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INTRODUCTION

The texts cited in the last chapter treated meditation as a discipline of mental training aimed at a twofold task: stilling the mind and generating insight. The still mind, calm and collected, is the foundation for insight. The still mind observes phenomena as they arise and pass away, and from sustained observation and probing exploration arises “the higher wisdom of insight into phenomena” (adhipaññādhammavipassanā). As wisdom gathers momentum, it penetrates more and more deeply into the nature of things, culminating in the full and comprehensive understanding called enlightenment (sambodhi).

The Pāli word translated here as “wisdom” is paññā, the Pāli equivalent of Sanskrit prajñā, which gives its name to the voluminous prajñāpāramitā sūtras of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The idea of paññā/prajñā as the principal tool on the path to enlightenment, however, did not originate with the prajñāpāramitā literature but is already deeply embedded in the teachings of Early Buddhism. The Nikāyas take paññā not only as a point of doctrine but as a rich theme for imagery. Thus, Texts IX,1(1)–(2) speak of paññā respectively as a light and a knife. It is the supreme light because it illuminates the true nature of things and dispels the darkness of ignorance. It is a knife—a sharp butcher’s knife—because it cuts through the tangled mass of the defilements and thereby opens the way to liberation.

The Pāli word paññā is derived from the verbal root ñā (Skt: jñā), meaning “to know,” preceded by the prefix pa (Skt: pra), which merely gives the root meaning a more dynamic nuance. So paññā/prajñā means knowing or understanding, not as a possession, but as an action: the act of knowing, the act of understanding, the act of discerning. In Pāli, the verb pajānāti, “one understands,” conveys this sense more effectively than the correlative noun paññā.1 What is meant by paññā, however, is a type of understanding superior to that which occurs when one understands, for instance, a difficult passage in an economics textbook or the implications of a legal argument. Paññā signifies the understanding that arises through spiritual training, illuminates the real nature of things, and culminates in the mind’s purification and liberation. For this reason, despite its drawbacks, I continue to use the familiar “wisdom.”

Contemporary Buddhist literature commonly conveys two ideas about paññā that have become almost axioms in the popular understanding of Buddhism. The first is that paññā is exclusively nonconceptual and nondiscursive, a type of cognition that defies all the laws of logical thought; the second, that paññā arises spontaneously, through an act of pure intuition as sudden and instantaneous as a brilliant flash of lightning. These two ideas about paññā are closely connected. If paññā defies all the laws of thought, it cannot be approached by any type of conceptual activity but can arise only when the rational, discriminative, conceptual activity of the mind has been stultified. And this stopping of conceptualization, somewhat like the demolition of a building, must be a rapid one, an undermining of thought not previously prepared for by any gradual maturation of understanding. Thus, in the popular understanding of Buddhism, paññā defies rationality and easily slides off into “crazy wisdom,” an incomprehensible, mindboggling way of relating to the world that dances at the thin edge between super-rationality and madness.

Such ideas about paññā receive no support at all from the teachings of the Nikāyas, which are consistently sane, lucid, and sober. To take the two points in reverse order: First, far from arising spontaneously, paññā in the Nikāyas is emphatically conditioned, arisen from an underlying matrix of causes and conditions. And second, paññā is not bare intuition, but a careful, discriminative understanding that at certain stages involves precise conceptual operations. Paññā is directed to specific domains of understanding. These domains, known in the Pāli commentaries as “the soil of wisdom” (paññābhūmi), must be thoroughly investigated and mastered through conceptual understanding before direct, nonconceptual insight can effectively accomplish its work. To master them requires analysis, discrimination, and discernment. One must be able to abstract from the overwhelming mass of facts certain basic patterns fundamental to all experience and use these patterns as templates for close contemplation of one’s own experience. I will have more to say about this as we go along.

The conditional basis for wisdom is laid down in the three-tier structure of the Buddhist training. As we have seen, in the three divisions of the Buddhist path, moral discipline functions as the basis for concentration and concentration as the basis for wisdom. Thus the immediate condition for the arising of wisdom is concentration. As the Buddha often says: “Develop concentration, monks. One who is concentrated sees things as they really are.”2 To “see things as they really are” is the work of wisdom; the immediate basis for this correct seeing is concentration. Since concentration depends on proper bodily and verbal conduct, moral discipline too is a condition for wisdom.

Text IX,2 gives a fuller list of eight causes and conditions for obtaining “the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life” and for bringing such wisdom to maturity. Of particular interest is the fifth condition, which not only emphasizes the contribution that study of the Dhamma makes to the development of wisdom but also prescribes a sequential program of education. First one “learns much” of those “teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end.” Then one memorizes them; then recites them aloud; then investigates them with the mind; and finally “penetrates them well by view.” The last step can be equated with direct insight, but such insight is prepared for by the preceding steps, which provide the “information” necessary for thorough penetration to occur. From this, we can see that wisdom does not arise automatically on the basis of concentration but depends upon a clear and precise conceptual understanding of the Dhamma induced by study, reflection, and deep contemplation of the teachings.

As a factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, wisdom is known as right view (sammādiṭṭhi). Text IX,3, a slightly abridged version of the Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta, the Discourse on Right View (MN 9), gives an excellent overview of the “soil of wisdom.” The Venerable Sāriputta, the Buddha’s disciple who excelled in wisdom, spoke the discourse to a group of his fellow monks. Since ancient times, the text has served as a primer of Buddhist studies in the monasteries of southern Asia. According to the classical commentary on this sutta, right view is twofold: conceptual right view, a clear intellectual grasp of the Dhamma; and experiential right view, the wisdom that directly penetrates the Dhamma. Conceptual right view, called “right view in conformity with the truths” (saccānulomika-sammādiṭṭhi), is a correct understanding of the Dhamma arrived at by studying and examining the Buddha’s teachings in depth. Such understanding, though conceptual rather than experiential, is by no means dry and sterile. When rooted in faith in the Buddha’s enlightenment and driven by a strong determination to realize the truth of the Dhamma, it serves as the germ from which experiential right view evolves and thus becomes a critical step in the growth of wisdom.

Experiential right view is the realization of the truth of the Dhamma—above all, of the Four Noble Truths—in one’s own immediate experience. For this reason it is called “right view that penetrates the truths” (saccapaṭivedha-sammādiṭṭhi). To arrive at direct penetration, one begins with correct conceptual understanding of the teaching and, by practice, transforms this understanding into direct perception. If conceptual right view is compared to a hand—a hand that grasps the truth with the aid of concepts—then experiential right view might be compared to an eye. It is the eye of wisdom, the vision of the Dhamma, that sees directly into the ultimate truth, hidden from us for so long by our greed, hatred, and delusion.

The Discourse on Right View is intended to elucidate the principles that should be comprehended by conceptual right view and penetrated by experiential right view. Sāriputta expounds these principles under sixteen headings: the wholesome and the unwholesome, the four nutriments of life, the Four Noble Truths, the twelve factors of dependent origination, and the taints. It should be noted that from the second section to the end of the sutta, he frames all his expositions in accordance with the same pattern, a pattern that reveals the principle of conditionality to be the scaffolding for the entire teaching. Whatever phenomenon he takes up, he expounds by bringing to light its individual nature, its arising, its cessation, and the way to its cessation. Since this is the pattern that underlies the Four Noble Truths, I shall call it “the four-truth pattern.” This pattern recurs throughout the Nikāyas as one of the major templates through which phenomena are to be viewed to arrive at true wisdom. Its application makes it clear that no entity is isolated and self-enclosed but is, rather, inherently linked to other things in a complex web of dependently originated processes. The key to liberation lies in understanding the causes that sustain this web and bringing them to an end within oneself. This is done by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, the way to extinguish those causes.

The world-transcending right view, arrived at by penetrating any of the sixteen subjects expounded in the sutta, occurs in two main stages. The first stage is the right view of the trainee (sekha), the disciple who has entered irreversibly upon the path to liberation but has not yet reached its end. This stage is indicated by the words that open each section, “(one) who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.” These words signify right view as a vision of true principles, an insight that has initiated a radical transformation in the disciple but has not yet reached completion. The second stage is the world-transcending right view of the arahant, described by the closing words of each section. These words indicate that the disciple has used right view to eradicate the remaining defilements and has attained complete emancipation.

In section 4 we arrive at what I call “the domain of wisdom,” the areas to be explored and penetrated by insight. Many of the texts in this section come from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, whose major chapters are devoted to the principal doctrines of Early Buddhism. I include selections here on the five aggregates; the six sense bases; the elements (in different numerical sets); dependent origination; and the Four Noble Truths. As we survey these selections we will notice certain recurrent patterns.

IX,4(1) The Five Aggregates. The five aggregates (pañcakkhandha) are the main categories the Nikāyas use to analyze human experience. The five are: (1) form (rūpa), the physical component of experience; (2) feeling (vedanā), the “affective tone” of experience—either pleasant, painful, or neutral; (3) perception (saññā), the identification of things through their distinctive marks and features; (4) volitional formations (saṅkhārā), a term for the multifarious mental factors involving volition, choice, and intention; and (5) consciousness (viññāṇa), cognition arisen through any of the six sense faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

Examination of the five aggregates, the topic of the Khandhasaṃyutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 22), is critical to the Buddha’s teaching for at least four reasons. First, the five aggregates are the ultimate referent of the first noble truth, the noble truth of suffering (see the exposition of the first truth in Text II,5), and since all four truths revolve around suffering, understanding the aggregates is essential for understanding the Four Noble Truths as a whole. Second, the five aggregates are the objective domain of clinging and as such contribute to the causal origination of future suffering. Third, clinging to the five aggregates must be removed to attain liberation. And fourth, the kind of wisdom needed to remove clinging is precisely clear insight into the true nature of the aggregates. The Buddha himself declares that so long as he did not understand the five aggregates in terms of their individual nature, arising, cessation, and the way to their cessation, he did not claim to have attained perfect enlightenment. The full understanding of the five aggregates is a task he likewise enjoins on his disciples. The five aggregates, he says, are the things that must be fully understood; their full understanding brings the destruction of greed, hatred, and delusion (SN 22:23).

The word khandha (Skt: skandha) means, among other things, a heap or mass (rāsi). The five aggregates are so called because they each unite under one label a multiplicity of phenomena that share the same defining characteristic. Thus whatever form there is, “past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near,” is incorporated into the form aggregate; whatever feeling there is, “past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near,” is incorporated into the feeling aggregate; and so for each of the other aggregates. Text IX,4(1)(a) enumerates in simple terms the constituents of each aggregate and shows that each aggregate arises and ceases in correlation with its own specific condition; the Noble Eightfold Path is the way to bring each aggregate to an end. Here we find the “four-truth pattern” applied to the five aggregates, an application that follows quite logically from the role that the five aggregates play in representing the first noble truth.

This sutta makes a distinction between trainees and arahants similar to that made by the Discourse on Right View. Trainees have directly known the five aggregates by way of the four-truth pattern and are practicing for their fading away and cessation; they have thereby “gained a foothold (gādhanti) in this Dhamma and Discipline.” Arahants too have directly known the five aggregates by way of the four-truth pattern, but they have gone further than the trainees. They have extirpated all attachment to the aggregates and are liberated by nonclinging; thus they are called “consummate ones” (kevalino) who cannot be described by way of the round of rebirths.

A detailed catechism on the aggregates, treating them from diverse angles, can be found in Text IX,4(1)(b). Because the five aggregates that make up our ordinary experience are the objective domain of clinging (upādāna), they are commonly called the five aggregates subject to clinging (pañc’upādānakkhandhā). Clinging to the five aggregates occurs in two principal modes, which we might call appropriation and identification. One either grasps them and takes possession of them, that is, one appropriates them; or one uses them as the basis for views about one’s self or for conceit (“I am better than, as good as, inferior to others”), that is, one identifies with them. As the Nikāyas put it, we are prone to think of the aggregates thus: “This is mine, this I am, this is my self” (etaṃ mama, eso’ham asmi, eso me attā). In this phrase, the notion “This is mine” represents the act of appropriation, a function of craving (taṇhā). The notions “This I am” and “This is my self” represent two types of identification, the former expressing conceit (māna), the latter views (diṭṭhi).3

The Five Aggregates
(based on SN 22:56–57 and 22:95)

Giving up craving is so difficult because craving is reinforced by views, which rationalize our identification with the aggregates and thus equip craving with a protective shield. The type of view that lies at the bottom of all affirmation of selfhood is called identity view (sakkāyadiṭṭhi). The suttas often mention twenty types of identity view, obtained by considering one’s self to stand in any of four relations to each of the five aggregates: either as identical with it, as possessing it, as containing it, or as contained within it. The “uninstructed worldling” holds some kind of identity view; “the instructed noble disciple,” having seen with wisdom the selfless nature of the aggregates, no longer regards the aggregates as a self or the belongings of a self. Adopting any of these views is a cause of anxiety and distress. It is also a leash that keeps us bound to the round of rebirths—see above, Text I,2(3) and Text I,4(5).

All the defilements ultimately stem from ignorance, which thus lies at the bottom of all suffering and bondage. Ignorance weaves a net of three delusions around the aggregates. These delusions are the notions that the five aggregates are permanent, a source of true happiness, and a self. The wisdom needed to break the spell of these delusions is the insight into the five aggregates as impermanent (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and nonself (anattā). This is called the direct knowledge of the three characteristics of existence (tilakkhaṇa).

Some suttas seem to make insight into one or another of the three characteristics alone sufficient for reaching the goal. However, the three characteristics are closely interwoven, and thus the most common formula found in the Nikāyas builds upon their internal relationship. First enunciated in the Buddha’s second discourse at Bārāṇasī—Text IX,4(1)(c)—the formula uses the characteristic of impermanence to reveal the characteristic of suffering, and both together to reveal the characteristic of nonself. The suttas take this indirect route to the characteristic of nonself because the selfless nature of things is so subtle that often it cannot be seen except when pointed to by the other two characteristics. When we recognize that the things we identify as our self are impermanent and bound up with suffering, we realize that they lack the essential marks of authentic selfhood and we thereby stop identifying with them.

