The Forward and Reverse Contemplation of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination

The Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination: ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ), volitional formations condition consciousness, consciousness conditions name-and-form, name-and-form conditions the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana), the six sense bases condition contact, contact conditions feeling, feeling conditions craving, craving conditions grasping, grasping conditions existence, existence conditions birth, and birth conditions old age, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress (śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasyopāyāsa). Because sentient beings have ignorance, their bodily actions continue unceasingly day after day, their verbal actions continue unceasingly, and their mental actions continue unceasingly; they refuse to let their actions and fabrications come to rest. Tracing this to its root, it is the ignorance deep within the mind. Arhats and pratyekabuddhas, because they have eradicated the ignorance of a single thought, know that all dharmas are illusory and that the self's five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are not real, so they are unwilling to fabricate any worldly affairs whatsoever; they feel that bodily, verbal, and mental actions are meaningless, and their minds thus accord with emptiness, giving rise to the three meditative absorptions (samādhi) of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

Because their bodily, verbal, and mental actions diminish, their minds become tranquil and stilled, the six consciousnesses rarely arise, and there is little discrimination. When the manas severs its grasping at self, the seeds of birth-and-death within the three realms are severed, and in future lives one will no longer be born within the three realms; in this way one can escape the cycle of birth-and-death in the three realms, end birth and liberate from death, and be freed from the suffering of birth-and-death. But sentient beings, because their ignorance is unceasing, believe the five aggregates truly exist and that the six sense-object realms of the external world truly exist; they greedily cling without end to the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects, and their bodily, verbal, and mental actions are fabricated without cease. Because bodily, verbal, and mental actions are fabricated without cease, the six consciousnesses arise without cease, cooperating with the five faculties and the manas to fabricate and perform the functions of recognition and discernment. Thus the six consciousnesses cannot come to rest, the mind cannot become stilled, and the seeds of the bodily, verbal, and mental actions they fabricate are continuously stored into the tathāgatagarbha, creating the causal conditions for rebirth in future lives.

Because the six consciousnesses of sentient beings manifest without cease and their seeds are unbroken, the manas grasps at and clings to these seeds, and its grasping at the self's five aggregates is unceasing. In the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava), the manas drags the tathāgatagarbha into the womb to take conception, and thus name-and-form comes into being; the five aggregates of the next life will appear, and the cycle of birth, old age, sickness, and death begins again. Because there is name-and-form—the fertilized egg—the five faculties of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body will be produced; together with the manas that was already present, the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana) are thereby complete, the receptacle for receiving the six sense objects is fully equipped, and in the future one will be able to contact the six sense objects.

Because there are these receptacles of the six sense bases, they will inevitably come into contact with the six sense objects, and contact arises—this is precisely the function of the six sense bases. Because the six sense bases contact the six sense objects, the tathāgatagarbha produces the six consciousnesses to discern the dharmas of the six sense objects; after discernment there is knowing, and once known, feelings arise within the mind—feelings of suffering, pleasure, or neither-suffering-nor-pleasure. Because there are feelings within the mind, the six consciousnesses cling to these feelings, delight in the realms of the six sense objects, and greedy craving arises without cease. Because of greedy craving, in order to keep the feelings continuous, the manas ceaselessly grasps at the self of the five aggregates and grasps at the realms of the six sense objects, hoping that the five aggregates will continue to manifest and operate, hoping that the six sense objects will exist forever.

Because the manas grasps at and clings to self and grasps at the realms of the six sense objects, the six sense objects arise without cease, the conditions for existence in the three realms are complete, and existence in the three realms is never cut off. Because the conditions for existence in the three realms are complete and existence in the three realms is unbroken, sentient beings will be born continuously within the three realms, the five aggregates will be born continuously, and life's activities will be unceasing; then old age, sickness, death, and measureless sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress—measureless great suffering—accumulate, and sentient beings will transmigrate through birth-and-death without end amid measureless sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress.

Its root cause is the ignorance of sentient beings—greedy craving for the myriad dharmas of the three realms is unceasing, and greedy craving for the five aggregates is unceasing. Sever greedy craving, and the manas's grasping is severed; when the manas does not grasp, the seeds of the five aggregates are not complete, the conditions for existence in the three realms are not complete, and then the five aggregates will no longer be produced, and there will be no more sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress of birth, old age, sickness, and death—sentient beings are thereby liberated from the suffering of birth-and-death.

Because the manas has extinguished greedy craving and attachment, the tathāgatagarbha stores no seeds of craving, stores no seeds of bodily, verbal, and mental actions, stores no seeds of the ignorance of a single thought, and the tathāgatagarbha will not produce the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses. When ignorance is severed, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are severed; when bodily, verbal, and mental actions are severed, the six consciousnesses are severed; when the six consciousnesses are severed, name-and-form is severed; when name-and-form is severed, the six sense bases are severed; when the six sense bases are severed, contact is severed; when contact is severed, feeling is severed; when feeling is severed, craving is severed; when craving is severed, grasping is severed; when grasping is severed, existence is severed; when existence is severed, birth is severed; when birth is severed, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress are severed.

What is meant by "severance" is that because the tathāgatagarbha has no karmic seeds stored within it, it will not produce the various links of existence; the chain of birth-and-death is severed. Every link is produced by the tathāgatagarbha; without seeds, the tathāgatagarbha has no conditions to produce these links, and thus birth-and-death comes to an end and sentient beings are liberated. However, this liberation is not yet ultimate and thoroughgoing; one must cultivate all the way to the stage of Buddhahood for it to be the ultimate and thoroughgoing great liberation.