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Edited: Sunday, March 26, 2023 2:31 PM

Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṃyutta
III. Dasabalā Vagga

Sutta 27

Paccaya Suttaṃ

Results

Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds

 


 

[1][pts][bodh] I Hear Tell:

Once upon a time the Lucky Man Sāvatthī-town revisiting.

There then, The Lucky Man addressed the bhikkhus:

"Beggars!"

"Bhante!" the beggars responded
and The Lucky Man said:

"The result of blindness, beggars,
is own-making;
the result of own-making,
consciousness;
the result of consciousness,
named-forms;
the result of named-forms,
six sense-spheres;
the result of six sense-spheres,
contact;
the result of contact,
sense-experience;
the result of sense-experience,
thirst;
the result of thirst,
supports;
the result of supports,
existing;
the result of existing,
birth;
the result of birth,
old-age and death,
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair.

Thus the arising
of this whole piled-up heap of pain.

 

§

 

And what, beggars, is aging and death?

Whatsoever in this or that being
in this or that set body of beings
is aging,
being old,
breaking down,
graying,
wrinkling of skin,
diminishing vitality,
the over-cooking of the forces,
this is what is called 'aging'.

We say: 'Giving up the ghost.
Kicking the bucket
That's all she wrote,
Meeting your maker,
Game Over.'
US/Mexican subculture: "Have a nice day."

p.p. explains it all — p.p.

Whatsoever in this or that being
in this or that set body of beings
is termination,
passing away,
breaking off,
losing hold,
Death's bringing of death,
having served one's time,
the breaking up of the piled-up heap,
giving up the corpse,
the cutting off of the life forces,
this is what is called 'death'.

It is this aging
and this death
that is what is called 'aging and death.'

Birth arising,
aging and death arises
birth ending,
aging and death ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of aging and death.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is birth?[1]

Whatsoever in this or that being
in this or that set body of beings is
birth,
own-birth,
occurrence,
rolling-on in,
rolling-on in upon,
taking up
existence in the piled-up heap,
the regaining of the spheres.

This is what is called 'birth.'

Existence arising,
birth arises;
existence ending,
birth ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of birth.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is existence?

Three, beggars, are the existences:

Sense-pleasure-existence,
formed-existence,
formless-existence.[2]

This is what is called 'existence.'

Support arising,
existence arises;
support ending,
existence ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of existence.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is support?[3]

Four, beggars, are the supports:

Sense-pleasure-support,
view-support,
ethical practices-support,
self-experience-support.

This is what is called 'support.'

Thirst arising,
support arises;
thirst ending,
support ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of support.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is thirst?[4]

Six, beggars, are the thirsts:

Visual objects-thirsts,
sounds-thirsts,
scents-thirsts,
savours-thirsts,
touches-thirsts,
things-thirsts.[5]

This is what is called 'thirst.'

Sense-experience arising,
thirst arises;
sense-experience ending,
thirst ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of thirst.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is sense-experience?

Six, beggars, embody sense-experience:

Own-eye-contact sense-experience,
own-ear-contact sense-experience,
own-nose-contact sense-experience,
own-tongue-contact sense-experience,
own-body-contact sense-experience,
own-mind-contact sense-experience.

This is what is called 'sense-experience.'

Contact arising,
sense-experience arises;
contact ending,
sense-experience ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of sense-experience.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is contact?

Six, beggars, are the contacts:

Own-eye-contact,
own-ear-contact,
own-nose-contact,
own-tongue-contact,
own-body-contact,
own-mind-contact.

This is what is called 'contact.'

The six sense-spheres arising,
contact arises;
the six sense-spheres ending,
contact ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of contact.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, are 'the six sense-spheres'?

The sphere of the eye,
the sphere of the ear,
the sphere of the nose,
the sphere of the tongue,
the sphere of the body,
the sphere of the mind.

This is what is called 'the six sense-spheres.'

Named-forms arising,
the six sense-spheres appear;
named-forms ending,
the six sense-spheres end.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of the six sense-spheres.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is 'named-form'?[6]

Sense-experience,
perception,
intent
contact
work of mind
these are what is called 'name.'

The Four Great Elements
and the forms supported by the Four Great Elements,
this is what is called 'form'.

It is this 'name',
and this 'form,' beggars,
that is called 'named-form'.

Consciousness arising,
named-forms appear;
consciousness ending,
named-forms end.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of named-forms.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is 'consciousness'?

Eye-consciousness,
ear-consciousness,
nose-consciousness,
tongue-consciousness,
body-consciousness,
mind-consciousness.

