāda (Sanskrit). In this teaching there are Twelve Nidanas or causal links describing the circular process of ego arising and its subsequent unsatisfactoriness, Dukkha. Ignorance is the first of these Nidanas. I was first introduced to this teaching while living and studying at Wat Suan Mokkh in Chaya, Surat Thani, Thailand while in personal retreat for almost a year in the mid-nineties. Ajahn Buddhadassa Bikkhu had just passed a couple years before I arrived, but I was fortunate to study under the likes of Ajahn Po, Ajahn Medhi, and Ajahn Santikaro who now runs the center Liberation Park. Ajahn Buddhadassa, and the other teachers at Suan Mokkh, taught the cycle of the Paṭiccasamuppāda was something to be observed not just in this lifetime, as opposed to being spread across multiple lifetimes, but actually in the here and now, in this present moment, and that the begginingless and endless arising of these basic causes pointed to the interdependence of all life in this existence. The Paṭiccasamuppāda is one of the foundational teachings in Buddhism of all lineages, and it holds wisdom relevant to Buddhists, Christians, or indeed any religious or spiritual practitioner of any tradition, gnostic, agnostic or even Atheist. It is timeless. It is universal. The First Noel is one of my favorite Christmas carols. It is a song depicting the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, the manifestation of the guiding star, the arrival of three wise sages from the East and the subsequent worship and adoration of the child. ​ Regardless of one’s own interpretation of this story as literal or not, the song (The First Noel) renders the story in such a way that the listener can embody the narrative in their own life as the birth of their own higher consciousness or pure awareness within this plane of human existence. My mind often functions in a more lateral thinking process and so for me the connection between the two is intuitive. Even if it is not as intuitive for others, I hope the listeners enjoy this magical melody being beautifully rendered to accompany the recitation of the Twelve Nidanas of the Paṭiccasamuppāda cast into English.