How to Correctly Understand the Conditioning of Vijñāna by Saṃskāra and the Conditioning of Nāmarūpa by Vijñāna

First, there may be misunderstandings in the translation of various Buddhist scriptures. Due to the varying levels of realization and attainment among translators, with some lacking any genuine realization, discrepancies in the Dharma meaning arise in the translated scriptures. One translator produces one level of translation, while multiple translators yield multiple levels. In the past, practitioners of the Hinayana tradition did not understand the mind faculty (manas). When encountering the Dharma principles concerning the mind faculty during scripture translation, their comprehension deviated, with some fundamentally failing to grasp it. If a person possessed profound meditative concentration (dhyāna), this deficiency could be compensated for in their practice and realization, but it could not be remedied in explaining or translating the scriptures. This led to various misunderstandings among later generations who lacked meditative concentration, making them unable to realize the truth experientially. Consequently, they resorted to reasoning, analysis, and conjecture out of necessity.

If a Buddhist practitioner has not yet thoroughly penetrated the Dharma meaning and is unable to understand and experientially realize the mind faculty, misunderstandings and lack of clarity will arise in their comprehension of the scriptures. For example, regarding the twelve links of dependent origination—'ignorance conditions formations, formations condition consciousness'—one might struggle to understand what exactly 'formations' and 'consciousness' refer to, fail to clarify the relationship between the two, or confuse the sequence of operation. If the 'consciousness' in 'formations condition consciousness' is understood as the seventh consciousness or the eighth consciousness, the Dharma meaning becomes severely mistaken. What kind of 'formation' could produce the seventh consciousness? Only the activity of the eighth consciousness can produce the seventh consciousness, but the eighth consciousness itself is free from ignorance. This contradicts the principle that 'ignorance conditions formations'. What kind of 'formation' could produce the eighth consciousness? No activity in the mundane or supramundane realms can produce the eighth consciousness. Therefore, the 'consciousness' in 'formations condition consciousness' and 'consciousness conditions name-and-form' cannot be the seventh or eighth consciousness; it can only be the six consciousnesses.

So, what kind of 'formation' produces the six consciousnesses? Physical, verbal, and mental activities absolutely cannot produce the six consciousnesses; this is precisely inverted. Without the six consciousnesses, there cannot be physical, verbal, and mental activities. The physical, verbal, and mental activities of the six consciousnesses cannot produce the six consciousnesses themselves. One cannot give birth to oneself; one can only be born from other consciousnesses or dharmas. The six consciousnesses can only be born from the eighth consciousness, with the activity of the seventh consciousness serving as a contributing condition. Based on the causal activity of the seventh consciousness, the eighth consciousness accords and cooperates to give birth to the six consciousnesses, which then engage in physical, verbal, and mental activities, storing karmic seeds that become the cause for the future birth of the five aggregates (name-and-form). It is through this chain of interdependent operations that the complete twelve links of dependent origination—the suffering of birth, death, and rebirth—unfolds.