The different expositions of the three characteristics all thus eventually converge on the eradication of clinging. They do so by showing, with regard to each aggregate, “This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.” This makes the insight into nonself the culmination and consummation of the contemplation of the three characteristics. While the characteristic of nonself is usually approached through the other two characteristics, as in Text IX,4(1)(d), it is sometimes disclosed directly. An example of the direct approach to nonself is Text IX,4(1)(e), the discourse on “the lump of foam,” which uses five memorable similes to reveal the empty nature of the five aggregates. According to the standard formula, insight into the five aggregates as impermanent, suffering, and nonself induces disenchantment (nibbidā), dispassion (virāga), and liberation (vimutti). One who attains liberation subsequently wins “the knowledge and vision of liberation,” the assurance that the round of rebirths has indeed been stopped and nothing more remains to be done.

Another pattern that the suttas often apply to the five aggregates, and to the other groups of phenomena, is the triad of gratification, danger, and escape. Texts VI,2(1)–(3), from the Aṅguttara Nikāya, apply this triad to the world as a whole. The Saṃyutta Nikāya applies the same scheme individually to the aggregates, sense bases, and elements. The pleasure and joy each aggregate, sense base, and element offers is its gratification; its impermanence, pervasion by suffering, and nature to change is its danger; and the abandoning of desire and lust for it is the escape from it.

IX,4(2) The Six Sense Bases. The Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta, the Connected Discourses on the Six Sense Bases (Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 35), contains over two hundred short suttas on the sense bases. The six internal and external sense bases provide a perspective on the totality of experience different from, but complementary to, the perspective provided by the aggregates. The six pairs of bases are the sense faculties and their corresponding objects, which support the arising of the respective type of consciousness. Because they mediate between consciousness and its objects, the internal sense bases are spoken of as the “bases for contact” (phassāyatana), “contact” (phassa) being the coming together of sense faculty, object, and consciousness.

The Six Internal and External Sense Bases

What the first five sense bases and their objects signify is obvious enough, but the sixth pair, mind (mano) and phenomena (dhammā), presents some difficulty. If we treat the two terms as parallel to the other internal and external bases, we would understand the mind base to be the support for the arising of mind-consciousness (manoviññāṇa) and the phenomena base to be the objective sphere of mind-consciousness. On this interpretation, “mind” might be taken as the passive flow of consciousness from which active conceptual consciousness emerges, and “phenomena” as purely mental objects such as those apprehended by introspection, imagination, and reflection. The Abhidhamma and the Pāli commentaries, however, interpret the two terms differently. They hold that the mind base comprises all classes of consciousness, that is, they include within it all six types of consciousness. They also hold that all actual entities not comprised in the other sense bases constitute the phenomena base. The phenomena base, then, includes the other three mental aggregates—feeling, perception, and volitional formations—as well as types of subtle material form not implicated in experience through the physical senses. Whether this interpretation conforms to the meaning intended in the oldest Buddhist texts is an open question.

Text IX,4(2)(a) testifies that for Early Buddhism, liberation requires direct knowledge and full understanding of the internal and external sense bases and all the phenomena that arise from them. This seems to establish an apparent correspondence between Buddhism and empirical science, but the type of knowledge sought by the two disciplines differs. Whereas the scientist seeks impersonal, “objective” information, the Buddhist practitioner seeks direct insight into the nature of these phenomena as components of lived experience.

The Nikāyas suggest an interesting difference between the treatment given to the aggregates and the sense bases. Both serve as the soil where clinging takes root and grows, but while the aggregates are primarily the soil for views about a self, the sense bases are primarily the soil for craving. A necessary step in the conquest of craving is therefore restraint of the senses. Monks and nuns in particular must be vigilant in their encounters with desirable and undesirable sense objects. When one is negligent, experience through the senses invariably becomes a trigger for craving: lust for pleasant objects, aversion toward disagreeable objects (and a craving for pleasant escape routes), and a dull attachment to neutral objects.

In one of his earliest discourses popularly known as “The Fire Sermon”—Text IX,4(2)(b)—the Buddha declared that “all is burning.” The “all” is just the six senses, their objects, the types of consciousness arisen from them, and the related contacts and feelings. The way to liberation is to see that this “all” is burning with the fires of defilements and suffering. The Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta repeatedly states that to dispel ignorance and generate true knowledge, we must contemplate all the sense bases and the feelings that arise through them as impermanent, suffering, and nonself. This, according to Text IX,4(2)(c), is the direct way to the attainment of Nibbāna. An alternative route, commended by Text IX,4(2)(d), is to see that the six senses are empty—empty of a self or of anything belonging to a self. Since consciousness arises via the six sense bases, it too is devoid of self—Text IX, 4(2)(e).

IX,4(3) The Elements. The elements are the subject of the Dhātusaṃyutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 14). The word “elements” (dhātu) is applied to several quite disparate groups of phenomena, and thus the suttas in this chapter fall into separate clusters with little in common but their concern with entities called elements. The most important groups consist of eighteen, four, and six elements.

The eighteen elements are an elaboration of the twelve sense bases. They consist of the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, and the six types of sense consciousness. Since six types of consciousness have been extracted from the mind base, the mind element that remains must be a simpler type of cognitive event. The Nikāyas do not specify its precise function. The Abhidhamma identifies it with a type of consciousness that fulfills more rudimentary roles in the process of cognition than the more discriminative mind-consciousness element. IX,4(3)(a) contains a simple enumeration of the eighteen elements. Contemplation of these elements helps to dispel the notion that an abiding subject underlies the changing contents of experience. It shows how experience consists of different types of consciousness, each of which is conditioned, arisen in dependence on its own specific sense faculty and object. Thus to ascertain the composite, diversified, conditioned nature of experience dispels the illusion of unity and solidity that ordinarily obscures correct cognition.

The four elements are earth, water, heat, and air. These represent four “behavioral modes” of matter: solidity, fluidity, energy, and distension. The four are inseparably united in any unit of matter, from the smallest to the largest and most complex. The elements are not merely properties of the external world, however, but also of one’s own body. Thus one must contemplate them in relation to one’s body, as the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta teaches (see Text VIII, 8 §12). The three suttas combined in Text IX,4(3)(b) show that these elements can be viewed: as impermanent and conditioned; from the triple standpoint of gratification, danger, and escape; and by way of the four-truth pattern.

The six elements include the four physical elements, the space element, and the element of consciousness. Text IX,4(3)(c), a long excerpt from MN 140, explains in detail how to contemplate the six elements in relation to the physical body, the external world, and conscious experience.

IX,4(4) Dependent Origination. Dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) is so central to the Buddha’s teaching that the Buddha said: “One who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma, and one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent origination” (MN 28; I 190–91). The ulitmate purpose of the teaching on dependent origination is to reveal the conditions that sustain the round of rebirths and thereby to show what must be done to gain release from the round. To win deliverance is a matter of unraveling the causal pattern that underlies our bondage, and this process begins with understanding the causal pattern itself. It is dependent origination that defines this causal pattern.

An entire chapter of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, the Nidānasaṃyutta (chapter 12), is devoted to dependent origination. The doctrine is usually expounded as a sequence of twelve factors joined into a chain of eleven propositions; see Text IX,4(4)(a). A Buddha discovers this chain of conditions; after his enlightenment, his mission is to explain it to the world. Text IX,4(4)(b) declares the sequence of conditions to be a fixed principle, a stable law, the nature of things. The series is expounded in two ways: by way of origination (called anuloma or forward order), and by way of cessation (called paṭiloma or reverse order). Sometimes the presentation proceeds from the first factor to the last; sometimes it begins at the end and traces the chain of conditions back to the first. Other suttas pick up the chain somewhere in the middle and work either backward to the end or forward to the front.

The Nikāyas themselves do not give any systematic explanation of dependent origination in the way one might expect a college textbook to do. Thus, for a clear explanation, we must rely on the commentaries and expository treatises that have come down from the Early Buddhist schools. Despite minor differences in details, these concur on the general meaning of this ancient formula, which might be briefly summarized as follows: Because of (1) ignorance (avijjā), lack of direct knowledge of the Four Noble Truths, we engage in wholesome and unwholesome activities of body, speech, and mind; these are (2) volitional formations (saṅkhārā), in other words, kamma. Volitional formations sustain consciousness from one life to the next and determine where it re-arises; in this way volitional formations condition (3) consciousness (viññāṇa). Along with consciousness, beginning from the moment of conception, comes (4) “name-and-form” (nāmarūpa), the sentient organism with its physical form (rūpa) and its sensitive and cognitive capacities (nāma). The sentient organism is equipped with (5) six sense bases (saḷāyatana), the five physical sense faculties and the mind as organ of cognition. The sense bases allow (6) contact (phassa) to occur between consciousness and its objects, and contact conditions (7) feeling (vedanā). Called into play by feeling, (8) craving (taṇhā) arises, and when craving intensifies it gives rise to (9) clinging (upādāna), tight attachment to the objects of desire through sensuality and wrong views. Impelled by our attachments, we again engage in volitional actions pregnant with (10) a new existence (bhava). At death this potential for new existence is actualized in a new life beginning with (11) birth (jāti) and ending in (12) aging-and-death (jarāmaraṇa).4

From the above, we can see that the commentarial interpretation treats the twelve factors as spread out over a span of three lives, with ignorance and volitional formations pertaining to the past, birth and aging-and-death to the future, and the intermediate factors to the present. The segment from consciousness through feeling is the resultant phase of the present, the phase resulting from past ignorance and kamma; the segment from craving through existence is the karmically creative phase of the present, leading to renewed existence in the future. But existence is distinguished into two phases: one, called kamma-existence (kammabhava), constitutes the active side of existence and belongs to the causal phase of the present life; the other, called rebirth-existence (upapattibhava), constitutes the passive side of existence and belongs to the resultant phase of the future life. The twelve factors are also distributed into three “rounds”: the round of defilements (kilesavaṭṭa) includes ignorance, craving, and clinging; the round of action (kammavaṭṭa) includes volitional formations and kamma-existence; and all the other factors belong to the round of results (vipākavaṭṭa). Defilements give rise to defiled actions, actions bring forth results, and results serve as the soil for more defilements. In this way the round of rebirths revolves without discernible beginning.

This method of dividing up the factors should not be misconstrued to mean that the past, present, and future factors are mutually exclusive. The distribution into three lives is only an expository device which, for the sake of concision, has to resort to some degree of abstraction. As many suttas in the Nidānasaṃyutta show, groups of factors separated in the formula are inevitably interwoven in their dynamic operation. Whenever there is ignorance, craving and clinging invariably accompany it; and whenever there is craving and clinging, ignorance stands behind them. The formula demonstrates how rebirth can take place without the presence of a substantial self that maintains its identity as it transmigrates from one life to the next. Without a self to hold the sequence together, what connects one life to the next is nothing other than the principle of conditionality. Conditions in one existence initiate the arising of the conditioned phenomena in the next existence; these serve as conditions for still other phenomena, which condition still other phenomena, and so on indefinitely into the future. The whole process ends only when its underlying springs—ignorance, craving, and clinging—are extirpated by wisdom.

Dependent origination is not a mere theory but a teaching that should be directly known by personal experience, a point clearly made by Text IX,4(4)(c). This sutta instructs the disciple to understand each factor by way of the four-truth pattern: one should understand the factor itself, its origin, its cessation, and the way to its cessation. First one understands this pattern in relation to one’s personal experience. Then, on this basis, one infers that all those who correctly understood these things in the past understood them in exactly the same way; then that all those who will correctly understand these things in the future will understand them in exactly the same way. In this way, dependent origination acquires a timeless and universal significance.

Several suttas hold up dependent origination as a “teaching by the middle” (majjhena tathāgato dhammaṃ deseti). It is a “teaching by the middle” because it transcends two extreme views that polarize philosophical reflection on the human condition. One extreme, the metaphysical thesis of eternalism (sassatavāda), asserts that the core of human identity is an indestructible and eternal self, whether individual or universal. It also asserts that the world is created and maintained by a permanent entity, a God or some other metaphysical reality. The other extreme, annihilationism (ucchedavāda), holds that at death the person is utterly annihilated. There is no spiritual dimension to human existence and thus no personal survival of any sort. For the Buddha, both extremes pose insuperable problems. Eternalism encourages an obstinate clinging to the five aggregates, which are really impermanent and devoid of a substantial self; annihilationism threatens to undermine ethics and to make suffering the product of chance.

Dependent origination offers a radically different perspective that transcends the two extremes. It shows that individual existence is constituted by a current of conditioned phenomena devoid of a metaphysical self yet continuing on from birth to birth as long as the causes that sustain it remain effective. Dependent origination thereby offers a cogent explanation of the problem of suffering that on the one hand avoids the philosophical dilemmas posed by the hypothesis of a permanent self, and on the other avoids the dangers of ethical anarchy to which annihilationism eventually leads. As long as ignorance and craving remain, the process of rebirth continues; kamma yields its pleasant and painful fruit, and the great mass of suffering accumulates. When ignorance and craving are destroyed, the inner mechanism of karmic causation is deactivated, and one reaches the end of suffering in saṃsāra. Perhaps the most elegant exposition of dependent origination as the “middle teaching” is the famous Kaccānagotta Sutta, included here as Text IX,4(4)(d).

Though the twelve-factor formula is the most familiar version of the doctrine of dependent origination, the Nidānasaṃyutta introduces a number of little-known variants that help to illuminate the standard version. One such variant, Text IX,4(4)(e), speaks about the conditions for “the continuance of consciousness” (viññāṇassa ṭhitiyā), in other words, how consciousness passes on to a new existence. The causes are said to be the underlying tendencies, namely, ignorance and craving, and “what one intends and plans,” namely, the volitional formations. Once consciousness becomes established, the production of a new existence begins; thus we here proceed directly from consciousness (the usual third factor) to existence (the usual tenth factor). Text IX,4(4)(f) says that from the six internal and external sense bases (the former being the usual fifth factor), consciousness (the third factor) arises, followed by contact, feeling, craving, and all the rest. These variants make it plain that the sequence of factors should not be regarded as a linear causal process in which each preceding factor gives rise to its successor through the simple exercise of efficient causality. Far from being linear, the relationship among the factors is always complex, involving several interwoven strands of conditionality.

