Conditions
At Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, with ignorance as condition, volitional formations come to be; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness … Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.
“And what, bhikkhus, is aging-and-death? The aging of the various beings … as in §2 … thus this aging and this death are together 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. Just this Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of aging-and-death; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
“And what, bhikkhus, is birth?… existence?… clinging?… … craving?… feeling?… contact?… the six sense bases?… name-and-form? … consciousness?… volitional formations? There are these three kinds of volitional formations: the bodily volitional formation, the verbal volitional formation, the mental volitional formation. With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of volitional formations. With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of volitional formations. Just this Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations; that is, right view … right concentration.
“When, bhikkhus, a noble disciple thus understands the condition; thus understands the origin of the condition; thus understands the cessation of the condition; thus understands the way leading to the cessation of the condition, he is then 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 possesses a trainee’s knowledge, a trainee’s true knowledge, who has entered the stream of the Dhamma, a noble one with penetrative wisdom, one who stands squarely before the door to the Deathless.”
- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Editor: Blake Walsh
Conditions
And what is grasping? …
At Sāvatthī.
“Ignorance is a condition for choices.
Choices are a condition for consciousness. …
That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.
And what is old age and death?
The old age, decrepitude, broken teeth, grey hair, wrinkly skin, diminished vitality, and failing faculties of the various sentient beings in the various orders of sentient beings.
This is called old age.
The passing away, perishing, disintegration, demise, mortality, death, decease, breaking up of the aggregates, and laying to rest of the corpse of the various sentient beings in the various orders of sentient beings.
This is called death.
Such is old age, and such is death.
This is called old age and death.
Rebirth is the origin of old age and death.
When rebirth ceases, old age and death cease.
The practice that leads to the cessation of old age and death is simply this noble eightfold path,
that is: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.
And what is rebirth? …
And what is continued existence? …
And what is craving? …
And what is feeling? …
And what is contact? …
And what are the six sense fields? …
And what are name and form? …
And what is consciousness? …
And what are choices?
There are three kinds of choices.
Choices by way of body, speech, and mind.
These are called choices.
Ignorance is the origin of choices.
When ignorance ceases, choices cease.
The practice that leads to the cessation of choices is simply this noble eightfold path,
that is: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.
A noble disciple understands conditions, their origin, their cessation, and the practice that leads to their cessation.
Such a noble disciple is called ‘one accomplished in view’, ‘one accomplished in vision’, ‘one who has come to the true teaching’, ‘one who sees this true teaching’, ‘one endowed with a trainee’s knowledge’, ‘one who has entered the stream of the teaching’, ‘a noble one with penetrative wisdom’, and ‘one who stands pushing open the door of the deathless’.”
