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Hmm, I wrote an essay about this a short while ago. Anyhoo, Buddha says: 1. Ignorance is the condition for mental formation. 2. Mental formation is the condition for consciousness. 3. Consciousness is the condition for name and form. 4. Name and form is the condition for the six senses. 5. The six senses are the conditions for contact. 6. Contact is the condition for feeling. 7. Feeling is the condition for craving. 8. Craving is the condition for clinging. 9. Clinging is the condition for becoming. 10. Becoming is the condition for birth. 11. Birth is the condition for aging and death. 12. Aging and death is the condition for ignorance. There's a circular chain of causes. According to it, ignorance is what keeps us in the cycle of rebirth. We can understand the roots of our ignorance via generosity, mindfulness and meditation, etc. Anyways, rebirth is seen in a somewhat woeful manner, considering the fact that it's based in ignorance. According to the Buddha, he was freed from his ignorance, because he saw reality for what it was (thus freeing himself from suffering and the rebirth cycle). In other words, since he was freed from ignorance, the chain of events leading to a new birth couldn't take place. We'll probably never know, but it's fun to ponder.
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