English
knowledge that in the future, old age and death will arise conditioned by birth, knowledge that in the absence of birth, there will be no old age and death; and the knowledge that even that knowledge of the stability of the Dhamma is subject to decay, subject to vanishing, subject to dispassion, subject to cessation. Knowledge that birth arises conditioned by existence… Knowledge that existence arises conditioned by clinging… Knowledge that clinging arises conditioned by craving… … knowledge that craving arises from feeling… … knowledge that feeling arises from contact… … knowledge that contact arises from the six sense bases… … knowledge that the six sense bases arise from name-and-form… … knowledge that name-and-form arises from consciousness… … knowledge that consciousness arises from volitional formations; knowledge that volitional formations arise from ignorance, knowledge that when ignorance is absent, volitional formations are not; knowledge that even in the past, volitional formations arose from ignorance, knowledge that when ignorance was absent, volitional formations were not; knowledge that even in the future, volitional formations will arise from ignorance, knowledge that when ignorance will be absent, volitional formations will not be; And that knowledge of the stability of the Dhamma, that too is knowledge of what is subject to decay, subject to vanishing, subject to dispassion, subject to cessation. These, bhikkhus, are called the seventy-seven bases of knowledge. Fourth. 5. The Discourse on the Condition of Ignorance 35. Dwelling at Savatthi… (and so on)… "From ignorance, bhikkhus, come volitional formations; from volitional formations, consciousness… (and so on)… Thus arises this entire mass of suffering." When this was said, a certain bhikkhu said to the Blessed One: "'What, venerable sir, is aging-and-death, and to whom does this aging-and-death belong?' 'That is not a proper question,' said the Blessed One. 'Whether one says, bhikkhu, "What is aging-and-death, and to whom does this aging-and-death belong?"' or whether one says, bhikkhu, "Aging-and-death is one thing, and to another does this aging-and-death belong,"' both these amount to the same meaning, only the expression differs. If there is the view, bhikkhu, "The soul is the body," the holy life cannot be lived. If there is the view, bhikkhu, "The soul is one thing, the body another," the holy life cannot be lived. Avoiding these two extremes, bhikkhu, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma by the middle: 'Aging-and-death arises from birth.'" "'What, venerable sir, is birth, and to whom does this birth belong?' 'That is not a proper question,' said the Blessed One. 'Whether one says, bhikkhu, "What is birth, and to whom does this birth belong?"' "Another birth, and this birth belongs to another" – or, bhikkhu, whoever would say, both of these are one in meaning, only the expression differs. "The soul is the same as the body" – or, bhikkhu, when there is such a view, the holy life cannot be lived. "The soul is one thing, the body another" – or, bhikkhu, when there is such a view, the holy life cannot be lived. These two extremes, bhikkhu, without approaching them, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle way – "With existence as condition, there is birth." "What, venerable sir, is existence, and to whom does this existence belong?" "That is not a proper question," the Blessed One said. "'What is existence, and to whom does this existence belong?' – or, bhikkhu, whoever would say, 'Another existence, and this existence belongs to another' – or, bhikkhu, whoever would say, both of these are one in meaning, only the expression differs. "The soul is the same as the body" – or, bhikkhu, when there is such a view, the holy life cannot be lived; "The soul is one thing, the body another" – or, bhikkhu, when there is such a view, the holy life cannot be lived. These two extremes, bhikkhu, without approaching them, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle way – "With clinging as condition, there is existence"... "With craving as condition, there is clinging"... "With feeling as condition, there is craving"... "With contact as condition, there is feeling"... "With the six sense bases as condition, there is contact"... "With name-and-form as condition, there are the six sense bases"... "With consciousness as condition, there is name-and-form"... "With volitional formations as condition, there is consciousness." "What, venerable sir, are volitional formations, and to whom do these volitional formations belong?" "That is not a proper question," the Blessed One said. "'What are volitional formations, and to whom do these volitional formations belong?' – or, bhikkhu, whoever would say, 'Other volitional formations, and these volitional formations belong to another' – or, bhikkhu, whoever would say, both of these are one in meaning, only the expression differs. "The soul is the same as the body" – or, bhikkhu, when there is such a