Saṃyukta Āgama (372) – Part 2

(2) Original text: Pukkusa asked again: "Venerable sir, for whom is there craving?" The Buddha told Pukkusa: "I do not say there is one who craves. If I were to say there is one who craves, you should ask, 'For whom is there craving?' You should ask, 'Conditioned by what is there craving?' I should answer thus: 'Conditioned by feeling there is craving. Craving conditions clinging.'" Pukkusa asked again: "Venerable sir, for whom is there clinging?" The Buddha told Pukkusa: "I do not say there is one who clings. If I were to say there is one who clings, you should ask, 'For whom is there clinging?' You should ask, 'Conditioned by what is there clinging?' I should answer thus: 'Conditioned by craving there is clinging. Clinging conditions becoming.'"

Explanation: Pukkusa asked again: "Venerable sir, who has craving?" The Buddha told Pukkusa: "I did not say there is a craver. If I had said there is a craver, you should have asked, 'Who craves?' You should ask, 'What condition gives rise to craving?' I should answer thus: 'Because there is feeling, craving arises. Conditioned by craving, the act of clinging arises.'" Pukkusa asked again: "Venerable sir, who clings?" The Buddha told Pukkusa: "I did not say there is a clinger. If I had said there is a clinger, you should have asked, 'Who clings?' You should ask, 'What condition causes clinging to arise?' I should answer thus: 'It is because of craving that clinging arises. Conditioned by clinging, the becoming in the three realms arises.'"

Original text: Pukkusa asked again: "Venerable sir, for whom is there becoming?" The Buddha told Pukkusa: "I do not say there is one who has becoming. If I were to say there is one who has becoming, you should ask, 'For whom is there becoming?' You should now ask, 'Conditioned by what is there becoming?' I should answer thus: 'Conditioned by clinging there is becoming, which brings about future becoming. The arising of contact is called becoming. There are the six sense bases. The six sense bases condition contact. Contact conditions feeling. Feeling conditions craving. Craving conditions clinging. Clinging conditions becoming. Becoming conditions birth. Birth conditions aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair. Thus arises this whole mass of suffering. With the cessation of the six sense bases comes cessation of contact. With cessation of contact comes cessation of feeling. With cessation of feeling comes cessation of craving. With cessation of craving comes cessation of clinging. With cessation of clinging comes cessation of becoming. With cessation of becoming comes cessation of birth. With cessation of birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair cease. Thus ceases this whole mass of suffering.'" After the Buddha spoke this sutra, the bhikkhus, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and undertook it respectfully.

Explanation: Pukkusa asked again: "Venerable sir, who has becoming?" The Buddha told Pukkusa: "I did not say there is a possessor of becoming. If I had said there is a possessor of becoming, you should have asked, 'Who has becoming?' You should now ask thus: 'What condition causes the appearance of becoming in the three realms?' I should answer thus: 'Because there is the mental formation of clinging, becoming in the three realms arises. Clinging brings about future becoming.' When contact arises, it is called becoming. Because there are the six sense bases, contact arises. The condition of the six sense bases causes contact to arise. Contact conditions feeling. Conditioned by feeling there is craving. Conditioned by craving there is clinging. Conditioned by clinging, becoming arises. Conditioned by becoming, birth arises. With birth comes aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair. Thus the whole mass of suffering arises. If the six sense bases cease, contact ceases. With the cessation of contact, feeling ceases. With the cessation of feeling, craving ceases. With the cessation of craving, clinging ceases. With the cessation of clinging, becoming ceases. With the cessation of becoming, birth ceases. With the cessation of birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, despair, and the whole mass of suffering cease.

In the law of twelve links of dependent origination, there is no eater of consciousness, no one who contacts, no one who feels, no one who craves, no one who clings, no one who has becoming, no one who is born, no one who ages and dies. Because all these phenomena are dependently arisen. Dependently arisen phenomena have no master; they are not a self. Then who takes consciousness as food? Who can contact, feel, crave, cling, have becoming, be born, age, and die? There is no agent. All this is merely an illusion as transient as floating clouds, passing without lingering, constantly migrating and transforming, arising and ceasing, changing, ungraspable. When the time and circumstances change, there is no longer contact. Even if there is contact, it is not the same feeling as before, let alone craving, and there is no clinging anymore. Yet, future becoming is still inevitable because there will be different contact, different feeling, craving, and clinging. This is transformation.

If there were a master, these phenomena would not transform. There would be constant contact, constant feeling, constant craving, constant clinging, constant becoming, no birth, aging, or death. Without a master, phenomena must be subject to arising, ceasing, transformation, and impermanence; they cannot be constant. There must be no eater of consciousness, no one who contacts, feels, craves, clings, has becoming, is born, or ages and dies.