Saṃyuktāgama (295), Part Two

(2) Original text:尔时。世尊告诸比丘。此身非汝所有。亦非余人所有。谓六触入处。本修行愿。受得此身。云何为六。眼触入处。耳鼻舌身意触入处。彼多闻圣弟子于诸缘起。善正思惟观察。有此六识身。六触身六受身。六想身六思身。所谓此有故。有当来生老病死忧悲恼苦。如是如是纯大苦聚集。是名有因有缘世间集。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikṣus: Your present physical body does not belong to you, nor does it belong to anyone else. Because the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana) of contact continuously operate without ceasing, in order to fulfill one's own various vows and actions, this physical body was received through birth. What are the six sense bases of contact? They are the eye base of contact, the ear base of contact, the nose base of contact, the tongue base of contact, the body base of contact, and the mind base of contact. Learned noble disciples should be skilled in correctly and reasonably deliberating upon and contemplating all conditioned arising: because there are the six consciousness bodies, there are the six contact bodies, the six feeling bodies, the six perception bodies, and the six volition bodies. That is to say, because this exists, there is future birth, aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress; in this way, the great mass of suffering accumulates. This is called the arising of the world with cause and condition.

The Buddha said that sentient beings have the six consciousness bodies, the six contact bodies, the six feeling bodies, the six perception bodies, and the six volition bodies. The six consciousness bodies are the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness; the six feeling bodies are feeling born of eye contact, feeling born of ear contact, feeling born of nose contact, feeling born of tongue contact, feeling born of body contact, and feeling born of mind contact; the six contact bodies are eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, and mind contact; the six perception bodies are perception born of eye contact, perception born of ear contact, perception born of nose contact, perception born of tongue contact, perception born of body contact, and perception born of mind contact; the six volition bodies are volition born of eye contact, volition born of ear contact, volition born of nose contact, volition born of tongue contact, volition born of body contact, and volition born of mind contact. Volition means making choices and decisions and carrying out actions. For example, when the eye faculty contacts material form and volition arises, the eye consciousness makes a choice and there is some action carried out, which then continues to operate—this belongs to the aggregate of volitional formations.

When the eye sees form, the eye consciousness has volition and action, with choices and actions carried out; when the ear hears sound, the ear consciousness has choices and actions carried out—having discrimination is itself an action carried out. This is called the six volition bodies, also called the six formations, also called the aggregate of volitional formations. Therefore volition includes action. Volition and perception are different: perception is the activity of discerning and grasping, or the mental activities of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses such as deluded thoughts, discriminations, and plans. This volition mainly concerns making choices and the actions carried out after those choices. The actions carried out by the six consciousnesses are bodily, verbal, and mental actions, but after a choice is made, there may instead be stillness and quiescence, with no bodily, verbal, or mental actions carried out.

"Because this exists, that exists" is speaking of the twelve links of dependent origination: the preceding link is the cause, and the following link is the effect. Starting from the second link, each link is both the effect of the preceding one and the cause of the next one. The final great mass of suffering is only an effect, not a cause; the first link, ignorance, is only a cause, not an effect—it has no preceding cause, meaning it has existed beginninglessly. The twelve links of dependent origination are the dharma of dependent origination. All dharmas in the world are dharmas of dependent origination; without cause and condition, no dharma would appear. This is called the arising of the world with cause and condition—the world is accumulated through causes and conditions. "With cause and condition, the world ceases"—cessation also has its causes and conditions; things do not cease without cause or reason.

However, there is one dharma that is not within causes and conditions, not produced by causes and conditions. He is the cause of all dharmas; all dharmas appear because of Him. He is the eighth consciousness, the Ālayavijñāna. He exists without relying on any condition; no dharma can produce Him. He simply exists as such by His very nature. As for the existence of this dharma, there is no "why," no reason; the existence of all other dharmas has a "why," has causes and conditions. Because of the eighth consciousness, all the illusions of the world are established—the universe, empty space, the great thousand worlds, and the five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings. He is the cause of all dharmas, and also the root and the condition of all dharmas, yet He Himself has neither root nor condition.