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01 Mar 2022    Tuesday     1st Teach Total 3575

Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 9: Explanation of the Twelve Nidānas (Part II)

Original text: When this consciousness is about to bear fruit, due to internal and external craving, it manifests directly before oneself, serving as an assisting companion. Having abandoned the life faculty of the previous existence, the present body comes into being in the mother's womb. With the causal consciousness as the condition, the resultant consciousness of continuity arises sequentially. It evolves through the stages of the kalala and so forth within the mother's womb. The resultant consciousness of continuity coexists with name-and-form until old age, gradually growing. At that time, induced by karmic forces, it acquires the name of the consciousness receiving karmic results and becomes the maturated effect.

Explanation: As the karmic consciousness is about to manifest the karmic-result body, craving for internal and external realms manifests directly before oneself, with this craving serving as the assisting condition and companion. After abandoning the life faculty of the previous existence, the present five-aggregate body comes into being. Within the mother's womb, with the causal consciousness of the six consciousnesses from the previous existence (which gave rise to this body) as the condition, the resultant consciousness of the present existence—the six consciousnesses receiving karmic continuity—arises sequentially. This results in the continuous evolution of the fetal body through its various stages within the mother's womb. The resultant consciousness of karmic continuity flows together with name-and-form (the five aggregates), gradually growing until old age. At this time, induced by karmic forces, the name of the consciousness receiving karmic results and the maturated effect are produced.

When the mental faculty (manas) and the ālaya-consciousness are about to take rebirth, the karmic-following consciousness (the mental faculty and mental consciousness) gives rise to craving for the future material body and desire for the future parents as male and female. With this craving as the assisting companion, they enter the mother's womb. Without craving, two situations arise: one does not take rebirth, or one takes rebirth with a purified mind. Those without craving are saints who have abandoned desire-realm attachment. Saints who do not take rebirth may manifest through transformation or enter final nirvāṇa without residue. Saints who take rebirth do so due to pure great vows, taking rebirth by the power of these vows.

Here, two concepts need explanation: causal consciousness and resultant consciousness of continuity. The "cause" refers to the cause from the previous existence that gives rise to the present name-and-form. Due to the bodily, verbal, and mental actions performed by the six consciousnesses in the previous existence, karmic seeds were left behind. When these seeds mature, the present name-and-form arises. After name-and-form arises, the present six consciousnesses arise to bear the karmic results of actions performed in the previous existence. Therefore, the present six consciousnesses are the resultant consciousness that continues the operation from the previous existence, connecting name-and-form to receive karmic retribution. The six consciousnesses of the previous existence are the cause leading to the present result, hence called causal consciousness.

Original text: Furthermore, this maturated consciousness operates depending on name-and-form. Because it must rely on the six sense bases to operate, the sutra states: "Name-and-form conditions consciousness." The co-existent supporting root is called "form" (the material base). The immediately preceding perished mental support is called "name" (the mental faculty). According to their respective correspondences, they serve as the support for the six consciousnesses. Relying on them, the various consciousnesses flow continuously until the end of life.

Explanation: The ālaya-consciousness is also called the maturated consciousness (vipāka-vijñāna). The maturated consciousness operates depending on name-and-form. Because the maturated consciousness must rely on the six sense bases to operate, the sutra states that name-and-form conditions the ālaya-consciousness or the maturated consciousness. The root that operates together with the ālaya-consciousness is called "form" (rūpa), referring to the fertilized ovum. The accompanying supporting root is called "name" (nāma), referring to the mental faculty (manas). The mental faculty is the root upon which the seeds of the six consciousnesses depend for their equal and immediate succession of arising and ceasing. Thus, the ālaya-consciousness operates together with name-and-form, and the six consciousnesses arise depending on them. The six consciousnesses, relying on the ālaya-consciousness and name-and-form, operate continuously until the end of life.

Because the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses create karmic actions during their flow, leaving karmic seeds, there will be future karmic results. Karmic actions depend on the ālaya-consciousness, and karmic results require the ālaya-consciousness to manifest. Therefore, the ālaya-consciousness is also called the maturated consciousness, enabling the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses to bear karmic results in different forms when the karmic seeds ripen. However, the ālaya-consciousness cannot operate alone; it requires the cooperation of the mental faculty and karmic forces. It operates only when needed by the mental faculty and karmic results, manifesting mental activities and thus becoming detectable. If there is no need from the mental faculty or karmic results, the ālaya-consciousness ceases to operate, has no manifesting activities, and remains undetectable.

Therefore, the ālaya-consciousness must operate within the mother's womb depending on the fertilized ovum and the mental faculty, subsequently giving rise to the six consciousnesses. Hence, name-and-form is also the supporting root for the birth of the six consciousnesses. After the six consciousnesses arise, they are included within "name." Since the ālaya-consciousness must rely on the mental faculty to operate, the mental faculty is also called the co-existent support (sahabhū-hetu) for the operation of the ālaya-consciousness. However, this does not mean the ālaya-consciousness depends on the mental faculty for its existence; without the mental faculty, the ālaya-consciousness still exists, but it cannot operate all phenomena of the five-aggregate world. In the mother's womb, initially there is only the "form" of the fertilized ovum and the "name" of the mental faculty. Therefore, the immediately preceding perished mental support upon which the six consciousnesses depend is the mental faculty. The six consciousnesses depend on the mental faculty and the fertilized ovum to arise and operate, and they also rely on the ālaya-consciousness and karmic seeds.

Dedication Verse: We dedicate all merits from Dharma propagation and group practice on our online platform to all beings in the Dharma realm and to people worldwide. May the world be at peace, free from wars; may conflicts cease and hostilities end forever; may all disasters completely subside! May people of all nations unite in mutual aid, treating each other with compassion; may there be favorable weather and national prosperity with people at ease! May all beings deeply believe in cause and effect, harbor compassionate hearts free from killing; may they widely form wholesome connections and cultivate virtuous deeds; may they believe in the Buddha, learn the Dharma, and increase their wholesome roots; may they understand suffering, abandon its origins, aspire to cessation, and cultivate the path; may they close the door to evil destinies and open the path to Nirvāṇa! May Buddhism flourish eternally and the true Dharma abide forever; may the burning house of the three realms be transformed into the Lotus Land of Ultimate Bliss!

——Master Sheng-Ru's Teachings
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