Saṃyukta Āgama (298) Part 1

(1) Original text: Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling at Kuruṣū, in the cowherd settlement. At that time, the Bhagavān addressed the bhikṣus: "I shall now explain the Dharma of dependent origination, both the literal teaching and the profound meaning. Listen attentively, reflect well, and I shall expound it for you. What is the literal teaching of the Dharma of dependent origination? It is: 'Because this exists, that exists; because this arises, that arises.' That is: conditioned by ignorance, formations arise; [conditioned by formations, consciousness arises;]... up to the arising of the entire mass of suffering. This is called the literal teaching of the Dharma of dependent origination."

Explanation: The Bhagavān addressed the bhikṣus, saying: "I shall now explain the Dharma of dependent origination, which has two aspects: the literal teaching and the profound meaning. Listen carefully and reflect well. I shall now explain to you what the literal teaching of the Dharma of dependent origination is. It is the principle that 'because this exists, that exists; because this arises, that arises.' This means conditioned by ignorance, formations arise; conditioned by formations, consciousness arises; and so on, up to conditioned by birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and the entire mass of suffering arise. This is the literal teaching of the Dharma of dependent origination."

Original text: What is the profound meaning? It is: 'Conditioned by ignorance, formations arise.' What then is ignorance? If one does not know the past, does not know the future, does not know the past and future; does not know the internal, does not know the external, does not know the internal and external; does not know actions, does not know results, does not know the law of actions and results; does not know the Buddha, does not know the Dharma, does not know the Saṅgha; does not know suffering, does not know the origin of suffering, does not know the cessation of suffering, does not know the path leading to the cessation of suffering; does not know causes, does not know phenomena arising from causes; does not know what is wholesome and unwholesome, does not know what is blameworthy and blameless, does not know what should be cultivated and what should not; what is inferior and superior, defiled and pure, discriminative or dependently originated—one does not know any of these. Regarding the six sense-spheres of contact, one does not truly comprehend them. One neither knows nor sees these things. There is uninterrupted ignorance, darkness, and great obscurity. This is called ignorance.

Explanation: What is the profound meaning of the Dharma of dependent origination? It is conditioned by ignorance that formations arise. What is ignorance? If sentient beings do not know there is a past life, do not know there is a future life, do not know past and future lives; do not know internal phenomena, do not know external phenomena, do not know internal and external phenomena; do not know karmic actions, do not know karmic results, do not know the law of karmic cause and effect; do not know the Buddha, do not know the Dharma, do not know the Saṅgha; do not know the suffering of the five aggregates, do not know the arising of the suffering of the five aggregates, do not know how to cease the suffering of the five aggregates, do not know the path to cease suffering; do not know the causes of phenomena, do not know phenomena arising from causes; do not know wholesome and unwholesome dharmas, do not know what is blameworthy and blameless, do not know habitual tendencies and non-habitual tendencies; what is inferior and superior, defiled or pure, discriminative or dependently originated—one does not know any of these. Regarding the six sense-spheres of contact, one cannot truly perceive them. One does not know or see these dharmas. Within the mind, there is uninterrupted foolishness, darkness, ignorance, and great obscurity—this is ignorance.