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

From ignorance to volitional formations, ignorance is the ignorance of the mental faculty (manas), an immaterial factor. Only the immaterial consciousness-mind possesses ignorance; material phenomena are unrelated to clarity or ignorance. It is due to the ignorance of the mental faculty that volitional formations arise. These volitional formations are divided into material volitional formations, such as bodily actions and verbal actions, and immaterial mental volitional formations. Ignorance serves only as the dominant condition (adhipati-pratyaya) for material volitional formations, promoting their generation, development, and alteration. Material phenomena are not mental phenomena; they lack the immediately preceding condition (samanantara-pratyaya) and the object condition (ālambana-pratyaya). Only mental phenomena possess the immediately preceding condition and the object condition. Therefore, bodily and verbal actions lack the immediately preceding condition and the object condition, while mental volitional formations possess the immediately preceding condition, the object condition, and the dominant condition. Ignorance coexists simultaneously with the mental faculty without interruption; where the mental faculty exists, ignorance exists. The mental faculty, conditioned by ignorance, gives rise to volitional formations. Thus, ignorance is the object condition for the mental faculty. The ignorance of the mental faculty further promotes the continuous operation of the six consciousnesses, becoming the dominant condition for volitional formations.

In the link "volitional formations condition consciousness," volitional formations cause the six consciousnesses to operate continuously and karmic seeds to arise. Material volitional formations serve as the object condition and dominant condition for the six consciousnesses, while immaterial volitional formations serve as the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for mental consciousness. In the link "consciousness conditions name-and-form," the continuous operation of the six consciousnesses is the dominant condition for the physical body in the next life and the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for the mental aggregates (feeling, perception, volitional formations, consciousness) in the next life. The link "name-and-form condition the six sense bases" is complex: Name (the mental aggregates) is the dominant condition for the first five sense bases and the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for the subsequent mental faculty base. Form (the physical body) is the dominant condition for the first five physical sense bases and the object condition and dominant condition for the mental base. Since the five physical sense bases are material phenomena and not consciousness-mind, they lack the immediately preceding condition and the object condition. In the link "six sense bases condition contact," the mental faculty base is the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for mental faculty contact. The first five physical sense bases are the dominant condition for the five sense contacts, lacking the object condition and the immediately preceding condition.

In the link "contact conditions feeling," mental faculty contact is the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for mental consciousness feeling. Where there is feeling, there must be contact; once contact ceases, feeling disappears. The contact of the five senses is the object condition and dominant condition for the feeling of the five sense consciousnesses. The immediately preceding condition for the feeling of the five sense consciousnesses is the ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness), the mental faculty, and the five sense consciousnesses themselves. The link "feeling conditions craving" follows similarly: Feeling is the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for craving. Craving arises immediately following and conditioned by feeling; the object condition for craving is feeling. Without feeling, there is no craving. Feeling can increase and give rise to craving. The feeling of the five sense consciousnesses and the feeling of mental consciousness are both unified at the mental faculty. Similarly, the craving and grasping of the five sense consciousnesses and the craving and grasping of mental consciousness are unified at the mental faculty. Since feeling is controlled by the mental faculty, it ultimately refers to the feeling, craving, and grasping of the mental faculty.

The link "craving conditions grasping" is likewise: Craving is the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for grasping. Grasping arises immediately following and conditioned by craving. Without craving, there is no grasping. The object condition for grasping is craving. Craving can increase grasping. In the link "grasping conditions becoming," grasping is only the dominant condition for becoming, not the immediately preceding condition nor the object condition. In the link "becoming conditions birth," becoming is the dominant condition for the birth of the physical body and the object condition and dominant condition for the birth of the mental aggregates (name). It is not the immediately preceding condition. The immediately preceding condition for birth is the mental faculty and the karmic seeds of the six consciousnesses. In the link "birth conditions aging-and-death," the birth of the physical body is the dominant condition for aging-and-death, not the immediately preceding condition or the object condition. The birth of the mental aggregates is the immediately preceding condition, object condition, and dominant condition for aging-and-death.

Dedication Verse: We dedicate all the merit from Dharma propagation and group practice on our online platform to all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm and to the people of the world. We pray for world peace and the cessation of war; may conflicts cease and weapons forever be laid down; may all disasters completely subside! We pray that the people of all nations unite in mutual aid and treat each other with compassion; may the weather be favorable and the land be prosperous and its people at peace! May all sentient beings deeply believe in cause and effect, harbor compassionate hearts and refrain from killing; may they widely form wholesome connections and extensively cultivate wholesome karma; may they believe in the Buddha, learn the Dharma, and increase their wholesome roots; may they understand suffering, abandon its origin, aspire to cessation, and cultivate the path; may the door to the evil destinies be closed and the path to Nirvana opened! We pray that Buddhism may forever flourish and the true Dharma eternally abide; may the burning house of the three realms be transformed into the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss!