宗鏡錄 66.14

66.14

答。一切受生。識為種子。入母胎。由。愛水潤漬。身樹得生。如胡桃子。隨類而生。此陰造業。能感後陰。然此前陰。不生後陰。以業緣故。便受後陰。至滅雖異。相續不斷。如嬰兒病。與乳母藥。兒患得愈。母雖非兒。藥之力勢能及於兒。陰亦如是。以有業力。便受後陰。憶念不忘。

Answer: 'In all receiving of birth, consciousness is the seed. Entering the mother's womb, moistened by the water of craving, the body-tree is able to grow. Just as a walnut seed grows according to its kind, this skandha creates karma that can induce a later skandha. Yet this prior skandha does not produce the later skandha; due to karmic conditions, one then receives the later skandha. Although reaching extinction is different, there is continuous succession without interruption. It is like an infant's illness: if medicine is given to the wet nurse, the child's affliction is cured. Although the mother is not the child, the efficacy of the medicine can reach the child. The skandhas are also like this: because there is the power of karma, one then receives the later skandha and remembers without forgetting.'