十二缘起的开端

An overview of the Twelve Nidanas

二、十二缘起支的内容概述

Of Theravada and Mahayana, each holds its own standpoint on the Twelve Nidanas. Within Mahayana, there are the views of Yogachara (the Mind-Only school) and Madhyamaka (the Middle Way school). For Theravada, there are two views as well of Sarvastivada (the Realistic school) and Sautrantika (the Sutra school). Minor details apart, all these schools agree on the key points. Our discussion will just focus on their common grounds and ignore their differences.

十二缘起支，有小乘的观点和大乘的观点；在大乘的观点中又有唯识和中观两种观点；在小乘的观点中也有一切有部和经部的两种观点。所有这些观点，只在细节上有些不同，而在关键问题上都是一致的。我们不讲细节上的差异，只讲它们之间相同的根本问题。

In the scriptures, the Twelve Nidanas are divided into three phases: past life, present life, and future life.

在佛经里将十二缘起支分成三个阶段：第一个阶段是前世；第二个阶段是现世；第三个阶段是来世。

Past life   In this phase, the first is ignorance, and the second is volitional actions. What do volitional actions mean? Out of ignorance and defilements come the actions of body，speech and mind which produce either virtuous or evil karma. Volitional actions are such karma. The third is consciousness，which can fall under the past life or the present life. As it is usually included in the present life，there leaves only ignorance and volitional actions in the phase of past life.

（1）前世阶段。在十二缘起支中，哪些是属于前世阶段的呢？十二缘起支中的第一支叫做无明支，第二支叫做行支。“行”的含义是什么？因为有了无明和烦恼，就会产生一些身、语、意的行动，造作善和不善的业，这些善恶的业就叫做行。第三支叫做识支，它既可以放在前世，也可以放在现世。按一般的讲法，识支可以纳入现世，故而前世阶段只有无明支和行支。