IX,4(5) The Four Noble Truths. As we have seen in both the “gradual path to liberation” and in the “contemplation of phenomena” section of the Discourse on the Establishment of Mindfulness, the path to liberation culminates in the realization of the Four Noble Truths: see Text VII,4 §25 and Text VIII,8 §44. These were the truths that the Buddha discovered on the night of his enlightenment and enunciated in his first discourse: see Text II,3(2) §42 and Text II,5. The First Discourse is tucked away almost inconspicuously in the Saccasaṃyutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 56), the Connected Discourses on the Truths, a chapter replete with many other pithy and thought-provoking suttas.

To highlight the wide-ranging significance of the Four Noble Truths, the Saccasaṃyutta casts them against a universal background. According to Text IX,4(5)(a), not only the Buddha Gotama, but all the Buddhas past, present, and future awaken to these same four truths. These four truths, says Text IX,4(5)(b), are truths because they are “actual, unerring, not otherwise.” According to Text IX,4(5)(c), the things the Buddha teaches are as few as a handful of leaves in the forest, and what he teaches are just these Four Noble Truths, taught precisely because they lead to enlightenment and Nibbāna.

Sentient beings roam and wander in saṃsāra because they have not understood and penetrated the Four Noble Truths—Text IX,4(5)(d). As the chain of dependent origination shows, what lies at the base of the causal genesis of suffering is ignorance (avijjā), and ignorance is unawareness of the Four Noble Truths. Thus those who fail to understand the four truths generate volitional formations and fall down the precipice of birth, aging, and death—Text IX,4(5)(e).

The antidote to ignorance is knowledge (vijjā), which accordingly is defined as knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. The first penetration of the Four Noble Truths occurs with the attainment of stream-entry, called the breakthrough to the Dhamma (dhammābhisamaya). To make this breakthrough is by no means easy, but without doing so it is impossible to put an end to suffering—Text IX,4(5)(f). Hence the Buddha again and again urges his disciples to “make an extraordinary effort” to achieve the breakthrough to the truths.

Once the disciple makes the breakthrough and sees the Four Noble Truths, more work still lies ahead, for each truth imposes a task that must be fulfilled in order to win the final fruit. The truth of suffering, which ultimately consists of the five aggregates, must be fully understood (pariññeyya). The truth of its origin, craving, must be abandoned (pahātabba). The truth of cessation, Nibbāna, must be realized (sacchikātabba). And the truth of the way, the Noble Eightfold Path, must be developed (bhāvetabba). Developing the path brings to completion all four tasks, at which point one reaches the destruction of the taints. This process begins with penetration of the same Four Noble Truths, and thus Text IX,4(5)(g) says that the destruction of the taints is for those who know and see the Four Noble Truths.

IX,5 The Goal of Wisdom. The Four Noble Truths not only serve as the objective domain of wisdom but also define its purpose, which is enshrined in the third noble truth, the cessation of suffering. The cessation of suffering is Nibbāna, and thus the goal of wisdom, the end toward which the cultivation of wisdom moves, is the attainment of Nibbāna. But what exactly is meant by Nibbāna? The suttas explain Nibbāna in a number of ways. Some, such as Text IX,5(1), define Nibbāna simply as the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion. Others, such as the series comprised in Text IX,5(2), employ metaphors and images to convey a more concrete idea of the ultimate goal. Nibbāna is still the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion, but as such it is, among other things, peaceful, deathless, sublime, wonderful, and amazing. Such descriptions indicate that Nibbāna is a state of supreme happiness, peace, and freedom to be experienced in this present life.

A few suttas, most notably a pair in the Udāna—included here as Texts IX,5(3) and IX,5(4)—suggest that Nibbāna is not simply the destruction of defilements and an exalted feeling of psychological wellbeing. They speak of Nibbāna almost as if it were a transcendent state or dimension of being. Text IX,5(3) refers to Nibbāna as a “base” (āyatana) beyond the world of common experience where none of the physical elements or even the subtle formless dimensions of experience are present; it is a state completely quiescent, without arising, perishing, or change. Text IX,5(4) calls it the state that is “unborn, unmade, unbecome, [and] unconditioned” (ajātaṃ, akataṃ, abhūtaṃ, asaṅkhataṃ), the existence of which makes possible deliverance from all that is born, made, come-to-be, and conditioned.

How are we to correlate these two perspectives on Nibbāna found in the Nikāyas, one treating it as an experiential state of inward purity and sublime bliss, the other as an unconditioned state transcending the empirical world? Commentators, both Buddhists and outsiders, have tried to connect these two aspects of Nibbāna in different ways. Their interpretations generally reflect the proclivity of the interpreter as much as they do the texts themselves. The way that seems most faithful to both aspects of Nibbāna delineated in the texts is to regard the attainment of Nibbāna as a state of freedom and happiness attained by realizing, with profound wisdom, the unconditioned and transcendent element, the state that is intrinsically tranquil and forever beyond suffering. The penetration of this element brings the destruction of defilements, culminating in complete purification of mind. Such purification is accompanied by the experience of perfect peace and happiness in this present life. With the breakup of the body at physical death, it brings irreversible release from the beginningless round of rebirths.

The suttas speak of two “elements of Nibbāna,” the Nibbāna element with residue remaining (sa-upādisesa-nibbānadhātu) and the Nibbāna element without residue remaining (anupādisesa-nibbāna-dhātu). Text IX,5(5) explains the Nibbāna element with residue remaining to be the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion attained by an arahant while still alive. The “residue” that remains is the composite of the five aggregates that was brought into being by the ignorance and craving of the past life and that must continue on until the end of the lifespan. As to the Nibbāna element without residue remaining, the same text says only that when the arahant passes away, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here. Since there is no more clinging to the five aggregates, and no more craving for fresh experience through a new set of aggregates, the occurrence of the aggregates comes to an end and cannot continue. The process of the five aggregates is “extinguished” (the literal meaning of Nibbāna).5

The Buddha says nothing at all, however, in terms either of existence or nonexistence, about the condition of the arahant after death. It might seem logical to suppose that since the five aggregates that constitute experience completely cease with the attainment of the Nibbāna element without residue, this element must itself be a state of complete nonexistence, a state of nothingness. Yet no text in the Nikāyas ever states this. To the contrary, the Nikāyas consistently refer to Nibbāna by terms that refer to actualities. It is an element (dhātu), a base (āyatana), a reality (dhamma), a state (pada), and so on. However, though so designated, it is qualified in ways that indicate this state ultimately lies beyond all familiar categories and concepts.

In Text IX,5(6), the wanderer Vacchagotta asks the Buddha whether the Tathāgata—here signifying one who has attained the supreme goal—is reborn (upapajjati) or not after death. The Buddha refuses to concede any of the four alternatives. To say that the Tathāgata is reborn, is not reborn, both is and is not reborn, neither is nor is not reborn—none of these is acceptable, for all accept the term Tathāgata as indicative of a real being, while from an internal point of view a Tathāgata has given up all clinging to notions of a real being. The Buddha illustrates this point with the simile of an extinguished fire. Just as a fire that has been extinguished cannot be said to have gone anywhere but must simply be said to have “gone out,” so with the breakup of the body the Tathāgata does not go anywhere but has simply “gone out.” The past participle nibbuta, used to describe a fire that has been extinguished, is related to the noun nibbāna, which literally means “extinguishing.”6

Yet, if this simile suggests a Buddhist version of the “annihilationist” view of the arahant’s fate after his demise, this impression would rest on a misunderstanding, on a wrong perception of the arahant as a “self” or “person” that is annihilated. Our problem in understanding the state of the Tathāgata after death is compounded by our difficulty in understanding the state of the Tathāgata even while alive. The simile of the great ocean underscores this difficulty. Since the Tathāgata no longer identifies with the five aggregates that constitute individual identity, he cannot be reckoned in terms of them, whether individually or collectively. Freed from reckoning in terms of the five aggregates, the Tathāgata transcends our understanding. Like the great ocean, he is “deep, immeasurable, [and] hard to fathom.”7

1. IMAGES OF WISDOM

(1) Wisdom as a Light

“There are, O monks, these four lights. What four? The light of the moon, the light of the sun, the light of fire, and the light of wisdom. Of these four lights, the light of wisdom is supreme.”

(AN 4:143; II 139)

(2) Wisdom as a Knife

11. “Sisters, suppose a skilled butcher or his apprentice were to kill a cow and carve it up with a sharp butcher’s knife. Without damaging the inner mass of flesh and without damaging the outer hide, he would cut, sever, and carve away the inner tendons, sinews, and ligaments with the sharp butcher’s knife. Then having cut, severed, and carved all this away, he would remove the outer hide and cover the cow again with that same hide. Would he be speaking rightly if he were to say: ‘This cow is joined to this hide just as it was before’?”

“No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because if that skilled butcher or his apprentice were to kill a cow … and cut, sever, and carve all that away, even though he covers the cow again with that same hide and says: ‘This cow is joined to this hide just as it was before,’ that cow would still be disjoined from that hide.”

12. “Sisters, I have given this simile in order to convey a meaning. This is the meaning: ‘The inner mass of flesh’ is a term for the six internal bases. ‘The outer hide’ is a term for the six external bases. ‘The inner tendons, sinews, and ligaments’ is a term for delight and lust. ‘The sharp butcher’s knife’ is a term for noble wisdom—the noble wisdom that cuts, severs, and carves away the inner defilements, fetters, and bonds.”

(from MN 146: Nandakovāda Sutta; III 274–75)

2. THE CONDITIONS FOR WISDOM

“There are, O monks, these eight causes and conditions for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not been obtained and for bringing about the increase, maturation, and fulfillment by development of the wisdom that has already been obtained. What eight?

(1) “Here, a monk lives in dependence on the Teacher or on a certain fellow monk in the position of a teacher, and he has set up toward him a keen sense of shame and moral dread and regards him with affection and respect. This is the first cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(2) “As he is living in dependence on such teachers, he approaches them from time to time and inquires: ‘How is this, venerable sir? What is the meaning of this?’ Those venerable ones then disclose to him what has not been disclosed, clear up what is obscure, and dispel his perplexity about many perplexing points. This is the second cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(3) “Having learned the Dhamma, he dwells withdrawn by way of two kinds of withdrawal: withdrawal of body and withdrawal of mind. This is the third cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(4) “He is virtuous, restrained by the restraint of the Pātimokkha,8 perfect in conduct and resort, seeing danger in the slightest faults. Having undertaken the training rules, he trains himself in them. This is the fourth cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(5) “He has learned much, remembers what he has learned, and consolidates what he has learned. Such teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing, and which affirm a spiritual life that is perfectly complete and pure—such teachings as these he has learned much of, memorized, recited verbally, investigated with the mind, and penetrated well by view. This is the fifth cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(6) “He is energetic; he lives with energy set upon the abandoning of everything unwholesome and the acquiring of everything wholesome; he is steadfast and strong in his effort, not shirking his task in regard to wholesome qualities. This is the sixth cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(7) “When he is in the midst of the Saṅgha, he does not engage in rambling and pointless talk. Either he himself speaks on the Dhamma or he requests others to do so, or he does not shun noble silence. This is the seventh cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

(8) “He dwells contemplating rise and fall in the five aggregates subject to clinging thus: ‘Such is form, such its arising, such its passing away; such is feeling … such is perception … such are volitional formations … such is consciousness, such its arising, such its passing away.’ This is the eighth cause and condition for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life.…

“For these eight reasons his fellow monks esteem him as one who truly knows and sees, and these qualities lead to affection, esteem, concord, and unity.

“These, monks, are the eight causes and conditions for obtaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not been obtained and for bringing about the increase, maturation, and fulfillment by development of the wisdom that has already been obtained.”

(AN 8:2, abridged; IV 151–55)

3. A DISCOURSE ON RIGHT VIEW

1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There the Venerable Sāriputta addressed the monks thus: “Friends, monks.”—“Friend,” they replied. The Venerable Sāriputta said this:

2. “‘One of right view, one of right view,’ is said, friends. In what way is a noble disciple one of right view, whose view is straight, who has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”9

“Indeed, friend, we would come from far away to learn from the Venerable Sāriputta the meaning of this statement. It would be good if the Venerable Sāriputta would explain the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the monks will remember it.”

“Then, friends, listen and attend closely to what I shall say.”

“Yes, friend,” the monks replied. The Venerable Sāriputta said this:

[the wholesome and the unwholesome]

3. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome and the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

4. “And what, friends, is the unwholesome, what is the root of the unwholesome, what is the wholesome, what is the root of the wholesome? The destruction of life is unwholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; sexual misconduct is unwholesome; false speech is unwholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; idle chatter is unwholesome; covetousness is unwholesome; ill will is unwholesome; wrong view is unwholesome. This is called the unwholesome.10

5. “And what is the root of the unwholesome? Greed is a root of the unwholesome; hatred is a root of the unwholesome; delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome.

6. “And what is the wholesome? Abstention from destruction of life is wholesome; abstention from taking what is not given is wholesome; abstention from sexual misconduct is wholesome; abstention from false speech is wholesome; abstention from malicious speech is wholesome; abstention from harsh speech is wholesome; abstention from idle chatter is wholesome; uncovetousness is wholesome; non–ill will is wholesome; right view is wholesome. This is called the wholesome.

7. “And what is the root of the wholesome? Nongreed is a root of the wholesome; nonhatred is a root of the wholesome; nondelusion is a root of the wholesome. This is called the root of the wholesome.

8. “When a noble disciple has thus understood the unwholesome and the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome and the root of the wholesome,11 he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit ‘I am,’ and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering.12 In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[nutriment]

9. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

10. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands nutriment, the origin of nutriment, the cessation of nutriment, and the way leading to the cessation of nutriment, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

11. “And what is nutriment, what is the origin of nutriment, what is the cessation of nutriment, what is the way leading to the cessation of nutriment? There are four kinds of nutriment for the sustenance of beings that already have come to be and for the support of those about to come to be. What four? They are: physical food as nutriment, gross or subtle; contact as the second; mental volition as the third; and consciousness as the fourth.13 With the arising of craving there is the arising of nutriment. With the cessation of craving there is the cessation of nutriment. The way leading to the cessation of nutriment is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

12. “When a noble disciple has thus understood nutriment, the origin of nutriment, the cessation of nutriment, and the way leading to the cessation of nutriment, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[the Four Noble Truths]

13. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

14. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

15. “And what is suffering, what is the origin of suffering, what is the cessation of suffering, what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? Birth is suffering; aging is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair are suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering. This is called suffering.