This is what is called 'consciousness'.

Own-making arising,
consciousness arises;
own-making ending,
consciousness ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of consciousness.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

And what, beggars, is 'own-making'?[7]

Three, beggars, are own-makings:

Bodily-own-making,
speech-own-making,
heart-own-making.

This is what is called 'own-making'.

Blindness arising, own-making arises;
blindness ending, own-making ends.

And it is this Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional Way
that is the path to walk
to go to the ending of own-making.

That is to say:

High View,
high principles,
high talk,
high works,
high lifestyle,
high self-control,
high mind,
high serenity.

Then, beggars, when the student of the Aristocrats
thus understands results,
thus understands the arising of results,
thus understands the ending of results,
thus understands the path to walk to go to the ending of results,
such a student of the Aristocrats is called a view-winner,
a getter of the true Dhamma,
a shaman who has got knowledge,
a shaman who has got vision,
an attainer of the Dhamma-ear,[8]
an aristocrat of penetrating wisdom
who stands knocking at the door of the Deathless."[9]

 


[1] Jāti. Birth, re-birth. The identical definition is found in the Satipaṭṭhana Suttanta. A little more clarity is provided by the Māha Nidana Suttaṃ where the wording is: If there were no being born at all of any sort, by any being of any sort, whatever, however; that is: of gods to godhood, spirits to spirithood, daemons to daemonhood, beings to beinghood, man to manhood, quadrupeds to quadrupedhood, of birds to birdhood, snakes to snakehood — if there were no being born by any being of thus and such a sort at all — with the non-existence of all birth, with the eradication of birth, could there then be any discerning of aging and death?

[2] Bhava. Being, living, becoming, existing. The identical definition is found in the Satipaṭṭhana Suttanta. A little more clarity is provided by the Māha Nidana Suttaṃ where the wording is: If there were no existence at all of any sort, by any being of any sort, whatever, however; that is: sensate existence, existence in forms, existence without form — with the non-existence of all existence, with the eradication of existence, could there then be any discerning of birth?

[3] Upādāna. Up-hold, up-bind. Bhk. Thanissaro: 'fuel;' Bhk Bodhi: 'clinging'; Mrs. Rhys Davids: 'grasping'. The idea is that upon experience of a sensation and the arising of desire to re-experience that sensation, these things provide excuses or reasons or bases ... supports ... plans ... intentions ... for rationalizing the taking up of existence. They uphold existence. 'Support ending, existence ends' is what is indicated when through taking up a device like investigation of the foulness of the body, or finding no basis for ambition in any aspect of the world, one finds existence repulsive and finding it repulsive one lets it go. Existence no longer has the illusion of pleasure or beauty or reasons for ambition as support and without that support there is no taking the action that is required to enter existence.

[4] Taṇhā. Thirst, hunger, desire to experience through the senses.

[5] Dhamma-taṇhā. Lower-case 'd'. Things. In this case mental objects. But 'things' rather than 'The Dhamma' or just 'Ideas' because the objects of the mind where, as here, limited to mind as it relates to existence, are the forms of consciousness arising from the contact of the other senses with their objects as well as thoughts, ideas, consciousness itself, and consciousness of the formless spheres.

[6] Nāma-rūpa. Name-form or shape. Phe-nomena. A close approximation of what we understand to be perception. The identification of a 'thing' by its 'name'. The two are co-terminus, cannot exist one without the other. All existing things consist of name/form + consciousness and the combined three are called 'contact'. In the Māha Nidana Suttaṃ the Buddha describes how it is contact of consciousness with named form that constitutes existence. It is the separation of consciousness from named-form-consciousness (or consciousness through the senses) that stops the progression of the chain of interdependent factors bringing pain to an end, that is, Nibbāna.

[7] Saṅkhāra. Identification with the intent to create personal experience through acts of body, speech and mind and the identified-with result. A near synonym of kamma, but with emphasis on the process of personalization. Mrs. Rhys Davids 'activities' conveys only half the meaning; Bhk. Bodhi's 'volitional formations' conveys only the other half. Volitional activities and their resultant identified-with formations.

[8] Dhamma-sota. I say 'Dhamma-ear'. PED and most translators say "Dhamma-stream" or "Stream of the". Sotāpatti is almost always translated 'Streamwinner', including by me, but I believe the earlier version was 'Dhamma-ear' and 'stream' was used primarily to symbolize the pull (āpo) of worldly life.

[9] Mrs. Rhys Davids translation.

 


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