一切都有前因后果

The three phases and the twofold causality

四、三个阶段及两重因果

The Twelve Nidanas have twofold cause and effect, but they are divided into three phases rather than just past and future life.

实际上，在十二缘起支当中有两重因果，但是划分时，并不是将十二缘起分成前后两世，而是分成了三个阶段。

Regarding the twofold cause and effect, the first is termed that which “causes” and “to be caused.” Here, “cause” refers to inducing the five aggregates of the future life. In other words, without the preceding cause and condition, the subsequent cause and condition or the next link will not come about. The latter, the one “to be caused,” is the cause and condition brought by the one that “causes.”

在两重因果中，第一重因果叫做“能引”和“所引”。为什么叫做“能引”和“所引”呢？所谓“能引”，是指引来了后世的五蕴，也就是，若没有前面的因缘，后面的因缘就不会产生，后面的缘起支是由它们引来的，所以叫做“能引”。“所引”是指被“能引”所引来的那些因缘，所以叫做“所引”。

The second is termed that which “generates” and “to be generated.” It means that if there was nothing to generate，the five aggregates of the future life would never be formed or generated. The cause is the one “generates” and the effect is the one “to be generated”.

第二重因果是“能成”和“所成”。即如果没有这些因，则后世的五蕴是不可能成立的，因为有这些因，所以就有这些果，因叫做“能成”，果叫做“所成”。

The way that the Buddha classified the Twelve Nidanas is very thorough and comprehensive, backed by sufficient evidence and endowed with special meaning. But we will only discuss briefly why they are divided into three phases, and why only two are assigned to each of the past and the future life. Actually, all Twelve Nidanas exist in each of the three phases of life. However, there is certain significance as to why they are divided as such.

佛所讲的十二缘起支的分别方法，考虑得非常周到缜密，有充分的证据和特殊的意义。在这里我们只是大概地讲一讲，为什么要分三个阶段？前一世为什么只有两个缘起支，而没有其他的？后一世为什么也只有两个缘起支而没有其他的？实际上，这十二个缘起支在每一世中都有。为什么要这样区分呢？这些都是有意义的。