Samyutta Nikaya (296) Part 1

At that time, the Blessed One addressed the monks: "I will now speak about the doctrine of dependent origination and dependent arising. What is the doctrine of dependent origination? It is that when this exists, that exists; because this arises, that arises. That is, with ignorance as condition, volitional formations arise; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness arises; and so on, up to such and such a mass of suffering. What is dependent arising? It is with ignorance as condition, volitional formations arise. Whether a Buddha appears in the world or not, this principle remains constant; it abides in the Dharma realm. The Tathāgata, having realized this by himself, attained complete enlightenment, and for the sake of others, he expounds, reveals, and elucidates it, saying: 'With ignorance as condition, there is volitional formations; with volitional formations as condition, there is consciousness; and so on, up to with birth as condition, there is aging and death.' Whether a Buddha appears in the world or not, this principle remains constant; it abides in the Dharma realm."

The Blessed One addressed the monks, saying: "I will now speak about the doctrine of dependent origination and dependent arising. What is the doctrine of dependent origination? It is that when this exists, that exists; that is, with ignorance as condition, there is volitional formations; with volitional formations as condition, there is consciousness; with consciousness as condition, there is name and form; with name and form as condition, there are the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, there is contact; with contact as condition, there is feeling; with feeling as condition, there is craving; with craving as condition, there is grasping; with grasping as condition, there is becoming; with becoming as condition, there is birth; with birth as condition, there is aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair; and thus there is such a mass of suffering. What is dependent arising? It is as said: with ignorance as condition, there is volitional formations; with volitional formations as condition, there is consciousness; with consciousness as condition, there is name and form; with name and form as condition, there are the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, there is contact; with contact as condition, there is feeling; with feeling as condition, there is craving; with craving as condition, there is grasping; with grasping as condition, there is becoming; with becoming as condition, there is birth; with birth as condition, there is aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair. Whether a Buddha appears in the world or not, these principles remain constant in the world; this principle abides in the fundamental Dharma realm. Those Tathāgatas who, relying on this principle, cultivate and attain accomplishment, all realize it by themselves, personally witness it, attain complete enlightenment, and then everywhere for the sake of others, expound, reveal, and elucidate the doctrine of dependent origination and dependent arising, saying: 'With ignorance as condition, there is volitional formations; with volitional formations as condition, there is consciousness; and so on, up to with birth as condition, there is aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair, and such a mass of suffering.' Whether a Buddha appears in the world or not, this principle constantly exists in the world; the doctrine of dependent origination abides in the Dharma realm. The doctrine of dependent origination is not the ultimate reality; it is an impermanent, conditioned phenomenon arising from the ālaya-vijñāna. Without the ālaya-vijñāna, there would be no doctrine of dependent origination, no birth and death, and no mass of suffering. The truth revealed by the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is merely a worldly truth, not the ultimate truth beyond the world. This truth is an illusion; only the principle of the ālaya-vijñāna is the most truly existent. All phenomena depend on the ālaya-vijñāna for their existence, and phenomena with worldly appearances are false. The Four Noble Truths spoken by the Buddha are also truth, but this truth is a superficial truth; the ultimate truth is the ālaya-vijñāna. Without the ālaya-vijñāna, there would be no Four Noble Truths and no Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. Although these are both called truths, they are only truths on the level of worldly phenomena."