16. “And what is the origin of suffering? It is this craving that leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination. This is called the origin of suffering.

17. “And what is the cessation of suffering? It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonattachment.

18. “And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration. This is called the way leading to the cessation of suffering.

19. “When a noble disciple has thus understood suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[aging and death]

20. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

21. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands aging and death, the origin of aging and death, the cessation of aging and death, and the way leading to the cessation of aging and death, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.14

22. “And what is aging and death, what is the origin of aging and death, what is the cessation of aging and death, what is the way leading to the cessation of aging and death? The aging of beings in the various orders of beings, their old age, brokenness of teeth, grayness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties—this is called aging. The passing of beings out of the various orders of beings, their passing away, breakup, disappearance, dying, completion of time, the breakup of the aggregates, laying down of the body—this is called death. So this aging and this death are what is 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. The way leading to the cessation of aging and death is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

23. “When a noble disciple has thus understood aging and death, the origin of aging and death, the cessation of aging and death, and the way leading to the cessation of aging and death … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[birth]

24. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

25. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

26. “And what is birth, what is the origin of birth, what is the cessation of birth, what is the way leading to the cessation of birth? The birth of beings in the various orders of beings, their coming to birth, precipitation [in a womb], generation, manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the bases for contact—this is called birth. With the arising of existence there is the arising of birth. With the cessation of existence there is the cessation of birth. The way leading to the cessation of birth is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

27. “When a noble disciple has thus understood birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[existence]

28. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

29. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands existence, the origin of existence, the cessation of existence, and the way leading to the cessation of existence, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

30. “And what is existence, what is the origin of existence, what is the cessation of existence, what is the way leading to the cessation of existence? There are these three kinds of existence: sense-sphere existence, form-sphere existence, and formless-sphere existence.15 With the arising of clinging there is the arising of existence. With the cessation of clinging there is the cessation of existence. The way leading to the cessation of existence is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

31. “When a noble disciple has thus understood existence, the origin of existence, the cessation of existence, and the way leading to the cessation of existence … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[clinging]

32. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

33. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

34. “And what is clinging, what is the origin of clinging, what is the cessation of clinging, what is the way leading to the cessation of clinging? There are these four kinds of clinging: clinging to sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rules and observances, and clinging to a doctrine of self.16 With the arising of craving there is the arising of clinging. With the cessation of craving there is the cessation of clinging. The way leading to the cessation of clinging is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

35. “When a noble disciple has thus understood clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[craving]

36. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

37. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

38. “And what is craving, what is the origin of craving, what is the cessation of craving, what is the way leading to the cessation of craving? There are these six classes of craving: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odors, craving for flavors, craving for tactile objects, craving for mental phenomena.17 With the arising of feeling there is the arising of craving. With the cessation of feeling there is the cessation of craving. The way leading to the cessation of craving is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

39. “When a noble disciple has thus understood craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[feeling]

40. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

41. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands feeling, the origin of feeling, the cessation of feeling, and the way leading to the cessation of feeling, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

42. “And what is feeling, what is the origin of feeling, what is the cessation of feeling, what is the way leading to the cessation of feeling? There are these six classes of feeling: 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. With the arising of contact there is the arising of feeling. With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of feeling. The way leading to the cessation of feeling is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

43. “When a noble disciple has thus understood feeling, the origin of feeling, the cessation of feeling, and the way leading to the cessation of feeling … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[contact]

44. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

45. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands contact, the origin of contact, the cessation of contact, and the way leading to the cessation of contact, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

46. “And what is contact, what is the origin of contact, what is the cessation of contact, what is the way leading to the cessation of contact? There are these six classes of contact: eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind-contact.18 With the arising of the six sense bases there is the arising of contact. With the cessation of the six sense bases there is the cessation of contact. The way leading to the cessation of contact is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

47. “When a noble disciple has thus understood contact, the origin of contact, the cessation of contact, and the way leading to the cessation of contact … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[the six sense bases]

48. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

49. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands the six sense bases, the origin of the six sense bases, the cessation of the six sense bases, and the way leading to the cessation of the six sense bases, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

50. “And what are the six sense bases, what is the origin of the six sense bases, what is the cessation of the six sense bases, what is the way leading to the cessation of the six sense bases? There are these six sense bases: the eye-base, the ear-base, the nose-base, the tongue-base, the body-base, the mind-base. With the arising of name-and-form there is the arising of the six sense bases. With the cessation of name-and-form there is the cessation of the six sense bases. The way leading to the cessation of the six sense bases is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

51. “When a noble disciple has thus understood the six sense bases, the origin of the six sense bases, the cessation of the six sense bases, and the way leading to the cessation of the six sense bases … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[name-and-form]

52. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

53. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands name-and-form, the origin of name-and-form, the cessation of name-and-form, and the way leading to the cessation of name-and-form, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

54. “And what is name-and-form, what is the origin of name-andform, what is the cessation of name-and-form, what is the way leading to the cessation of name-and-form? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention—these are called name. The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements—these are called form. So this name and this form are what is called name-and-form.19 With the arising of consciousness there is the arising of name-and-form. With the cessation of consciousness there is the cessation of name-and-form. The way leading to the cessation of name-and-form is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

55. “When a noble disciple has thus understood name-and-form, the origin of name-and-form, the cessation of name-and-form, and the way leading to the cessation of name-and-form … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[consciousness]

56. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

57. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands consciousness, the origin of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, and the way leading to the cessation of consciousness, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

58. “And what is consciousness, what is the origin of consciousness, what is the cessation of consciousness, what is the way leading to the cessation of consciousness? There are these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness.20 With the arising of volitional formations there is the arising of consciousness. With the cessation of volitional formations there is the cessation of consciousness. The way leading to the cessation of consciousness is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

59. “When a noble disciple has thus understood consciousness, the origin of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, and the way leading to the cessation of consciousness … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[volitional formations]

60. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

61. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands volitional formations, the origin of volitional formations, the cessation of volitional formations, and the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

62. “And what are volitional formations, what is the origin of volitional formations, what is the cessation of volitional formations, what is the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations? There are these three kinds of volitional formations: the bodily volitional formation, the verbal volitional formation, the mental volitional formation.21 With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of volitional formations. With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of volitional formations. The way leading to the cessation of volitional formations is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

63. “When a noble disciple has thus understood volitional formations, the origin of volitional formations, the cessation of volitional formations, and the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[ignorance]

64. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

65. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance, in that way he is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

66. “And what is ignorance, what is the origin of ignorance, what is the cessation of ignorance, what is the way leading to the cessation of ignorance? Not knowing about suffering, not knowing about the origin of suffering, not knowing about the cessation of suffering, not knowing about the way leading to the cessation of suffering—this is called ignorance. With the arising of the taints there is the arising of ignorance. With the cessation of the taints there is the cessation of ignorance. The way leading to the cessation of ignorance is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

67. “When a noble disciple has thus understood ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance … he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view … and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

[taints]

68. Saying, “Good, friend,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.

69. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands the taints, the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has confirmed confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

70. “And what are the taints, what is the origin of the taints, what is the cessation of the taints, what is the way leading to the cessation of the taints? There are these three taints: the taint of sensual desire, the taint of existence, and the taint of ignorance. With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of the taints.22 With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the taints. The way leading to the cessation of the taints is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

71. “When a noble disciple has thus understood the taints, the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit ‘I am,’ and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

That is what the Venerable Sāriputta said. The monks were satisfied and delighted in the Venerable Sāriputta’s words.

(MN 9: Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta; I 46–55)

4. THE DOMAIN OF WISDOM

(1) By Way of the Five Aggregates

(a) Phases of the Aggregates

At Sāvatthī, the Blessed One said: “Monks, there are these five aggregates subject to clinging. What five? The form aggregate subject to clinging, the feeling aggregate subject to clinging, the perception aggregate subject to clinging, the volitional formations aggregate subject to clinging, the consciousness aggregate subject to clinging.

“So long as I did not directly know as they really are the five aggregates subject to clinging in four phases,23 I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. But when I directly knew all this as it really is, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with … its devas and humans.

“And how, monks, are there four phases? I directly knew form, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation. I directly knew feeling … perception … volitional formations … consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation.

“And what, monks, is form? The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements: this is called form. With the arising of nutriment there is the arising of form. With the cessation of nutriment there is the cessation of form. This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of form; that is, right view … right concentration.

“Whatever ascetics and brahmins, having thus directly known form, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, are practicing for the purpose of disenchantment with form, for its fading away and cessation, they are practicing well. Those who are practicing well have gained a foothold in this Dhamma and Discipline.24

“And whatever ascetics and brahmins, having thus directly known form, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, through disenchantment with form, through its fading away and cessation, are liberated by nonclinging, they are well liberated. Those who are well liberated are consummate ones. As to those consummate ones, there is no round for their manifestation.25

“And what, monks, is feeling? There are these six classes of feeling: 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. With the arising of contact there is the arising of feeling. With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of feeling. This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of feeling; that is, right view … right concentration.

“Whatever ascetics and brahmins, having thus directly known feeling, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, are practicing for the purpose of disenchantment with feeling, for its fading away and cessation, they are practicing well. Those who are practicing well have gained a foothold in this Dhamma and Discipline.

“And whatever ascetics and brahmins, having thus directly known feeling … and the way leading to its cessation … As to those consummate ones, there is no round for their manifestation.

“And what, monks, is perception? There are these six classes of perception: perception of forms, perception of sounds, perception of odors, perception of tastes, perception of tactile objects, perception of mental phenomena. This is called perception. With the arising of contact there is the arising of perception. With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of perception. This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of perception; that is, right view … right concentration.

“Whatever ascetics and brahmins … As to those consummate ones, there is no round for their manifestation.

“And what, monks, are volitional formations? There are these six classes of volition:26 volition regarding forms, volition regarding sounds, volition regarding odors, volition regarding tastes, volition regarding tactile objects, volition regarding mental phenomena. These are called volitional formations. With the arising of contact there is the arising of volitional formations. With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of volitional formations. This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations; that is, right view… right concentration.

“Whatever ascetics and brahmins … As to those consummate ones, there is no round for their manifestation.

“And what, monks, is consciousness? There are these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness. This is called consciousness. With the arising of name-and-form there is the arising of consciousness.27 With the cessation of name-and-form there is the cessation of consciousness. This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of consciousness; that is, right view… right concentration.

“Whatever ascetics and brahmins, having thus directly known consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, are practicing for the purpose of disenchantment with consciousness, for its fading away and cessation, they are practicing well. Those who are practicing well have gained a foothold in this Dhamma and Discipline.

“And whatever ascetics and brahmins, having thus directly known consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, through disenchantment with consciousness, through its fading away and cessation, are liberated by nonclinging, they are well liberated. Those who are well liberated are consummate ones. As to those consummate ones, there is no round for their manifestation.”

(SN 22:56; III 58–61)

(b) A Catechism on the Aggregates

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in the Eastern Park, in the Mansion of Migāra’s Mother, together with a great Saṅgha of monks. Now on that occasion—the uposatha day of the fifteenth, a full-moon night—the Blessed One was sitting out in the open surrounded by the Saṅgha of monks.

Then a certain monk rose from his seat, arranged his upper robe over one shoulder, raised his joined hands in reverential salutation toward the Blessed One, and said to him: “Venerable sir, I would ask the Blessed One about a certain point, if the Blessed One would grant me the favor of answering my question.”

“Well then, monk, sit down in your own seat and ask whatever you wish.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” that monk replied. Then he sat down in his own seat and said to the Blessed One:

“Aren’t these the five aggregates subject to clinging, venerable sir: that is, the form aggregate subject to clinging, the feeling aggregate subject to clinging, the perception aggregate subject to clinging, the volitional formations aggregate subject to clinging, the consciousness aggregate subject to clinging?”

“They are, monk.”

Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” that monk delighted and rejoiced in the Blessed One’s statement. Then he asked the Blessed One a further question:

“But, venerable sir, in what are these five aggregates subject to clinging rooted?”

“These five aggregates subject to clinging, monk, are rooted in desire.”28

“Venerable sir, is that clinging the same as these five aggregates subject to clinging, or is the clinging something apart from the five aggregates subject to clinging?”

“Monk, that clinging is neither the same as the five aggregates subject to clinging, nor is the clinging something apart from the five aggregates subject to clinging. But rather, the desire and lust for them, that is the clinging there.”29

Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” that monk … asked the Blessed One a further question:

“But, venerable sir, can there be diversity in the desire and lust for the five aggregates subject to clinging?”

“There can be, monk,” the Blessed One said. “Here, monk, it occurs to someone: ‘May I be of such form in the future! May I be of such feeling in the future! May I be of such perception in the future! May I be of such volitional formations in the future! May I be of such consciousness in the future!’ Thus, monk, there can be diversity in the desire and lust for the five aggregates subject to clinging.”

Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” that monk … asked the Blessed One a further question:

“In what way, venerable sir, does the designation ‘aggregates’ apply to the aggregates?”

“Whatever kind of form there is, monk, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: this is called the form aggregate. Whatever kind of feeling there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: this is called the feeling aggregate. Whatever kind of perception there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: this is called the perception aggregate. Whatever kind of volitional formations there are, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: this is called the volitional formations aggregate. Whatever kind of consciousness there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: this is called the consciousness aggregate. It is in this way, monk, that the designation ‘aggregates’ applies to the aggregates.”

Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” that monk … asked the Blessed One a further question:

“What is the cause and condition, venerable sir, for the manifestation of the form aggregate? What is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the feeling aggregate?… for the manifestation of the perception aggregate?… for the manifestation of the volitional formations aggregate?… for the manifestation of the consciousness aggregate?”

“The four great elements, monk, are the cause and condition for the manifestation of the form aggregate. Contact is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the feeling aggregate, the perception aggregate, and the volitional formations aggregate. Name-and-form is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the consciousness aggregate.”

“Venerable sir, how does identity view come to be?”

“Here, monk, the uninstructed worldling, who is not a seer of the noble ones and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, who is not a seer of superior persons and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, regards form as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. He regards feeling as self … perception as self … volitional formations as self … consciousness as self, or self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in self, or self as in consciousness. That is how identity view comes to be.”

“But, venerable sir, how does identity view not come to be?”

