The Discourse on Conditions

At Sāvatthī, the Blessed One was residing.

Disciples, with ignorance as condition, volitional formations arise; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness arises; ......

thus is the arising of this entire mass of suffering.

And what is aging and death?

The aging of beings in various groups, their decrepitude, brokenness, graying, wrinkling, decline of life, and deterioration of faculties: this is called aging.

The passing away of beings from various groups, their departure, breaking up, disappearance, death, dying, completion of time, breaking up of the aggregates, laying down of the body: this is called death.

Thus, this aging and this death are called aging and death.

With the arising of birth, there is the arising of aging and death; with the cessation of birth, there is the cessation of aging and death.

This very Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of aging and death.

Namely: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

And what is birth? ...

And what is existence? ...

And what is clinging? ...

And what is craving? ...

And what is feeling? ...

And what is contact? ...

And what are the six sense bases? ...

And what is name-and-form? ...

And what is consciousness?

And what are volitional formations?

There are these three volitional formations: bodily volitional formation, verbal volitional formation, and mental volitional formation.

These are called volitional formations.

With the arising of ignorance, there is the arising of volitional formations; with the cessation of ignorance, there is the cessation of volitional formations.

This very Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations.

Namely: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

When a noble disciple knows in this way the condition, the arising of the condition, the cessation of the condition, and the way leading to the cessation of the condition, this is called a noble disciple who is accomplished in view, accomplished in vision, who has arrived at this true Dhamma, who sees this true Dhamma, who is endowed with the knowing of a trainee, who is endowed with the wisdom of a trainee, who has entered the stream of the Dhamma, who possesses the noble penetrating wisdom, who stands at the door to the deathless.