The Yin Chi Ru Sutra: Upper Volume (Part 1)

Original Text: What are the twelve? From craving arises seeking and the like. From ignorance as condition arises volitional formations. From volitional formations arises consciousness. From consciousness arises name-and-form. From name-and-form arise the six sense bases. From the six sense bases arises contact. From contact arises sensation. From sensation arises craving. From craving arises clinging. From clinging arises becoming. From becoming arises birth. From birth arise aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair—afflictions that are unbearable to the mind. Thus the seed of suffering becomes fully established, brought about by the force of habitual tendencies.

Explanation: What are the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination? The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination are the conditioned phenomena arising from a series of cravings for worldly phenomena. From the condition of ignorance in the mental faculty arises volitional formations of the mental faculty. From the condition of volitional formations arises consciousness. From the condition of consciousness arises name-and-form. From the condition of name-and-form arise the six sense bases. From the condition of the six sense bases arises contact. From the condition of contact arises sensation. From the condition of sensation arises craving. From the condition of craving arises clinging. From the condition of clinging arises becoming. From the condition of becoming arises birth. From the condition of birth arise aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair—all unbearable things causing incessant mental affliction. Thus, the karmic seeds of the suffering of birth and death become fully established, all caused by the habitual tendencies of contact.

Original Text: When ignorance ceases, volitional formations cease. When volitional formations cease, consciousness ceases. When consciousness ceases, name-and-form ceases. When name-and-form ceases, the six sense bases cease. When the six sense bases cease, contact ceases. When contact ceases, sensation ceases. When sensation ceases, craving ceases. When craving ceases, clinging ceases. When clinging ceases, becoming ceases. When becoming ceases, birth ceases. When birth ceases, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despair, and all afflictions unbearable to the mind cease. Thus, the fully established seed of suffering ceases.

Explanation: When the ignorance of the mental faculty is completely exhausted, volitional formations cease. When volitional formations cease, consciousness ceases. When consciousness ceases, name-and-form ceases. When name-and-form ceases, the six sense bases cease. When the six sense bases cease, contact ceases. When contact ceases, sensation ceases. When sensation ceases, craving ceases. When craving ceases, clinging ceases. When clinging ceases, becoming ceases. When becoming ceases, birth ceases. When birth ceases, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair cease. Thus, the fully established karmic seeds of the suffering of birth and death are exhausted.

Original Text: That ignorance is called not knowing the Four Noble Truths as they exist—not comprehending, not seeing, not corresponding, not accepting; not understanding the roots of non-understanding. This is called ignorance. What is volitional formation arising from ignorance as condition? It is the six kinds of expectation directed towards sensation. What are the six? Forms, sounds, scents, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects. These are the body's six expectations directed towards sensation. This is called volitional formation. Consciousness arising from volitional formation as condition is the six kinds of consciousness pertaining to the body: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. This is called the six bodily consciousnesses. Name-and-form arising from consciousness as condition: 'Form' refers to materiality; 'Name' refers to the four non-material aggregates—sensation, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. Materiality has the four great elements as its basis, namely earth, water, fire, and wind. The above are 'Name'. These four constitute 'Form'. These two, connected together, constitute name-and-form.

Explanation: What is ignorance? Ignorance is not knowing that the Four Noble Truths exist in the world, not comprehending the Buddha's teachings as they truly are, not seeing the truth of the mundane and supramundane, not corresponding to the path of liberation from worldly contact, and not accepting the correct teachings of the Dharma—not understanding liberation, not understanding the sharpness or dullness of one's own and others' faculties. Therefore, it is called ignorance. What is volitional formation arising from the condition of ignorance? It is the six expectations directed towards sensation, which is the expectation and inclination towards the reception and experience of forms, sounds, scents, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects. This is called the six hopes and inclinations of the physical body, known as the volitional formations of the mental faculty.

From the condition of the volitional formations of the mental faculty arises consciousness, called the six consciousnesses pertaining to the body: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. If the mental faculty lacks hope, desire, or inclination towards the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses would not arise to cognize them. From the condition of the six consciousnesses arises name-and-form. 'Form' refers to the aggregate of form. 'Name' refers to the four non-material aggregates: sensation, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. The physical body has the four great elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—as its fundamental seeds. The above four aggregates are 'Name'. The four great elements are 'Form'. These two, name and form, connected together constitute the five aggregates of name-and-form.