“Here, monk, the instructed noble disciple, who is a seer of the noble ones and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, who is a seer of superior persons and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, does not regard form as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. He does not regard feeling as self … perception as self … volitional formations as self … consciousness as self, or self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in self, or self as in consciousness. That is how identity view does not come to be.”

“What, venerable sir, is the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of the five aggregates?”

“The pleasure and joy, monk, that arise in dependence on form: this is the gratification in form. That form is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in form. The removal and abandonment of desire and lust for form: this is the escape from form. The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on feeling … in dependence on perception … in dependence on volitional formations … in dependence on consciousness: this is the gratification in consciousness. That consciousness is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in consciousness. The removal and abandonment of desire and lust for consciousness: this is the escape from consciousness.”

Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” that monk delighted and rejoiced in the Blessed One’s statement. Then he asked the Blessed One a further question:

“Venerable sir, how should one know and see so that, in regard to this body with consciousness and in regard to all external signs, I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit no longer occur within?”30

“Any kind of form whatsoever, monk, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near—one sees all form as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’

“Any kind of feeling whatsoever … Any kind of perception whatsoever … Any kind of volitional formations whatsoever … Any kind of consciousness whatsoever, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near—one sees all consciousness as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’

“When one knows and sees thus, monk, then in regard to this body with consciousness and in regard to all external signs, I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit no longer occur within.”

(from SN 22: 82, abridged; 100–103 = MN 109, abridged; III 15–19)

(c) The Characteristic of Nonself

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Bārāṇasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana.31 There the Blessed One addressed the monks of the group of five thus: “Monks!”

“Venerable sir!” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“Monks, form is nonself. For if, monks, form were self, this form would not lead to affliction, and it would be possible to determine form: ‘Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus.’ But because form is nonself, form leads to affliction, and it is not possible to determine form: ‘Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus.’32

“Feeling is nonself…. Perception is nonself…. Volitional formations are nonself…. Consciousness is nonself. For if, monks, consciousness were self, this consciousness would not lead to affliction, and it would be possible to determine consciousness: ‘Let my consciousness be thus; let my consciousness not be thus.’ But because consciousness is nonself, consciousness leads to affliction, and it is not possible to determine consciousness: ‘Let my consciousness be thus; let my consciousness not be thus.’

“What do you think, monks, is form permanent or impermanent?”—“Impermanent, venerable sir.”—“Is what is impermanent suffering or happiness?”—“Suffering, venerable sir.”—“Is what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change fit to be regarded thus: ‘This is mine, this I am, this is my self’?”—“No, venerable sir.”

“Is feeling permanent or impermanent?… Is perception permanent or impermanent?… Are volitional formations permanent or impermanent?… Is consciousness permanent or impermanent?”—“Impermanent, venerable sir.”—“Is what is impermanent suffering or happiness?”—“Suffering, venerable sir.”—“Is what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change fit to be regarded thus: ‘This is mine, this I am, this is my self’?”—“No, venerable sir.”

“Therefore, monks, any kind of form whatsoever, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, all form should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’

“Any kind of feeling whatsoever … Any kind of perception whatsoever … Any kind of volitional formations whatsoever … Any kind of consciousness whatsoever, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, all consciousness should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’

“Seeing thus, monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with volitional formations, disenchanted with consciousness. Becoming disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion [his mind] is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

That is what the Blessed One said. Elated, those monks delighted in the Blessed One’s statement. And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of the monks of the group of five were liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

(SN 22:59; III 66–68)

(d) Impermanent, Suffering, Nonself

“Monks, form is impermanent. What is impermanent is suffering. What is suffering is nonself. What is nonself should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees this thus as it really is with correct wisdom, the mind becomes dispassionate and is liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

“Feeling is impermanent…. Perception is impermanent…. Volitional formations are impermanent…. Consciousness is impermanent. What is impermanent is suffering. What is suffering is nonself. What is nonself should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees this thus as it really is with correct wisdom, the mind becomes dispassionate and is liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

“If, monks, a monk’s mind has become dispassionate toward the form element, it is liberated from the taints by nonclinging. If his mind has become dispassionate toward the feeling element … toward the perception element … toward the volitional formations element … toward the consciousness element, it is liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

“By being liberated, it is steady; by being steady, it is content; by being content, he is not agitated. Being unagitated, he personally attains Nibbāna. He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

(SN 22:45; III 44–45)

(e) A Lump of Foam

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Ayojjhā on the bank of the river Ganges. There the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:

“Monks, suppose that this river Ganges was carrying along a great lump of foam. A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a lump of foam? So too, monks, whatever kind of form there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a monk inspects it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in form?33

“Suppose, monks, that in the autumn, when it is raining and big rain drops are falling, a water bubble arises and bursts on the surface of the water. A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a water bubble? So too, monks, whatever kind of feeling there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a monk inspects it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in feeling?34

“Suppose, monks, that in the last month of the hot season, at high noon, a shimmering mirage appears. A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a mirage? So too, monks, whatever kind of perception there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a monk inspects it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in perception?35

“Suppose, monks, that a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, would take a sharp axe and enter a forest. There he would see the trunk of a large banana tree, straight, fresh, without a fruit-bud core. He would cut it down at the root, cut off the crown, and unroll the coil. As he unrolls the coil, he would not find even softwood, let alone heartwood. A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in the trunk of a banana tree? So too, monks, whatever kind of volitional formations there are, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a monk inspects them, ponders them, and carefully investigates them. As he investigates them, they appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in volitional formations?36

“Suppose, monks, that a magician or a magician’s apprentice would display a magical illusion at a crossroads. A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a magical illusion? So too, monks, whatever kind of consciousness there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a monk inspects it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in consciousness?37

“Seeing thus, monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with volitional formations, disenchanted with consciousness. Becoming disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion [his mind] is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

(SN 22:95; III 140–42)

(2) By Way of the Six Sense Bases

(a) Full Understanding

“Monks, without directly knowing and fully understanding the all, without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“And what, monks, is that all? Without directly knowing and fully understanding the eye, without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering. Without directly knowing and fully understanding forms … eye-consciousness … eye-contact … and whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition … without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“Without directly knowing and fully understanding the ear … the mind … and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition … without developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“This, monks, is the all. Without directly knowing and fully understanding this all … one is incapable of destroying suffering.

“Monks, by directly knowing and fully understanding the all, by developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is capable of destroying suffering.

“And what, monks, is that all? By directly knowing and fully understanding the eye … the mind … and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition … by developing dispassion toward it and abandoning it, one is capable of destroying suffering.

“This, monks, is the all by directly knowing and fully understanding which … one is capable of destroying suffering.”

(SN 35:26; IV 17–18)

(b) Burning

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Gayā, at Gayā’s Head, together with a thousand monks. There the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:38

“Monks, all is burning. And what, monks, is the all that is burning? The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion; burning with birth, aging, and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, I say.

“The ear is burning … The mind is burning … and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion; burning with birth, aging, and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair, I say.

“Seeing thus, monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with the eye, with forms, with eye-consciousness, with eye-contact, with whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant; becomes disenchanted with the ear … with the mind … with whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition…. Becoming disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion [his mind] is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

This is what the Blessed One said. Elated, those monks delighted in the Blessed One’s statement. And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of the thousand monks were liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

(SN 35:28; IV 19–20)

(c) Suitable for Attaining Nibbāna

“Monks, I will teach you the way that is suitable for attaining Nibbāna. Listen….

“And what, monks, is the way that is suitable for attaining Nibbāna? Here, a monk sees the eye as impermanent, he sees forms as impermanent, he sees eye-consciousness as impermanent, he sees eye-contact as impermanent, he sees as impermanent whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition, whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant.

“He sees the ear as impermanent … He sees the mind as impermanent, he sees mental phenomena as impermanent, he sees mind-consciousness as impermanent, he sees mind-contact as impermanent, he sees as impermanent whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition, whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant. This, monks, is the way that is suitable for attaining Nibbāna.”

“He sees the eye as suffering … he sees as suffering whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition, whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant. This, monks, is the way that is suitable for attaining Nibbāna.

“He sees the eye as nonself … he sees as nonself whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition, whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant. This, monks, is the way that is suitable for attaining Nibbāna.”

(SN 35:147–49, combined; IV 133–35)

(d) Empty Is the World

Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One … and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘Empty is the world, empty is the world.’ In what way, venerable sir, is it said, ‘Empty is the world’?”

“It is, Ānanda, because it is empty of self and of what belongs to self that it is said, ‘Empty is the world.’ And what is empty of self and of what belongs to self? The eye, Ānanda, is empty of self and of what belongs to self. Forms are empty of self and of what belongs to self. Eye-consciousness is empty of self and of what belongs to self. Eye-contact is empty of self and of what belongs to self…. Whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is empty of self and of what belongs to self.

“It is, Ānanda, because it is empty of self and of what belongs to self that it is said, ‘Empty is the world.’”

(SN 35:85; IV 54)

(e) Consciousness Too Is Nonself

The Venerable Udāyī asked the Venerable Ānanda: “Friend Ānanda, in many ways [the nature of] this body has been declared, disclosed, and revealed by the Blessed One thus: ‘For such a reason this body is nonself.’ Is it possible to explain [the nature of] this consciousness in a similar way—to teach, proclaim, establish, disclose, analyze, and elucidate it thus: ‘For such a reason this consciousness is nonself’?”

“It is possible, friend Udāyī. Doesn’t eye-consciousness arise in dependence on the eye and forms?”

“Yes, friend.”

“If the cause and condition for the arising of eye-consciousness would cease completely and totally without remainder, could eye-consciousness be discerned?”

“No, friend.”

“In this way, friend, this has been declared, disclosed, and revealed by the Blessed One thus: ‘For such a reason this consciousness is nonself.’

“Doesn’t ear-consciousness arise in dependence on the ear and sounds?… Doesn’t mind-consciousness arise in dependence on the mind and mental phenomena?”

“Yes, friend.”

“If the cause and condition for the arising of mind-consciousness would cease completely and totally without remainder, could mind-consciousness be discerned?”

“No, friend.”

“In this way too, friend, this has been declared, disclosed, and revealed by the Blessed One thus: ‘For such a reason this consciousness is nonself.’

“Suppose, friend, a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, would take a sharp axe and enter a forest. There he would see the trunk of a large banana tree, straight, fresh, without a fruit-bud core. He would cut it down at the root, cut off the crown, and unroll the coil. As he unrolls the coil, he would not find even softwood, let alone heartwood.

“So too, a monk does not recognize either a self or anything belonging to a self in these six bases for contact. Since he does not recognize anything thus, he does not cling to anything in the world. Not clinging, he is not agitated. Being unagitated, he personally attains Nibbāna. He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.’”

(SN 35:234; IV 166–68)

(3) By Way of the Elements

(a) The Eighteen Elements

“Monks, I will teach you the diversity of elements. The eye element, form element, eye-consciousness element; the ear element, sound element, ear-consciousness element; the nose element, odor element, nose-consciousness element; the tongue element, taste element, tongue-consciousness element; the body element, tactile-object element, body-consciousness element; the mind element, mental-phenomena element, mind-consciousness element. This, monks, is called the diversity of elements.”

(SN 14:1; II 140)

(b) The Four Elements

“Monks, there are these four elements. What four? The earth element, the water element, the heat element, the air element.

“Those ascetics or brahmins, monks, who do not understand as they really are the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these four elements: these I do not consider to be ascetics among ascetics or brahmins among brahmins, and these venerable ones do not, by realizing it for themselves with direct knowledge, in this very life enter and dwell in the goal of asceticism or the goal of brahminhood.

“But, monks, those ascetics and brahmins who understand as they really are the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these four elements: these I consider to be ascetics among ascetics and brahmins among brahmins, and these venerable ones, by realizing it for themselves with direct knowledge, in this very life enter and dwell in the goal of asceticism and the goal of brahminhood.”

“Those ascetics or brahmins, monks, who do not understand as they really are the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these four elements: these I do not consider to be ascetics among ascetics….

“But, monks, those ascetics and brahmins who understand these things: these I consider to be ascetics among ascetics and brahmins among brahmins, and these venerable ones, by realizing it for themselves with direct knowledge, in this very life enter and dwell in the goal of asceticism and the goal of brahminhood.”

“Monks, those ascetics or brahmins who do not understand the earth element, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation; who do not understand the water element … the heat element … the air element, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation: these I do not consider to be ascetics among ascetics….

“But, monks, those ascetics and brahmins who understand these things: these I consider to be ascetics among ascetics and brahmins among brahmins, and these venerable ones, by realizing it for themselves with direct knowledge, in this very life enter and dwell in the goal of asceticism and the goal of brahminhood.”

(SN 14:37–39, combined; II 175–77)

(c) The Six Elements

13. “How, monk, does one not neglect wisdom?39 There are these six elements: the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element, the space element, and the consciousness element.

14. “What, monk, is the earth element? The earth element may be either internal or external. What is the internal earth element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung-to, that is, head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach, feces, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung-to: this is called the internal earth element. Now both the internal earth element and the external earth element are simply earth element. And that should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it really is with correct wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the earth element.

15. “What, monk, is the water element? The water element may be either internal or external. What is the internal water element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is water, watery, and clung-to, that is, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil-of-the-joints, urine, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is water, watery, and clung-to: this is called the internal water element. Now both the internal water element and the external water element are simply water element. And that should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it really is with correct wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the water element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the water element.

16. “What, monk, is the fire element? The fire element may be either internal or external. What is the internal fire element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is fire, fiery, and clung-to, that is, that by which one is warmed, ages, and is consumed, and that by which what is eaten, drunk, consumed, and tasted gets completely digested, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is fire, fiery, and clung-to: this is called the internal fire element. Now both the internal fire element and the external fire element are simply fire element. And that should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it really is with correct wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the fire element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the fire element.

17. “What, monk, is the air element? The air element may be either internal or external. What is the internal air element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is air, airy, and clung-to, that is, up-going winds, down-going winds, winds in the belly, winds in the bowels, winds that course through the limbs, in-breath and out-breath, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is air, airy, and clung-to: this is called the internal air element. Now both the internal air element and the external air element are simply air element. And that should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it really is with correct wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the air element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the air element.

