Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (196)

The Aggregate of Death and the Aggregate of Birth

Original text:大王。识为其主。业为攀缘。二种相因。初识生起。作业受报。皆不失坏。或趣地狱。或堕傍生。琰摩罗界。及阿修罗。若人若天。各受其报。同类心品。相续随转。最后识灭。名为死蕴。最初识起。名为生蕴。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, the mind consciousness is the master of karma creation and karmic retribution; karmic conditions are what the mind consciousness grasps at. With these two as causes, the first mind consciousness of the next life arises. Thus the karmic retribution of deeds committed in past lives will never vanish without cause—each must receive its retribution. When the retribution manifests, these beings either enter the hells, or fall into the animal realm, or are born into the realm of ghosts and spirits, or take rebirth among the asuras, humans, or heavenly beings, each receiving their respective retribution. In this way, the mind consciousness corresponding to those karmic formations appears and continues to flow and operate unceasingly within the new five-aggregate body. When the mind consciousness ceases at the end of a life, it is called the aggregate of death; when the mind consciousness first arises at the beginning of a life, it is called the aggregate of birth.