Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: Volume 10

(9) Original text: Question: Why is there no hetu-pratyaya (causal condition) among the mutually conditioning factors? Answer: Because hetu-pratyaya is revealed as the condition for the inherent seeds of the factors' own nature. Question: If there is no hetu-pratyaya among the mutually conditioning factors, why is it said that dependent arising is established based on the essential nature of cause and effect? Answer: It is called "cause" because it relies on the inducing cause (ākṣepa-hetu), the projecting cause (prāvṛtti-hetu), and the generative cause (janaka-hetu), which are encompassed within the adhipati-pratyaya (dominant condition).

Explanation: Question: Why is there no causal condition (hetu-pratyaya) in the mutual conditioning of these factors? Answer: The causal condition is what manifests from the condition of the inherent seeds of the factors' own nature. (This meaning is profound: the inherent seeds capable of producing these factors all originate from the ālaya consciousness and reside within it. In other words, these factors are all born from the ālaya consciousness; the ālaya consciousness and the inherent seeds are the causal conditions for these factors.) Question: If there is no causal condition in the mutual conditioning of these factors, why is it said that dependent arising is established based on the essential nature of cause and effect? (The essential nature of cause and effect means that a prior cause can produce a subsequent effect; the effect is the phenomenon of dependent arising.) Answer: These factors rely on what is encompassed by the dominant condition (adhipati-pratyaya). The preceding factor acts as the inducing cause (ākṣepa-hetu), projecting cause (prāvṛtti-hetu), and generative cause (janaka-hetu) for the subsequent factor. These causes are the "cause" in the sense of being produced by conditions, not the direct cause of birth. The direct cause of birth is the ālaya consciousness or the consciousness of inherent seeds.

Original text: Question: How many factors are encompassed by the projecting cause? Answer: From ignorance (avidyā) up to feeling (vedanā). Question: How many factors are encompassed by the generative cause? Answer: From craving (tṛṣṇā) up to existence (bhava). Question: How many factors are encompassed by the cause and effect of both the projecting and generative causes? Answer: The factors such as consciousness (vijñāna) up to feeling (vedanā) in the subsequent phenomena within the present life, and the factors encompassed within the states of birth (jāti) and aging-and-death (jarāmaraṇa).

Explanation: Question: How many of the twelve factors are encompassed by the projecting cause (prāvṛtti-hetu)? Answer: Ignorance conditions formations (saṃskāra), formations condition consciousness (vijñāna), consciousness conditions name-and-form (nāmarūpa), name-and-form conditions the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana), the six sense bases condition contact (sparśa), and contact conditions feeling (vedanā). These six factors are encompassed by the projecting cause and can induce the subsequent factor. Question: How many factors are encompassed by the generative cause (janaka-hetu)? Answer: Feeling conditions craving (tṛṣṇā), craving conditions grasping (upādāna), grasping conditions existence (bhava). These four factors are encompassed by the generative cause. Question: How many factors are encompassed by the cause and effect of both the generative cause and the projecting cause? Answer: In the subsequent phenomena within the present life, consciousness conditions name-and-form, name-and-form conditions the six sense bases, the six sense bases condition contact, and contact conditions feeling. The factors encompassed within the state of birth and the state of aging-and-death are encompassed by the cause and effect of both the generative cause and the projecting cause.

Ignorance (avidyā) can induce formations (saṃskāra) but cannot directly give birth to them. "Induce" means to guide; it is a supporting condition, a dominant condition (adhipati-pratyaya). "Birth" means direct production. Ignorance has no intrinsic substance, no mind, and no seeds; it cannot produce formations. It can only serve as an inducer for the ālaya consciousness to produce formations. Without this inducer, the ālaya consciousness cannot produce formations. Formations are the inducing cause for the six consciousnesses, not the direct cause producing them. Formations have no intrinsic nature and no seeds; therefore, they cannot produce the six consciousnesses. It is the ālaya consciousness that, relying on formations, produces the six consciousnesses. The six consciousnesses are the condition for name-and-form (nāmarūpa); they do not directly produce name-and-form. It is the ālaya consciousness that, relying on the condition of the six consciousnesses, produces name-and-form. The activities of the six consciousnesses can induce the name-and-form of future lives.

Name-and-form is the inducing cause for the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana); it cannot directly produce them. It is the ālaya consciousness that, relying on name-and-form, produces the six sense bases. Among these, the mental faculty (manas) is pre-existing; it is not newly produced by the ālaya consciousness. The six sense bases are the inducing cause for contact (sparśa); they can induce contact but cannot directly produce it. This is because the six sense bases have no intrinsic nature and no seeds; they cannot produce contact. It is the ālaya consciousness that, relying on the six sense bases as the inducing cause, produces contact. Contact is the inducing cause for feeling (vedanā); it can induce feeling but cannot directly produce it. This is because contact has no intrinsic nature, is not consciousness, and has no seeds. It is the ālaya consciousness that, relying on contact, produces feeling.