view, the holy life cannot be lived; "The soul is one thing, the body another" – or, bhikkhu, when there is such a view, the holy life cannot be lived. These two extremes, bhikkhu, without approaching them, the Tathāgata... He teaches the Dhamma: "Conditioned by ignorance are volitional formations." "But, bhikkhu, with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, whatever speculative views, whatever wanderings, whatever waverings he has, such as: 'What is old age and death? And whose is this old age and death?' or 'Old age and death are one thing, and old age and death belong to another,' or 'The soul is the body,' or 'The soul is one thing, the body another.' All of these are abandoned by him, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, brought to non-existence, not liable to arise again in the future." "But, bhikkhu, with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, whatever speculative views, whatever wanderings, whatever waverings he has, such as: 'What is birth? And whose is this birth?' or 'Birth is one thing, and birth belongs to another,' or 'The soul is the body,' or 'The soul is one thing, the body another.' All of these are abandoned by him, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, brought to non-existence, not liable to arise again in the future." "But, bhikkhu, with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, whatever speculative views, whatever wanderings, whatever waverings he has, such as: 'What is existence?'... 'What is clinging?'... 'What is craving?'... 'What is feeling?'... 'What is contact?'... 'What are the six sense bases?'... 'What is name-and-form?'... 'What is consciousness?'..." "But, bhikkhu, with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, whatever speculative views, whatever wanderings, whatever waverings he has, such as: 'What are volitional formations? And whose are these volitional formations?' or 'Volitional formations are one thing, and volitional formations belong to another,' or 'The soul is the body,' or 'The soul is one thing, the body another.' All of these are abandoned by him, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, brought to non-existence, not liable to arise again in the future." Fifth. 6. The Second Discourse on Conditions of Ignorance 36. Dwelling at Savatthi... "Bhikkhus, conditioned by ignorance are volitional formations; volitional formations..." Dependent on formations, consciousness... ...thus arises this entire mass of suffering. ‘What is aging and death? And to whom does this aging and death belong?’ — if, monks, one were to say this, ‘Aging and death are one thing, and to another does this aging and death belong’ — or if, monks, one were to say this, Both of these mean the same thing, only the expression differs. ‘The soul is the same as the body’ — if, monks, there is such a view, the holy life is not lived. ‘The soul is one thing, the body another’ — or if, monks, there is such a view, the holy life is not lived. Avoiding these two extremes, monks, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle way – ‘Dependent on birth is aging and death.’ ‘What is birth?… What is becoming?… What is clinging?… What is craving?… What is feeling?… What is contact?… What are the six sense bases?… What is name-and-form?… What is consciousness?… What are formations? And to whom do these formations belong?’ — if, monks, one were to say this, ‘Formations are one thing, and to another do these formations belong’ — or if, monks, one were to say this, Both of these mean the same thing, only the expression differs. ‘The soul is the same as the body’ — if, monks, there is such a view, the holy life is not lived. ‘The soul is one thing, the body another’ — or if, monks, there is such a view, the holy life is not lived. Avoiding these two extremes, monks, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle way – ‘Dependent on ignorance are formations.’ But, monks, with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, whatever speculative views, whatever entanglements, whatever agitations there may be for him, ‘What is aging and death? And to whom does this aging and death belong?’ — or, ‘Aging and death are one thing, and to another does this aging and death belong’ — or, ‘The soul is the same as the body’ — or, ‘The soul is one thing, the body another’ — All of these are abandoned by him, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, brought to non-existence, not liable to arise again in the future. But, monks, with the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance, whatever his waverings, entanglements, and agitations there may be, 'What is birth? ...What is becoming? ...What is clinging? ...What is craving? ...What is feeling? ...What is contact? ...What are the six sense bases? ...What is name-and-form? ...What is consciousness? ...'What are formations? And to whom do these formations belong?' or 'Are formations one thing, and do these formations belong to another?' or 'Is the soul the same as the body?'