Dependent Origination

Dependent Origination

Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland

The Lord said: “Bhikkhus, I will teach you Dependent Arising, listen and attend carefully and I will speak.”

“Yes, Sir,” those Bhikkhus replied to the Lord.

The Lord said: “Now what, Bhikkhus, is Dependent Arising? With ignorance as condition, Bhikkhus, volitional activities come to be; with volitional activities as condition, consciousness comes to be; with consciousness as condition, mind-and-body come to be; with mind-and-body as condition, the sixfold sense-field comes to be; with the sixfold sense-field as condition, contact comes to be; with contact as condition, feeling comes to be; with feeling as condition, craving comes to be; with craving as condition, grasping comes to be; with grasping as condition, becoming comes to be; with becoming as condition, birth comes to be; with birth as condition, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair come to be. That is how there is an origin to this whole mass of suffering. And this, Bhikkhus, is called Dependent Arising.

“But from the complete disappearance and cessation of ignorance, volitional activities cease; from the cessation of volitional activities, consciousness ceases; from the cessation of consciousness, mind-and-body ceases; from the cessation of mind-and-body, the sixfold sense-field ceases; from the cessation of the sixfold sense-field contact ceases; from the cessation of contact feeling ceases; from the cessation of feeling, craving ceases; from the cessation of craving, grasping ceases; from the cessation of grasping, becoming ceases; from the cessation of becoming, birth ceases; from the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair cease. That is how there is a ceasing of this whole mass of suffering.”