Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (70)

Original text:大王。识为其主。业为攀缘。二种相因。初识生起。或趣地狱。或堕傍生。琰摩罗界。及阿修罗。若人若天。初识生起。各受其报。同分心品。相续随转。最后识灭。名为死蕴。最初识起。名为生蕴。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, the ālayavijñāna is the master that gives rise to the five aggregates of the future life; the karmic seeds serve as the object condition (ālambana). When these two causes and conditions come together, the first consciousness of the next life arises. Sentient beings may proceed to the hells, or fall into the realm of hungry ghosts, or be reborn among the animals—the three evil destinies; or they may be reborn in the three good destinies: the asura realm, the human realm, and the heavenly realm. When the first consciousness arises, sentient beings begin to each receive their karmic retribution, and then the consciousness on the same physical body continues to operate without interruption. When the consciousness ceases at the end of life, the physical body becomes a corpse, which is called the aggregates of death. The consciousness that first arises on the physical body is called the first consciousness, and the body with its five aggregates is called the aggregates of birth.