Ignorance, or unknowing, is the general term for all afflictions. It is the lack of understanding of the nature of dependent origination, which leads to the arising of all attachments. This is called ignorance.
Action refers to all behaviors, which are the result of good or bad karma created by ignorance.
Consciousness refers to the consciousness of karma. This consciousness is driven by past karmic forces and carries the seeds of good and bad karma into rebirth.
Name and form refer to the mind and body. When a thought of attachment arises and enters the mother's womb, it is called name. After birth, it becomes form. This is called name and form, which is the initial formation of the embryo.
The six sense bases refer to the six faculties. During the ten months in the mother's womb, name and form gradually develop into the complete six sense bases. After birth, they interact with the six sense objects. This is why they are called the six sense bases.
Contact refers to the interaction between the sense bases and the sense objects. It is the result of the combination of the sense bases and the sense objects. It refers to the contact between the six sense bases and all external objects after birth.
Feeling refers to the experience of pleasure or pain that arises when the sense bases and the sense objects are in harmony or conflict. It is an emotional response to the sense objects.
Craving refers to the attachment and desire that arises in the mind towards the sense objects. It is a form of attachment and contamination of the mind towards the objects of the five senses.
Grasping refers to the deluded attachment and pursuit of the sense objects. When encountering pleasant objects, one constantly craves for them, putting in all efforts to obtain them. When encountering unpleasant objects, one constantly feels aversion towards them, trying various ways to get rid of them. This is a form of seeking and pursuing the objects of desire contaminated by attachment.
Becoming refers to karma. It refers to the fact that with the presence of cause and effect, the past causes (craving and grasping) give rise to the future effect (birth, aging, and death). The force of karma leads to the continuous cycle of rebirth in the three realms.
Birth refers to being born into a new existence as a result of the karma created in the present. It is the activity of receiving future karmic consequences based on the karma created in the present.
Aging and death refer to the process of growing old and dying. The decline of the sense faculties is called aging, and the end of life is called death. As long as there is birth, there will inevitably be death. The physical body composed of the four elements naturally goes through the stages of youth, middle age, and old age, and eventually leads to death. This is the result of future karmic consequences.
Ignorance and action are the past causes, while consciousness, name and form, the six sense bases, contact, and feeling are the present effects. Craving, grasping, and becoming are the present causes, while birth and aging and death are the future effects.
With past causes as the present effects, and present causes as the future effects, the cycle of dependent origination continues. The effects give rise to new causes, and the cycle of cause and effect continues without end, leading to the endless cycle of birth and death.
If one follows the flow of birth and death, then ignorance leads to action, and eventually to birth and aging and death. One will be trapped in the cycle of birth and death forever. This is called the cycle of samsara.
On the other hand, if one can go against the flow of birth and death, then ignorance will be extinguished, and eventually aging and death will be extinguished. One will attain liberation. This is called the cessation of suffering.
To attain liberation, one must have the wisdom of prajna. With prajna wisdom, one naturally will not be ignorant and will not engage in wrong actions. Without negative actions, there will naturally be no negative potentials (seeds) flowing with consciousness. There will also be no five aggregates, six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, aging and death. This is the liberation beyond worldly existence.
In emptiness, there are no sentient beings truly transmigrating in birth and death, nor are there sentient beings truly liberated in nirvana. Therefore, the Heart Sutra says, "No ignorance, and also no extinction of ignorance... No aging and death, and also no extinction of aging and death."