Maha Sakyamuni Gotamo Sutta

Gotama the Great Sage of the Sakya
Translated from Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe

"Monks, [likewise] before I attained supreme Enlightenment, while I was still a Boddhisatta, the thought occurred to me: 'This world, alas, has fallen into sore distress. There is being born, growing old, dying, passing over and being reborn. But from all this suffering, from decay and death, no way of release is apparent. Surely there must be some way of release discoverable from this suffering, this decay-and-death.'

"Then, monks, this thought occurred to me 'What being present does decay-and-death come to be? What conditions decay-and-death?' Then, monks, as I considered this thoroughly, the insight amd comprehension dawned on me: 'Birth being present, death-and-decay comes to be' decay-and-death is conditioned by birth.' Then the thought occurred to me: 'What being present does birth come to be? What conditions birth?... becoming... grasping... craving... feeling... contact... the six sense-bases... name-form,,, consciousness... (kamma-) formations...?' Then, as I considered this thoroughly, the insight and comprehension dawned on me: 'Ignorance being present the formations come to be; the formations are conditioned by ignorance.' And so we have it like this: 'Conditioned by ignorance are the formations, conditioned by the formations is consciousness... So there comes about the arising of this entire mass of suffering.'

" 'Arising, arising!' - At this thought, monks, there arose in me, concerning things unheard of before, vision, knowledge, understanding, light.

"Then, monks, the thought occurred to me: 'By the absence of what does decay-and-death not come to be?' Then, monks, as I considered this thoroughly, the insight and comprehension dawned on me: 'In the absence of birth, decay-and-death does not come to be; from the ceasing of birth comes the ceasing of decay-and-death,,, becoming... grasping... craving... feeling... contact... the six-sense-bases... name-form,,, consciousness,,, the formations... by the ceasing of ignorance comes the ceasing of the formations... So comes about the cessation of this entire mass of suffering.'

" 'Cessation, cessation!; - At this thought, monks, there arose in me, concerning things unheard of before, vision, knowledge, understanding, light."