The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination: The Chain of Birth and Death

Ignorance (the ignorance of the manas) — volitional formations (the deliberation and mental volition of the manas) — consciousness (the six consciousnesses) — name-and-form (the five aggregates) — the six sense bases (the six faculties) — contact (the six faculties contacting the six sense objects) — feeling (the feeling of the six consciousnesses; the manas also has feeling) — craving (the craving of the six consciousnesses; the manas also has craving) — grasping (the grasping of the six consciousnesses, but mainly the grasping of the manas) — becoming (the world of the three realms) — birth — aging, sickness, death, and suffering.

Because of ignorance, the manas gives rise to mental activity and deliberation, and wants to create karmic actions; thus the six consciousnesses arise and create bodily, verbal, and mental karmic actions, and thus karmic seeds of the three-realm world are left behind. Once there are karmic seeds, there must be a future life: the manas of the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) enters the womb in accordance with karma, and there is the initial name-and-form; subsequently the six sense bases gradually become complete, contact appears, and following contact, the feeling and awareness of consciousness arise. With feeling, craving is endless; thus feeling and sense objects are grasped, karmic seeds are stored, the becoming of the future life must continue to arise and exist, the birth of the future life will appear, and aging, sickness, and death will inevitably appear.

Name-and-form, at the very beginning, is the manas and the fertilized egg, and in the end it is the body of the five aggregates. At the time of entering the womb, it is the manas and the ālayavijñāna that enter the womb; together with the fertilized egg, they become name-and-form. Complete name-and-form is the six consciousnesses, the six faculties, plus the six sense objects — the eighteen elements (dhātus). Then, upon which consciousness does name-and-form depend in order to arise? With the aid of which consciousness can it arise? It requires the aid of the six consciousnesses of the previous life, because the creations of the six consciousnesses can leave behind the karmic seeds of the five-aggregate body of future lives; only with seeds can there be a five-aggregate body. Only when name-and-form is complete can there be the contact of the inner and outer six sense bases, and afterward the six consciousnesses of this life will arise. Only when the six sense bases are complete can there be the six consciousnesses; when the six sense bases are complete, the five-aggregate body is complete, and the six consciousnesses can create bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Then karmic seeds are again left behind, to moisten the five-aggregate body of future lives; thus sentient beings are born endlessly, life after life.

If one wishes to be liberated from the suffering of birth-and-death in saṃsāra, the six consciousnesses must no longer create and leave karmic seeds. Whether the six consciousnesses create or not is entirely determined by the deliberation (manana) of the manas. If the manas no longer wants to create karmic actions, the six consciousnesses will not leave behind the seeds of bodily, verbal, and mental actions. In order for the deliberation of the manas to have no mental activity, the ignorance of the manas must be eliminated. To eliminate the ignorance of the manas, one must cultivate the Four Noble Truths, cultivate the twelve links of dependent arising, cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi) and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā); after realizing that the world of the five aggregates is empty and without self, one will gradually attain liberation.