SN12.2 — Vibhaṅgasutta

Dwelling at Sāvatthī.

I will teach you the dependent origination, I will analyze it. Listen to it attentively, pay close attention, I will speak.

Yes, lord, those disciples replied to the Blessed One.

The Blessed One said:

And what is dependent origination?

With ignorance as condition formations;

with 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.

This is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.

And what is aging and death?

The aging of various beings in various orders of beings, their old age, brokenness, greyness, wrinkleness, decline of life, weakening of the faculties; this is called aging.

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

So this is aging and this is death. This is called aging and death.

And what is birth?

The birth of various beings into various orders of beings, their being born, descent, coming-to-be, coming forth, appearance of aggregates, acquisition of sense bases. This is called birth.

And what is becoming?

There are these three kinds of becoming, disciples: sensual becoming, form becoming, formless becoming. This is called becoming.

And what is clinging?

These four kinds of clinging, disciples: clinging to sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rituals and observances, clinging to a doctrine of self. This is called clinging.

And what is craving?

These six classes of craving, disciples: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odors, craving for tastes, craving for tactile sensations, craving for mental phenomena. This is called craving.

And what is feeling?

These six classes of feeling, disciples: 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 is called feeling.

And what is contact?

These six classes of contact, disciples: eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind-contact. This is called contact.

And what is the six sense bases?

The eye base, ear base, nose base, tongue base, body base, mind base: this is called the six sense bases.

And what is name-and-form?

Feeling, perception, intention, contact, attention: this is called name.

The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements. This is called form.

Thus this is name and this is form. This is called name-and-form.

And what is consciousness?

These six classes of consciousness, disciples: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness.

This is called consciousness.

And what are formations?

These three kinds of formations, disciples: bodily formation, verbal formation, mental formation. These are called formations.

And what is ignorance?

That which is ignorance of suffering, ignorance of the origin of suffering, ignorance of the cessation of suffering, ignorance of the path leading to the cessation of suffering.

This is called ignorance.

Thus with ignorance as condition, formations; with formations as condition, consciousness … so on … this is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.

With the complete fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of formations; with the cessation of formations, cessation of consciousness … so on … this is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.

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