18. “What, monk, is the space element? The space element may be either internal or external. What is the internal space element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is space, spatial, and clung-to, that is, the holes of the ears, the nostrils, the door of the mouth, and that [aperture] whereby what is eaten, drunk, consumed, and tasted gets swallowed, and where it collects, and whereby it is excreted from below, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is space, spatial, and clung-to: this is called the internal space element. Now both the internal space element and the external space element are simply space element. And that should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees it thus as it really is with correct wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the space element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the space element.

19. “Then there remains only consciousness, purified and bright.40 What does one cognize with that consciousness? One cognizes: ‘[This is] pleasant’; one cognizes: ‘[This is] painful’; one cognizes: ‘[This is] neither-painful-nor-pleasant.’ In dependence on a contact to be felt as pleasant there arises a pleasant feeling.41 When one feels a pleasant feeling, one understands: ‘I feel a pleasant feeling.’ One understands: ‘With the cessation of that same contact to be felt as pleasant, its corresponding feeling—the pleasant feeling that arose in dependence on that contact to be felt as pleasant—ceases and subsides.’ In dependence on a contact to be felt as painful there arises a painful feeling. When one feels a painful feeling, one understands: ‘I feel a painful feeling.’ One understands: ‘With the cessation of that same contact to be felt as painful, its corresponding feeling—the painful feeling that arose in dependence on that contact to be felt as painful—ceases and subsides.’ In dependence on a contact to be felt as neither-painful-nor-pleasant there arises a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. When one feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, one understands: ‘I feel a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.’ One understands: ‘With the cessation of that same contact to be felt as neither-painful-nor-pleasant, its corresponding feeling—the neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling that arose in dependence on that contact to be felt as neither-painful-nor-pleasant—ceases and subsides.’

Monk, just as from the contact and friction of two fire-sticks heat is generated and fire is produced, and with the separation and disjunction of these two fire-sticks the corresponding heat ceases and subsides; so too, in dependence on a contact to be felt as pleasant … to be felt as painful … to be felt as neither-painful-nor-pleasant there arises a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.… One understands: ‘With the cessation of that same contact to be felt as neither-painful-nor-pleasant, its corresponding feeling … ceases and subsides.’”

(from MN 140: Dhātuvibhaṅga Sutta; III 240–43)

(4) By Way of Dependent Origination

(a) What Is Dependent Origination?

“Monks, I will teach you dependent origination. Listen to that and attend closely, I will speak.”—“Yes, venerable sir,” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“And what, monks, is dependent origination? With ignorance as condition, volitional formations [come to be]; with volitional 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, existence; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is called dependent origination.

“But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact; with the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling; with the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving; with the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”
(SN 12:1; II 1–2)

(b) The Stableness of the Dhamma

“Monks, I will teach you dependent origination and dependently arisen phenomena. Listen and attend closely, I will speak.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“And what, monks, is dependent origination? ‘With birth as condition, aging-and-death [comes to be]’: whether there is an arising of Tathāgatas or no arising of Tathāgatas, that element still persists, the stableness of the Dhamma, the fixed course of the Dhamma, specific conditionality.42 A Tathāgata awakens to this and breaks through to it. Having done so, he explains it, teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyzes it, elucidates it. And he says: ‘See! With birth as condition, monks, aging-and-death arises.’

“‘With existence as condition, birth’ … ‘With clinging as condition, existence’ … ‘With craving as condition, clinging’ … ‘With feeling as condition, craving’ … ‘With contact as condition, feeling’ … ‘With the six sense bases as condition, contact’ … ‘With name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases’ … ‘With consciousness as condition, name-and-form’ … ‘With volitional formations as condition, consciousness’ … ‘With ignorance as condition, volitional formations’: whether there is an arising of Tathāgatas or no arising of Tathāgatas, that element still persists, the stableness of the Dhamma, the fixed course of the Dhamma, specific conditionality. A Tathāgata awakens to this and breaks through to it. Having done so, he explains it, teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyzes it, elucidates it. And he says: ‘See! With ignorance as condition, monks, volitional formations arise.’

“Thus, monks, the actuality, the inerrancy, the invariability, the specific conditionality in this: this is called dependent origination.43

“And what, monks, are the dependently arisen phenomena? Aging-and-death, monks, is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, vanishing, fading away, and cessation. Birth is impermanent … Existence is impermanent … Clinging is impermanent … Craving is impermanent … Feeling is impermanent … Contact is impermanent … The six sense bases are impermanent … Name-and-form is impermanent … Consciousness is impermanent … Volitional formations are impermanent … Ignorance is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, vanishing, fading away, and cessation. These, monks, are called the dependently arisen phenomena.

“When, monks, a noble disciple has clearly seen with correct wisdom as it really is this dependent origination and these dependently arisen phenomena, it is impossible that he will run back into the past, thinking: ‘Did I exist in the past? Did I not exist in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what did I become in the past?’ Or that he will run forward into the future, thinking: ‘Will I exist in the future? Will I not exist in the future? What will I be in the future? How will I be in the future? Having been what, what will I become in the future?’ Or that he will now be inwardly confused about the present thus: ‘Do I exist? Do I not exist? What am I? How am I? This being—where has it come from, and where will it go?’

“For what reason? Because the noble disciple has clearly seen with correct wisdom as it really is this dependent origination and these dependently arisen phenomena.”

(SN 12:20; II 25–27)

(c) Forty-Four Cases of Knowledge

“Monks, I will teach you forty-four cases of knowledge. Listen to that and attend closely, I will speak.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“Monks, what are the forty-four cases of knowledge? Knowledge of aging-and-death, knowledge of its origin, knowledge of its cessation, knowledge of the way leading to its cessation. Knowledge of birth … Knowledge of existence … Knowledge of clinging … Knowledge of craving … Knowledge of feeling … Knowledge of contact … Knowledge of the six sense bases … Knowledge of name-and-form … Knowledge of consciousness … Knowledge of volitional formations, knowledge of their origin, knowledge of their cessation, knowledge of the way leading to their cessation. These, monks, are the forty-four cases of knowledge.

“And what, monks, is aging-and-death?… [definition as in Text IX,3 §22] … 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. This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of agingand-death; that is, right view … right concentration.

“When, monks, a noble disciple thus understands aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, this is his knowledge of the principle.44 By means of this principle that is seen, understood, immediately attained, fathomed, he applies the method to the past and the future thus: ‘Whatever ascetics and brahmins in the past directly knew aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, all these directly knew it in the very same way that I do now. Whatever ascetics and brahmins in the future will directly know aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, all these will directly know it in the very same way that I do now.’ This is his knowledge of entailment.45

“When, monks, a noble disciple has purified and cleansed these two kinds of knowledge—knowledge of the principle and knowledge of entailment—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.

“And what, monks, is birth?… What are the volitional formations?… [definitions as in Text IX,3] … This Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of volitional formations; that is, right view … right concentration.

“When, monks, a noble disciple thus understands volitional formations, their origin, their cessation, and the way leading to their cessation, this is his knowledge of the principle. By means of this principle that is seen, understood, immediately attained, fathomed, he applies the method to the past and to the future…. This is his knowledge of entailment.

“When, monks, a noble disciple has purified and cleansed these two kinds of knowledge—knowledge of the principle and knowledge of entailment—he is then called a noble disciple who is accomplished in view … one who stands squarely before the door to the Deathless.”

(SN 12:33; II 56–59)

(d) A Teaching by the Middle

At Sāvatthī, the Venerable Kaccānagotta approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘right view, right view.’ In what way, venerable sir, is there right view?”

“This world, Kaccāna, for the most part depends upon a duality—upon the idea of existence and the idea of nonexistence.46 But for one who sees the origin of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no idea of nonexistence in regard to the world. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no idea of existence in regard to the world.47

“This world, Kaccāna, is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging, and adherence. But this one [with right view] does not become engaged and cling through that engagement and clinging, mental standpoint, adherence, underlying tendency; he does not take a stand about ‘my self.’ He has no perplexity or doubt that what arises is only suffering arising, what ceases is only suffering ceasing.48 His knowledge about this is independent of others. It is in this way, Kaccāna, that there is right view.

“‘All exists’: Kaccāna, this is one extreme. ‘All does not exist’: this is the second extreme. Without veering toward either of these extremes, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle: ‘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. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.’”

(SN 12:15; II 16–17)

(e) The Continuance of Consciousness

“Monks, what one intends and what one plans and whatever one has a tendency toward: this becomes a basis for the continuance of consciousness. When there is a basis there is a support for the establishing of consciousness. When consciousness is established and has come to growth, there is the production of future renewed existence. When there is the production of future renewed existence, future birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.49

“If, monks, one does not intend and does not plan but still has a tendency toward something, this becomes a basis for the continuance of consciousness. When there is a basis, there is a support for the establishing of consciousness…. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.50

“But, monks, when one does not intend and does not plan and does not have a tendency toward anything, no basis exists for the continuance of consciousness. When there is no basis, there is no support for the establishing of consciousness. When consciousness is unestablished and does not come to growth, there is no production of future renewed existence. When there is no production of future renewed existence, future birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”51
(SN 12:38; II 65–66)

(f) The Origin and Passing of the World

“Monks, I will teach you the origin and the passing away of the world. Listen and attend closely, I will speak.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” the monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“And what, monks, is the origin of the world? In dependence on the eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling [comes to be]; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, existence; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair come to be. This, monks, is the origin of the world.

“In dependence on the ear and sounds … In dependence on the nose and odors … In dependence on the tongue and tastes … In dependence on the body and tactile objects … In dependence on the mind and mental phenomena, mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling [comes to be]; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging … existence … birth; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair come to be. This, monks, is the origin of the world.

“And what, monks, is the passing away of the world? In dependence on the eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling [comes to be]; with feeling as condition, craving. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving comes cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is the passing away of the world.

“In dependence on the ear and sounds … In dependence on the mind and mental phenomena, mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling [comes to be]; with feeling as condition, craving. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving comes cessation of clinging … cessation of existence … cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is the passing away of the world.”

(SN 12:44; II 73–74)

(5) By Way of the Four Noble Truths

(a) The Truths of All Buddhas

“Monks, whatever Perfectly Enlightened Buddhas in the past fully awakened to things as they really are, all fully awakened to the Four Noble Truths as they really are. Whatever Perfectly Enlightened Buddhas in the future will fully awaken to things as they really are, all will fully awaken to the Four Noble Truths as they really are. Whatever Perfectly Enlightened Buddhas at present have fully awakened to things as they really are, all have fully awakened to the Four Noble Truths as they really are.

“What four? The noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the origin of suffering, the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. Whatever Perfectly Enlightened Buddhas fully awakened … will fully awaken … have fully awakened to things as they really are, all have fully awakened to these Four Noble Truths as they really are.

“Therefore, monks, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’ An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the origin of suffering.’ An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the cessation of suffering.’ An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

(SN 56:24; V 433–34)

(b) These Four Truths Are Actual

“Monks, these four things are actual, unerring, invariable.52 What four?

“‘This is suffering’: this, monks, is actual, unerring, invariable. ‘This is the origin of suffering’: this is actual, unerring, invariable. ‘This is the cessation of suffering’: this is actual, unerring, invariable. ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’: this is actual, unerring, invariable.

“These four things, monks, are actual, unerring, invariable.

“Therefore, monks, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’… An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

(SN 56:20; V 430–31)

(c) A Handful of Leaves

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Kosambī in a siṃsapā grove. Then the Blessed One took up a few siṃsapā leaves in his hand and addressed the monks thus: “What do you think, monks, which is more numerous: these few leaves that I have taken up in my hand or those in the grove overhead?”

“Venerable sir, the leaves that the Blessed One has taken up in his hand are few, but those in the grove overhead are numerous.”

“So too, monks, the things I have directly known but have not taught you are numerous, while the things I have taught you are few. And why, monks, have I not taught those many things? Because they are without benefit, irrelevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life, and do not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. Therefore I have not taught them.

“And what, monks, have I taught? I have taught: ‘This is suffering’; I have taught: ‘This is the origin of suffering’; I have taught: ‘This is the cessation of suffering’; I have taught: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ And why, monks, have I taught this?

Because this is beneficial, relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life, and leads to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. Therefore I have taught this.

“Therefore, monks, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’… An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

(SN 56:31; V 437–38)

(d) Because of Not Understanding

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Vajjians at Koṭigāma. There the Blessed One addressed the monks thus: “Monks, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating the Four Noble Truths that you and I have roamed and wandered through this long course of saṃsāra. What four?

“It is, monks, because of not understanding and not penetrating the noble truth of suffering that you and I have roamed and wandered through this long course of saṃsāra. It is because of not understanding and not penetrating the noble truth of the origin of suffering … the noble truth of the cessation of suffering … the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering that you and I have roamed and wandered through this long course of saṃsāra.

“That noble truth of suffering, monks, has been understood and penetrated. That noble truth of the origin of suffering has been understood and penetrated. That noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been understood and penetrated. That noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering has been understood and penetrated. Craving for existence has been cut off; the conduit to existence53 has been destroyed; now there is no more renewed existence.”

(SN 56:21; V 431–32)

(e) The Precipice

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha on Mount Vulture Peak. Then the Blessed One addressed the monks thus: “Come, monks, let us go to Inspiration Peak for the day’s abiding.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” those monks replied.

Then the Blessed One, together with a number of monks, went to Inspiration Peak. A certain monk saw the steep precipice off Inspiration Peak and said to the Blessed One: “That precipice is indeed steep, venerable sir; that precipice is extremely frightful. But is there, venerable sir, a precipice steeper and more frightful than that one?”

“There is, monk.”

“But what precipice, venerable sir, is steeper and more frightful than that one?”

“Those ascetics and brahmins, monk, who do not understand as it really is: ‘This is suffering. This is the origin of suffering. This is the cessation of suffering. This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’—they delight in volitional formations that lead to birth, aging, and death; they delight in volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. Delighting in such volitional formations, they generate volitional formations that lead to birth, aging, and death; they generate volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. Having generated such volitional formations, they tumble down the precipice of birth, aging, and death; they tumble down the precipice of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. They are not freed from birth, aging, and death; not freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; not freed from suffering, I say.

