Samyukta Agama (297), Part 1

(I) Original text: Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the cowherd settlement of Kuru. Then the Blessed One addressed the monks: "I shall preach the Dhamma to you—excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, excellent in the end, meaningful and well-phrased, utterly pure and flawless, revealing the holy life in its perfection. It is called The Sutra of the Great Emptiness. Listen attentively and consider carefully; I shall explain it. What is The Sutra of the Great Emptiness? It is this: When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. That is to say: conditioned by ignorance are formations; conditioned by formations is consciousness; ... up to the arising of this whole mass of suffering.

Explanation: The Blessed One told the monks: "I shall preach the Dhamma to you. My teaching is excellent at the beginning, excellent in the middle, and excellent at the end. Not only is its meaning excellent, but its flavor is also excellent. It is pure, flawless, perfectly revealing the holy life, utterly unstained. This Dhamma is called The Sutra of the Great Emptiness. Listen attentively and consider carefully; I shall now explain it to you. What is The Sutra of the Great Emptiness? It means that because this exists, that comes to be; because this arises, that arises. That is to say: conditioned by ignorance, formations arise; conditioned by formations, consciousness arises; conditioned by consciousness, name-and-form arises; conditioned by name-and-form, the six sense bases arise; conditioned by the six sense bases, contact arises; conditioned by contact, feeling arises; conditioned by feeling, craving arises; conditioned by craving, clinging arises; conditioned by clinging, becoming arises; conditioned by becoming, birth arises; conditioned by birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair arise—up to the arising of this whole mass of suffering."

Original text: Conditioned by birth is aging-and-death. If someone asks, 'Who is it that grows old and dies? To whom does aging-and-death belong?' One should answer: 'I am the one who grows old and dies. Now aging-and-death belongs to me. Aging-and-death is mine.' Some say that life is identical with the body; others say that life is different from the body. These amount to the same meaning but are expressed in various ways. If one holds the view that life is identical with the body, this is not held by those leading the holy life. If one holds the view that life is different from the body, this is not held by those leading the holy life. Regarding these two extremes, the mind does not incline to either. One turns directly toward the Middle Way, the noble path that has arisen in the world, possessing right view that is true and free from inversion—that is, conditioned by birth is aging-and-death. Similarly, conditioned by becoming is birth; conditioned by clinging is becoming; conditioned by craving is clinging; conditioned by feeling is craving; conditioned by contact is feeling; conditioned by the six sense bases is contact; conditioned by name-and-form are the six sense bases; conditioned by consciousness is name-and-form; conditioned by formations is consciousness; conditioned by ignorance are formations.

Explanation: Regarding the matter of aging-and-death being conditioned by birth, if someone asks who has aging-and-death or to whom aging-and-death belongs, you should answer: "I am the one who has aging-and-death. Now aging-and-death belongs to me. Aging-and-death is mine." If some say that life is identical with the body, or that when life changes the body changes, these statements express the same essential meaning but in different ways. If one believes that life is identical with the body, then those practicing the holy life would ultimately have no life. If one believes that life is different from the body and changes, then those practicing the holy life would ultimately have no changing life.

Monks, regarding the two extremes of asserting either the identity or the separateness of life and body, do not let your minds follow them. Direct your minds solely toward the Middle Way of Nirvana. After noble sages arise in the world, they possess right view regarding life that accords with reality and is free from inversion. They explain the twelve links of dependent origination without distortion: namely, conditioned by birth comes aging-and-death; conditioned by becoming comes birth; conditioned by clinging comes becoming; conditioned by craving comes clinging; conditioned by feeling comes craving; conditioned by contact comes feeling; conditioned by the six sense bases comes contact; due to name-and-form come the six sense bases; conditioned by consciousness comes name-and-form; conditioned by formations comes consciousness; conditioned by ignorance come formations.