Ignorance Has No Cause

Question: Delusion originally has no cause; it exists because of delusion. Does this conflict with the law of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda)?

Answer: There is no conflict. Because, since beginningless kalpas ago, the manas has had ignorance (avidyā) within the mind-essence without any cause, yet there is no cause that produced this ignorance. It is only because the manas is deluded and inverted that this ignorance exists. Because the manas has this ignorance, the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to all the subsequent dharmas, and thus the twelve links of dependent origination arise.