“But, monk, those ascetics and brahmins who understand as it really is: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’—they do not delight in volitional formations that lead to birth, aging, and death; they do not generate volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. Not delighting in such volitional formations, they do not generate volitional formations that lead to birth, aging, and death; they do not generate volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. Not having generated such volitional formations, they do not tumble down the precipice of birth, aging, and death; they do not tumble down the precipice of sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair. They are freed from birth, aging, and death; freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; freed from suffering, I say.

“Therefore, monks, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’… An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

(SN 56:42; V 448–50)

(f) Making the Breakthrough

“Monks, if anyone should speak thus: ‘Without having made the break through to the noble truth of suffering as it really is, without having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of the origin of suffering as it really is, without having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of the cessation of suffering as it really is, without having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering as it really is, I will completely make an end to suffering’—this is impossible.

“Just as, monks, if someone should speak thus: ‘Having made a basket of acacia leaves or of pine needles or of myrobalan leaves,54 I will bring water or a palm fruit,’ this would be impossible; so too, if anyone should speak thus: ‘Without having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of suffering as it really is … I will completely make an end to suffering’—this is impossible.

“But, monks, if anyone should speak thus: ‘Having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of suffering as it really is, having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of the origin of suffering as it really is, having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of the cessation of suffering as it really is, having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering as it really is, I will completely make an end to suffering’—this is possible.

“Just as, monks, if someone should speak thus: ‘Having made a basket of lotus leaves or of kino leaves or of māluva leaves, I will bring water or a palm fruit,’ this would be possible; so too, if anyone should speak thus: ‘Having made the breakthrough to the noble truth of suffering as it really is … I will completely make an end to suffering’—this is possible.

“Therefore, monks, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’… An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

(SN 56:32; V 442–43)

(g) The Destruction of the Taints

“Monks, I say that the destruction of the taints is for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know and does not see. For one who knows what, for one who sees what, does the destruction of the taints come about? The destruction of the taints comes about for one who knows and sees: ‘This is suffering. This is the origin of suffering. This is the cessation of suffering. This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ It is for one who knows thus, for one who sees thus, that the destruction of the taints comes about.

“Therefore, monks, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’… An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

(SN 56:25; V 434)

5. THE GOAL OF WISDOM

(1) What is Nibbāna?

On one occasion the Venerable Sāriputta was dwelling in Magadha at Nālakagāma. Then the wanderer Jambukhādaka55 approached the Venerable Sāriputta and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to the Venerable Sāriputta:

“Friend Sāriputta, it is said, ‘Nibbāna, Nibbāna.’ What now is Nibbāna?”

“The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion: this, friend, is called Nibbāna.

“But, friend, is there a path, is there a way for the realization of this Nibbāna?”

“There is a path, friend, there is a way for the realization of this Nibbāna.”

“And what, friend, is that path, what is that way for the realization of this Nibbāna?”

“It is, friend, this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the path, friend, this is the way for the realization of this Nibbāna.”

“Excellent is the path, friend, excellent is the way for the realization of this Nibbāna. And it is enough, friend Sāriputta, for diligence.”

(SN 38:1; IV 251–52)

(2) Thirty-Three Synonyms for Nibbāna

“Monks, I will teach you the unconditioned and the path leading to the unconditioned. Listen ….

“And what, monks, is the unconditioned? The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion: this is called the unconditioned.

“And what, monks, is the path leading to the unconditioned? Mindfulness directed to the body: this is called the path leading to the unconditioned.

“Monks, I will teach you the uninclined … the taintless … the truth … the far shore … the subtle … the very difficult to see … the unaging … the stable … the undisintegrating … the unmanifest … the unproliferated56 … the peaceful … the deathless … the sublime … the auspicious … the secure …. the destruction of craving … the wonderful … the amazing … the unailing … the unailing state … Nibbāna … the unafflicted … dispassion … purity … freedom … nonattachment … the island … the shelter … the asylum … the refuge … the destination and the path leading to the destination. Listen ….

“And what, monks, is the destination? The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion: this is called the destination.

“And what, monks, is the path leading to the destination? Mindfulness directed to the body: this is called the path leading to the destination.

“Thus, monks, I have taught you the unconditioned … the destination and the path leading to the destination. Whatever should be done, monks, by a compassionate teacher out of compassion for his disciples, desiring their welfare, that I have done for you. These are the roots of trees, monks, these are empty huts. Meditate, monks, do not be negligent, lest you regret it later. This is my instruction to you.”

(SN 43:1–44, combined; IV 359–73)

(3) There Is That Base

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Now on that occasion the Blessed One was instructing, rousing, inspiring, and gladdening the monks with a Dhamma talk connected with Nibbāna, and those monks were receptive and attentive, concentrating their whole mind, intent on listening to the Dhamma.

Then, on realizing its significance, the Blessed One on that occasion uttered this inspired utterance:

“There is, monks, that base where there is neither earth, nor water, nor heat, nor air; neither the base of the infinity of space, nor the base of the infinity of consciousness, nor the base of nothingness, nor the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; neither this world nor another world; neither sun nor moon.57 Here, monks, I say there is no coming, no going, no standing still; no passing away and no being reborn. It is not established, not moving, without support. Just this is the end of suffering.”

(Ud 8:1; 80)

(4) The Unborn

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Now on that occasion the Blessed One was instructing … the monks with a Dhamma talk connected with Nibbāna, and those monks were receptive … intent on listening to the Dhamma.

Then, on realizing its significance, the Blessed One on that occasion uttered this inspired utterance:

“There is, monks, an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned. If, monks, there were no unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, no escape would be discerned from what is born, become, made, conditioned. But because there is an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, therefore an escape is discerned from what is born, become, made, conditioned.”

(Ud 8:3; 80–81)

(5) The Two Nibbāna Elements

“There are, monks, these two Nibbāna elements. What are the two? The Nibbāna element with residue remaining and the Nibbāna element without residue remaining.

“And what, monks, is the Nibbāna element with residue remaining? Here, a monk is an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached his own goal, utterly destroyed the fetters of existence, one completely liberated through final knowledge. However, his five sense faculties remain unimpaired, by which he still experiences what is agreeable and disagreeable, still feels pleasure and pain. It is the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion in him that is called the Nibbāna element with residue remaining.

“And what, monks, is the Nibbāna element without residue remaining? Here, a monk is an arahant, … one completely liberated through final knowledge. For him, here in this very life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here. That, monks, is called the Nibbāna element without residue remaining.

“These, monks, are the two Nibbāna elements.”

(It 44; 38)

(6) The Fire and the Ocean

15. [The wanderer Vacchagotta asked the Blessed One:] “Then does Master Gotama hold any speculative view at all?”

“Vaccha, ‘speculative view’ is something that the Tathāgata has put away. For the Tathāgata, Vaccha, has seen58 this: ‘Such is form, such its origin, such its passing away; such is feeling, such its origin, such its passing away; such is perception, such its origin, such its passing away; such are volitional formations, such their origin, such their passing away; such is consciousness, such its origin, such its passing away.’ Therefore, I say, with the destruction, fading away, cessation, giving up, and relinquishing of all conceiving, all rumination, all I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit, the Tathāgata is liberated through not clinging.”

16. “When a monk’s mind is liberated thus, Master Gotama, where is he reborn [after death]?”

“‘Is reborn’ does not apply, Vaccha.”

“Then he is not reborn, Master Gotama?”

“‘Is not reborn’ does not apply, Vaccha.”

“Then he both is reborn and is not reborn, Master Gotama?”

“‘Both is reborn and is not reborn’ does not apply, Vaccha.”

“Then he neither is reborn nor is not reborn, Master Gotama?”

“‘Neither is reborn nor is not reborn’ does not apply, Vaccha.”

17. “When Master Gotama is asked these four questions, he replies: ‘“Is reborn” does not apply, Vaccha; “is not reborn” does not apply, Vaccha; “both is reborn and is not reborn” does not apply, Vaccha; “neither is reborn nor is not reborn” does not apply, Vaccha.’ Here I have fallen into bewilderment, Master Gotama, here I have fallen into confusion, and the measure of confidence I had gained through previous conversation with Master Gotama has now disappeared.”

18. “It is enough to cause you bewilderment, Vaccha, enough to cause you confusion. For this Dhamma, Vaccha, is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. It is hard for you to understand it when you hold another view, accept another teaching, approve of another teaching, pursue a different training, and follow a different teacher. So I shall question you about this in return, Vaccha. Answer as you choose.

19. “What do you think, Vaccha? Suppose a fire were burning before you. Would you know: ‘This fire is burning before me’?”

“I would, Master Gotama.”

“If someone were to ask you, Vaccha: ‘What does this fire burning before you burn in dependence on?’—being asked thus, what would you answer?”

“Being asked thus, Master Gotama, I would answer: ‘This fire burning before me burns in dependence on grass and sticks.’”

“If that fire before you were to be extinguished, would you know: ‘This fire before me has been extinguished’?”

“I would, Master Gotama.”

“If someone were to ask you, Vaccha: ‘When that fire before you was extinguished, to which direction did it go: to the east, the west, the north, or the south?’—being asked thus, what would you answer?”

“That does not apply, Master Gotama. The fire burned in dependence on its fuel of grass and sticks. When that is used up, if it does not get any more fuel, being without fuel, it is reckoned as extinguished.”

20. “So too, Vaccha, the Tathāgata has abandoned that form by which one describing the Tathāgata might describe him; he has cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump, done away with it so that it is no longer subject to future arising. Liberated from reckoning in terms of form, the Tathāgata is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom like the ocean. ‘Is reborn’ does not apply; ‘is not reborn’ does not apply; ‘both is reborn and is not reborn’ does not apply; ‘neither is reborn nor is not reborn’ does not apply. The Tathāgata has abandoned that feeling by which one describing the Tathāgata might describe him … has abandoned that perception by which one describing the Tathāgata might describe him … has abandoned those volitional formations by which one describing the Tathāgata might describe him … has abandoned that consciousness by which one describing the Tathāgata might describe him; he has cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump, done away with it so that it is no longer subject to future arising. Liberated from reckoning in terms of consciousness, the Tathāgata is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom like the ocean. ‘Is reborn’ does not apply; ‘is not reborn’ does not apply; ‘both is reborn and is not reborn’ does not apply; ‘neither is reborn nor is not reborn’ does not apply.”
(from MN 72: Aggivacchagotta Sutta; I 486–88)

_________________

Notes:

1.Unfortunately, the connection between the noun and the verb, so obvious in the Pāli, is lost when paññā is translated as “wisdom” and the verb rendered “one understands.” To avoid this, other translators have preferred renderings for paññā that preserve a visible connection between the noun and the verb, for example, “understanding” (Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) or “discernment” (Thānissaro Bhikkhu).

2.E.g., at SN 22:5, 35:99, 35:160, 56:1.

3.This correlation is commonly made in the commentaries when they comment on this formula.

4.The commentarial interpretation, detailed and highly technical, is found in Vism, chapter 17.

5.In the Pāli commentaries, these two elements of Nibbāna are called respectively kilesa-parinibbāna, the extinction of defilements, and khandha-parinibbāna, the extinction of the aggregates.

6.The two words are actually derived from different verbal roots. Nibbuta is past participle of nir + v¸; which has a corresponding noun nibbuti, used as a synonym for Nibbāna. Nibbāna is from nir + vā.

7.For an amplification of the ocean simile, see SN 44:1.

8.Pātimokkha: the code of training rules governing the conduct of a fully ordained monk.

9.Ps: Right view is twofold: mundane (lokiya) and supramundane (lokuttara). Mundane right view is again twofold: the view that kamma produces its fruits, which may be held both by Buddhists and non-Buddhists, and the view in conformity with the Four Noble Truths, which is exclusive to the Buddha’s teaching. Supramundane right view is the understanding of the Four Noble Truths attained by penetrating to the four paths and fruits (see p. 373). The question posed by Sāriputta concerns the sekha, the disciple in higher training.

10.These are the ten courses of unwholesome action. For a more detailed explanation, see Text V,1(2). Their opposites, just below, are the ten courses of wholesome action, also elaborated in the same text.

11.Ps explains the disciple’s understanding of these four terms by way of the Four Noble Truths thus: all the courses of action (unwholesome and wholesome) are the truth of suffering; the wholesome and unwholesome roots are the truth of the origin; the non-occurrence of both actions and their roots is the truth of cessation; and the noble path that realizes cessation is the truth of the path. To this extent a noble disciple at one of the first three planes has been described—one who has arrived at supramundane right view but has not yet eliminated all defilements.

12.Ps says that the passage from “he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust” until “he makes an end of suffering” shows the work accomplished by the paths of the nonreturner and arahantship. The path of the nonreturner eliminates the underlying tendencies to sensual lust and aversion; the path of arahantship removes the underlying tendency to the view and conceit “I am.” Ps says the expression “underlying tendency to the view and conceit ‘I am’” (asmī ti diṭṭhimānānusaya) should be interpreted to mean the underlying tendency to conceit that is similar to a view because, like the view of self, it occurs grasping the notion “I am.”

13.Nutriment (āhāra) is to be understood here in a broad sense as a prominent condition for the individual life-process. Physical food is an important condition for the physical body, contact for feeling, mental volition for consciousness, and consciousness for name-and-form, the psychophysical organism in its totality. Craving is called the origin of nutriment since the craving of the previous existence is the source of the present individuality with its dependence upon and continual consumption of the four nutriments in this existence. For an annotated compilation of canonical and commentarial texts on the nutriments, see Nyanaponika Thera, The Vision of Dhamma, pp. 211–28.

14.The next twelve sections present, in reverse order, a factor-by-factor examination of dependent origination. See too Texts IX, 4(4)(a)–(f).

15.The three kinds of existence (bhava): on the three realms of existence, see pp. 149–50. In the formula of dependent origination, “existence” signifies both the planes of rebirth and the types of kamma that produce rebirth into those planes. The former is known technically as upapattibhava, “rebirth-existence,” the latter as kammabhava, “karmically active existence.”

16.Clinging to rules and observances (sīlabbatupādāna) is the adherence to the view that purification can be achieved by adopting certain external rules or following certain observances, particularly of ascetic self-discipline; clinging to a doctrine of self (attavādupādāna) is holding one or another of the views of self that originate from identity view (see particularly the Brahmajāla Sutta, DN 1); clinging to views (diṭṭhupādāna) is the clinging to any other view (than one of the two enumerated separately). Clinging in any of its varieties is a strengthening of craving, its condition.

