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Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One. The Connected Discourses The Chapter on Causation 1. The Connected Discourses on Causation 1. The Chapter on the Buddha 1. The Discourse on Dependent Origination Thus have I heard – On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus – “Bhikkhus!” “Venerable sir,” those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this – “I will teach you, bhikkhus, dependent origination; listen to it, attend carefully; I will speak.” “Yes, venerable sir,” those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this – “And what, bhikkhus, is dependent origination? With ignorance as condition, bhikkhus, volitional formations; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form; with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, contact; with contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, existence; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair arise. Thus is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This, bhikkhus, is called dependent origination. “But with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, there is cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact; with the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling; with the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving; with the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair cease. Thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.” This is what the Blessed One said. Delighted, those bhikkhus rejoiced in the Blessed One’s words. The First. 2. The Discourse on Analysis Dwelling at Sāvatthī… (as before) … “dependent origination Monks, I will teach and analyze. Listen to it, attend carefully; I will speak. "Yes, venerable sir," those monks replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: And what, monks, is dependent origination? With ignorance as condition, monks, volitional formations; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form; with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, contact; with contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, becoming; with becoming as condition, birth; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair come to be. Thus arises this entire mass of suffering. And what, monks, is aging-and-death? The aging of those various beings in those various classes of beings, their decrepitude, broken teeth, gray hair, wrinkled skin, the decline of their life, the decay of their faculties; this is called aging. The passing away of those various beings from those various classes of beings, their falling away, breaking up, disappearance, death, demise, the breaking up of the aggregates, the laying down of the body, this is called death. Thus this aging, and this death. This, monks, is called aging-and-death. And what, monks, is birth? The birth of those various beings in those various classes of beings, their coming to be, conception, production, manifestation, the appearance of the aggregates, the acquisition of the sense bases. This, monks, is called birth. And what, monks, is becoming? There are these three becomings, monks: sensual becoming, form becoming, formless becoming. This, monks, is called becoming. And what, monks, is clinging? There are these four clingings, monks: clinging to sensuality, clinging to views, clinging to rules and observances, clinging to a doctrine of self. This, monks, is called clinging. And what, monks, is craving? These, monks, are the six bodies of craving: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odors, craving for tastes, craving for tangibles, craving for mental phenomena. This, monks, is called craving. And what, monks, is feeling? These, monks, are the six bodies of feeling: feeling born of eye-contact, feeling born of ear-contact, feeling born of nose-contact, feeling born of tongue-contact, feeling born of body-contact, feeling born of mind-contact. This, monks, is called feeling. And what, monks, is contact? These, monks, are the six bodies of contact: eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind-contact. This, monks, is called contact. And what, monks, is the six sense bases? The eye-base, the ear-base, the nose-base, the tongue-base, the body-base, the mind-base— this, monks, is called the six sense bases. And what, monks, is name-and-form? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, attention— this is called name. And the four great elements, and the form derived from the four great elements. This is called form. Thus this name, and this form. This, monks, is called name-and-form. And what, monks, is consciousness? These, monks, are the six bodies of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness. This, monks, is called consciousness. And what, monks, are formations? These, monks, are the three formations: bodily formation, verbal formation, mental formation. These, monks, are called formations. And what, monks, is ignorance? That, monks, which is unknowing of suffering, unknowing of the origin of suffering, unknowing of the cessation of suffering, unknowing of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. This, monks, is called ignorance. Thus, monks, with ignorance as condition, formations; with formations as condition, ...consciousness... thus is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. But with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, formations cease; with the cessation of formations, consciousness ceases... thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering. The Second. 3. The Discourse on the Practice 3. Dwelling at Savatthi... "Monks, I will teach you the wrong practice and the right practice. Listen to it, attend carefully; I will speak." "Yes, Venerable Sir," those monks replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this: "And what, monks, is the wrong practice? Conditioned by ignorance, monks, are formations; conditioned by formations, consciousness... thus is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is called the wrong practice. "And what, monks, is the right practice? But with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, formations cease; with the cessation of formations, consciousness ceases... thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is called the right practice." The Third. 4. The Discourse on Vipassi 4. Dwelling at Savatthi... "Monks, before his full enlightenment, while Vipassi, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Fully Self-Awakened One, was still a Bodhisatta, not yet fully awakened, this thought occurred to him: 'How distressed this world has become! It is born, it ages, it dies, it passes away, it reappears. Yet it does not understand the escape from this suffering, from old age and death. When, oh when, will the escape from this suffering, from old age and death, be known?'" "Then, monks, this thought occurred to Vipassi the Bodhisatta: 'When what exists, does old age and death exist? What is the condition for old age and death?' Then, monks, through careful attention, Vipassi the Bodhisatta gained insight with wisdom: 'When birth exists, old age and death exist; conditioned by birth, old age and death.'" "Then, monks, To Vipassī the Bodhisatta this occurred: ‘When what exists, does birth exist? What is the condition for birth?’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta, from careful attention, there arose an insight by wisdom: ‘When existence exists, birth exists; existence is the condition for birth.’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta this occurred: ‘When what exists, does existence exist? What is the condition for existence?’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta, from careful attention, there arose an insight by wisdom: ‘When clinging exists, existence exists; clinging is the condition for existence.’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta this occurred: ‘When what exists, does clinging exist? What is the condition for clinging?’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta, from careful attention, there arose an insight by wisdom: ‘When craving exists, clinging exists; craving is the condition for clinging.’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta this occurred: ‘When what exists, does craving exist? What is the condition for craving?’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta, from careful attention, there arose an insight by wisdom: ‘When feeling exists, craving exists; feeling is the condition for craving.’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta this occurred: ‘When what exists, does feeling exist? What is the condition for feeling?’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta, from careful attention, there arose an insight by wisdom: ‘When contact exists, feeling exists; contact is the condition for feeling.’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta this occurred: ‘When what exists, does contact exist? What is the condition for contact?’ Then, bhikkhus, to Vipassī the Bodhisatta, from careful attention,