Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (83)

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

Explanation: The Ālayavijñāna is the master that gives birth to the five aggregates of the next life, and the karmic seeds serve as the object condition (ālambana-pratyaya). When these two causes and conditions come together, the first consciousness of the next life arises. Sentient beings may proceed to the hells, fall into the realm of hungry ghosts, or be reborn among animals—these are the three evil destinies; or they may be reborn in the three good destinies: the asura destiny, the human destiny, and the heavenly destiny. Once the first consciousness has arisen, sentient beings begin to each receive their karmic retribution, and then the consciousness on that same physical body continues to operate without interruption. When the consciousness ceases at the end of life, the physical body becomes a corpse, which is called the aggregate of death. The consciousness that first arises on the physical body is called the first consciousness, and the five aggregates of the physical body are called the aggregate of birth.