17.Craving for phenomena (dhammataṇhā) is the craving for all objects of consciousness except the objects of the five classes of sense consciousness. Examples would be the craving associated with fantasies and mental imagery, with abstract ideas and intellectual gratification, and so forth.

18.Contact (phassa) is the coming together (saṅgati) of internal sense base (sense faculty), external sense base (object), and consciousness.

19.The term nāmarūpa was of pre-Buddhistic origins. It was used in the Upaniṣads to represent the differentiated manifestation of brahman, the nondual absolute reality appearing in the guise of multiplicity. Brahman apprehended by the senses as diversified appearances is form (rūpa); brahman apprehended by thought through diversified names or concepts is name (nāma). The Buddha adopted this expression and gave it a meaning governed by his own system. Here name and form become, respectively, the cognitive and physical sides of individual existence.

In the Buddha’s system, rūpa is defined as the four great elements and the form derived from them. Form is both internal to the person (= the body with its senses) and external (= the physical world). The Nikāyas do not explain derived form (upādāya rūpa), but the Abhidhamma analyzes it into twenty-four kinds of secondary material phenomena, which include the sensitive matter of the five sense faculties and four of the five sense objects (the tactile object is identified with three of the great elements—earth, heat, and air—which each exhibit tangible properties).

Though I render nāma as name, this should not be taken too literally. Nāma is the assemblage of mental factors involved in cognition: feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention (vedanā, saññā, cetanā, phassa, manasikāra). These are probably called “name” because they contribute to the conceptual designation of objects. It should be noted that in the Nikāyas, nāmarūpa does not include consciousness (viññāṇa). Consciousness is the condition for nāmarūpa, just as the latter is the condition for consciousness, so that the two are mutually dependent (see Text II,3(3)).

20.Mind-consciousness (manoviññāṇa) comprises all consciousness except the five types of sense consciousness just mentioned. It includes consciousness of mental images, abstract ideas, and internal states of mind, as well as the consciousness that reflects upon sense objects.

21.In the context of the doctrine of dependent origination, volitional formations (saṅkhārā) are wholesome and unwholesome volitions. The bodily formation is volition expressed through the body; the verbal formation, volition expressed by speech; and the mental formation, volition that does not reach bodily or verbal expression.

22.It should be noted that while ignorance is a condition for the taints, the taints—including the taint of ignorance—are in turn a condition for ignorance. Ps says that this conditioning of ignorance by ignorance implies that the ignorance in any one existence is conditioned by the ignorance in the preceding existence. Since this is so, the conclusion follows that no first point can be discovered for ignorance, and thus that saṃsāra is without discernible beginning.

23.The “four phases” (or “four turnings,” catuparivaṭṭa) are: aggregate, origin, cessation, and the way to cessation, as applied to each of the five aggregates.

24.This passage describes the trainees (sekha). They have directly known the Four Noble Truths and are practicing for the ultimate cessation of the five aggregates, that is, for Nibbāna.

25.This passage describes the arahants. According to DN II 63–64, the round of existence turns as a basis for manifestation and designation only in so far as there is consciousness together with name-and-form; when both consciousness and name-and-form cease, there is no round to serve as a basis for manifestation and designation.

26.Cha cetanākāyā. The fact that there is a difference between the name of the aggregate, saṅkhārakkhandha, and the term of definition, cetanā, suggests that this aggregate has a wider range than the others. In the Abhidhamma and the commentaries, it is treated as an “umbrella category” for classifying all the mental factors mentioned in the suttas apart from feeling and perception. Volition is mentioned in the definition because it is the most important factor in this aggregate, not because it is its exclusive constituent.

27.It is significant that while contact is the condition for the arising of the three aggregates of feeling, perception, and volitional formations, name-and-form is the condition for the arising of consciousness. This supports the statement in the ten-factored formula of dependent origination, found in Text II,3(3), that name-and-form is the condition for consciousness.

28.According to Spk, desire (chanda) here is synonymous with craving (taṇhā). This is said because the five aggregates in any given existence originate from the residual craving for new existence of the immediately preceding existence.

29.Clinging is not the same as the “five aggregates subject to clinging” because the aggregates are not reducible to clinging. Yet clinging is not something apart from the “five aggregates subject to clinging” because there is no clinging that does not have the aggregates as its support and object.

30.On “I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit,” see p. 445 (chapter IX, n.63).

31.This is the second discourse of the Buddha, according to the narrative of the Buddha’s teaching career at Vin I 13–14. The five bhikkhus are the first five disciples, who at this point are still trainees (sekha). The Buddha’s purpose in teaching this discourse is to lead them to arahantship.

32.The sutta offers two “arguments” for the thesis of nonself. The first contends that the aggregates are nonself on the ground that we cannot exercise mastery over them. Since we cannot bend the aggregates to our will, they are all “subject to affliction” and therefore cannot be considered our self. The second argument, introduced just below, posits the characteristic of nonself on the basis of the other two characteristics. Whatever is impermanent is in some way bound up with suffering; whatever is impermanent and bound up with suffering cannot be identified as our self.

33.Spk explains at length how form (i.e., the body) is like a lump of foam (pheṇapiṇḍa). I give merely the highlights: As a lump of foam lacks any substance (sāra), so form lacks any substance that is permanent, stable, a self; as the lump of foam is full of holes and fissures and the abode of many creatures, so too form; as the lump of foam, after expanding, breaks up, so does form, which is pulverized in the mouth of death.

34.Spk: A bubble (bubbuḷa) is feeble and cannot be grasped, for it breaks up as soon as it is seized; so too feeling is feeble and cannot be grasped as permanent and stable. As a bubble arises and ceases in a drop of water and does not last long, so too with feeling: billions of feelings arise and cease in the time of a fingersnap. As a bubble arises in dependence on conditions, so feeling arises in dependence on a sense base, an object, the defilements, and contact.

35.Spk: Perception is like a mirage (marīcikā) in the sense that it is insubstantial, for one cannot grasp a mirage to drink or bathe or fill a pitcher. As a mirage deceives the multitude, so does perception, which entices people with the idea that the colorful object is beautiful, pleasurable, and permanent.

36.Spk: As a banana trunk (kadalikkhandha) is an assemblage of many sheaths, each with its own characteristic, so the aggregate of volitional formations is an assemblage of many phenomena, each with its own characteristic.

37.Spk: Consciousness is like a magical illusion (māyā) in the sense that it is insubstantial and cannot be grasped. Consciousness is even more transient and fleeting than a magical illusion. For it gives the impression that a person comes and goes, stands and sits, with the same mind, but the mind is different in each of these activities. Consciousness deceives the multitude like a magical illusion.

38.This sutta, sometimes called “The Fire Sermon,” is the third discourse recorded in the narrative of the Buddha’s ministry, at Vin I 34–35. According to this source, the thousand monks to whom the sutta was addressed had formerly been fire-worshipping ascetics, and thus the Buddha used this theme because it corresponded with their background. For an account of how the Buddha converted them, see Ñāṇamoli, The Life of the Buddha, pp. 54–60, 64–69.

39.The Buddha is speaking to Pukkusāti, a monk who had gone forth out of faith in the Buddha without ever having seen him before. When the sutta opens, the Buddha arrives at a potter’s shed, intending to spend the night there. Pukkusāti has already been lodging in the shed and greets the Buddha in a friendly way, unaware that this is his master. Without revealing his identity to Pukkusāti, the Buddha initiates a conversation, which turns into a discourse on the development of wisdom.

40.Ps: This is the sixth element, which “remains” in that it has yet to be expounded by the Buddha and penetrated by Pukkusāti. Here it is explained as the consciousness that accomplishes the work of insight contemplation on the elements. Under the heading of consciousness, the contemplation of feeling is also introduced.

41.This passage shows the conditionality of feeling and its impermanence through the cessation of its condition.

42.Idappaccayatā. The word is a compound of idaṃ, this, with paccaya, condition, augmented by the abstract noun termination–tā. This is a synonym for paṭiccasamuppāda. See Text II,4 §19, which likewise connects the realization of dependent origination with the Buddha’s enlightenment.

43.Spk: Actuality (tathatā) means the occurrence of each particular phenomenon when its assemblage of appropriate conditions is present. Inerrancy (avitathatā) means that once its conditions have reached completeness there is no non-occurrence, even for a moment, of the phenomenon due to be produced from those conditions. Invariability (anaññathatā) means that there is no production of one phenomenon by another’s conditions.

44.Dhamme ñāṇa. This is the direct knowledge of the Four Noble Truths arisen through penetration of Nibbāna as the truth of cessation.

45.Anvaye ñāṇa. This is an inference extending to the past and the future, based on the immediate discernment of the conditional relationship obtaining between any pair of factors.

46.Spk: The idea of existence (atthitā) is eternalism (sassata); the idea of nonexistence (natthitā) is annihilationism (uccheda). Spk-pṭ: The idea of existence is eternalism because it maintains that the entire world (of personal existence) exists forever. The notion of nonexistence is annihilationism because it maintains that the entire world does not exist (forever) but is cut off.

In view of these explanations it would be misleading to translate the two terms, atthitā and natthitā, simply as “existence” and “nonexistence.” In the present passage atthitā and natthitā are abstract nouns formed from the verbs atthi and natthi. It is thus the metaphysical assumptions implicit in such abstractions that are at fault, not the ascriptions of existence and nonexistence themselves. I have tried to convey this sense of metaphysical abstraction, conveyed in Pāli by the termination -tā, by rendering the two terms “the idea of existence” and “the idea of nonexistence,” respectively.

Unfortunately, atthitā and bhava both had to be rendered by “existence,” which obscures the fact that in Pāli they are derived from different roots. While atthitā is the notion of existence in the abstract, bhava is concrete individual existence in one or another of the three realms. For the sake of marking the difference, bhava might have been rendered “being,” but this English word is too likely to suggest “Being,” the absolute object of philosophical speculation. It does not sufficiently convey the sense of concreteness intrinsic to bhava.

47.Spk: The origin of the world: the production of the world of formations. There is no idea of nonexistence in regard to the world: there does not occur in him the annihilationist view that might arise in regard to phenomena produced and made manifest in the world of formations, holding “They do not exist.”

Spk-pṭ: The annihilationist view might arise in regard to the world of formations thus: “On account of the annihilation and perishing of beings right where they are, there is no persisting being or phenomenon.” It also includes the wrong view, having those formations as its object, that holds: “There are no beings who are reborn.” That view does not occur in him; for one seeing with right understanding the production and origination of the world of formations in dependence on such diverse conditions as kamma, ignorance, craving, etc., that annihilationist view does not occur, since one sees the uninterrupted production of formations.

Spk: The cessation of the world: the dissolution of formations. There is no idea of existence in regard to the world: There does not occur in him the eternalist view that might arise in regard to phenomena produced and made manifest in the world of formations, holding “They exist.” Spk-pṭ: The eternalist view might arise in regard to the world of formations, taking it to exist at all times, owing to the apprehension of identity in the uninterrupted continuum occurring in a cause-effect relationship. But that view does not occur in him; because he sees the cessation of the successively arisen phenomena and the arising of successively new phenomena, the eternalist view does not occur.

Spk: Further, “the origin of the world” is direct-order conditionality (anulomapaccayākāra); “the cessation of the world” is reverse-order conditionality (paṭiloma-paccayākāra). [Spk-pṭ: “Direct-order conditionality” is the conditioning efficiency of the conditions in relation to their own effects; “reverse-order conditionality” is the cessation of the effects through the cessation of their respective causes.] For in seeing the dependency of the world, when one sees the continuation of the conditionally arisen phenomena owing to the continuation of their conditions, the annihilationist view, which might otherwise have arisen, does not occur. And in seeing the cessation of conditions, when one sees the cessation of the conditionally arisen phenomena owing to the cessation of their conditions, the eternalist view, which might otherwise have arisen, does not occur.

48.Spk explains dukkha here as “the mere five aggregates subject to clinging” (pañc’upādānakkhandhamattam eva). Thus what the noble disciple sees, when he reflects upon his personal existence, is not a self or a substantially existent person but a mere assemblage of conditioned phenomena arising and passing away through the conditioning process of dependent origination.

49.I interpret what one intends (ceteti) and what one plans (pakappeti) here as representing volitional formations (saṅkhārā), the second factor in the formula of dependent origination. Whatever one has a tendency toward (anuseti) implies the underlying tendencies (anusaya), primarily the tendencies toward ignorance and craving, hence the first and eighth factors in the formula. When one passes away with the tendencies toward ignorance and craving still intact, one’s intentions and plans—the concrete manifestations of craving in the form of volitional activities—become the basis for consciousness to continue on, become established in a fresh “name-and-form,” and initiate the production of a new existence. This is the event of birth, followed by aging, death, and the other types of suffering between birth and death.

50.Although it is not possible to have the underlying tendencies without intentions and plans, this passage might be seen to have the rhetorical purpose of emphasizing the role of the underlying tendencies in sustaining the process of rebirth. But according to Spk, the passage is intended to show that for an insight meditator who has overcome unwholesome thoughts, the danger of rebirth still exists as long as the underlying tendencies remain intact.

51.This paragraph shows the arahant.

52.Tathāni avitathāni anaññathāni. See pp. 449–50, note 43. Spk: “Actual in the sense of not departing from the real nature of things; for suffering is stated to be just suffering. Unerring, because of not falsifying its real nature; for suffering does not become nonsuffering. Invariable, because of not arriving at a different nature; for suffering does not arrive at the nature of the origin (of suffering), etc. The same method for the other truths.” I understand anaññatha in the simpler and more straightforward sense that the truths are “invariable” because they never vary from the way things really are.

53.Bhavanetti. That which leads to new existence, i.e., craving for existence.

54.All these leaves are small and delicate. The leaves mentioned in the counterpart passage below are broad and sturdy.

55.Spk identifies him as Sāriputta’s nephew.

56.Nippapañcaṃ. Spk: Because it is not proliferated (elaborated) by craving, conceit, and views.

57.The negation of the physical elements can be taken to deny, not only the presence of matter in Nibbāna, but also the identification of Nibbāna with the experiences of the jhānas, which still pertain to the realm of form. The following four items negate the objects of the four formless meditative attainments in Nibbāna.

58.In Pāli, diṭṭha, “seen,” is here clearly intended as an antithesis to diṭṭhi, “view.”

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