Samyukta Āgama (296), Part Two

(2) Original text: 彼如来自觉知。成等正觉。为人演说。开示显发。谓缘生故。有老病死忧悲恼苦。此等诸法。法住法空。法如法尔。法不离如。法不异如。审谛真实。不颠倒。如是随顺缘起。是名缘生法。谓无明行识。名色六入处。触受爱取有。生老病死忧悲恼苦。是名缘生法。

Explanation: Those Tathāgatas who cultivated and accomplished realization in accordance with this Dharma all awakened themselves and realized it for themselves, becoming perfectly enlightened ones (samyaksaṃbuddha), and thereafter everywhere expounded the Dharma for people, revealing and making manifest the Dharma of conditions and the Dharma of conditioned arising—that is to say, it is because of the phenomenon of arising that old age, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress exist. These dharmas of conditions and conditioned arising abide permanently in the world; even so, all these dharmas are empty, being such as they are by nature—such is the principle. These dharmas do not exist apart from tathatā (suchness), nor are they different from tathatā; upon careful examination, they are true principles, not inverted. Dharmas that arise in dependence on conditions in this way are called the dharmas of conditioned arising. Specifically, this means: with ignorance as condition, the formations of the manas arise; with the formations of the manas as condition, the six consciousnesses arise; with the six consciousnesses as condition, nāma-rūpa arises; with nāma-rūpa as condition, the six sense bases arise; with the six sense bases as condition, contact arises; with contact as condition, feeling arises; with feeling as condition, craving arises; with craving as condition, grasping arises; with grasping as condition, existence arises; with existence as condition, birth arises; with birth as condition, old age, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress arise. This is the Dharma of conditioned arising.

The Four Noble Truths, the twelve links of dependent origination, ignorance, birth, old age, and death—all these worldly dharmas of conditioned arising abide permanently in the world, yet all these dharmas exist only in appearance, not in substance; they are empty. They are all manifested by the eighth consciousness and are all the eighth consciousness itself—this is the meaning of "the Dharma is such" (法如). They are not different from the eighth consciousness; they come from the eighth consciousness and carry the attributes of the eighth consciousness—this is called "not different from suchness" (不异如). These principles are originally so by nature—this is called "dharmas being thus" (法尔). All the dharmas of the five aggregates, the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses, the Four Noble Truths, and the twelve links of dependent origination do not depart from tathatā; only tathatā is real, while all other dharmas are born in dependence upon tathatā, and are therefore false, arising and ceasing, and impermanent. Here the Buddha explicitly stated that the dharmas of conditioned arising do not depart from tathatā and do not depart from the eighth consciousness.