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#### Saṁyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṁyutta
2. Āhāra Vagga

#### Sutta 11

#### Āhāra Suttaṁ

# Food

Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds

[1][pts][than][bodh] I HEAR TELL:

Once upon a time, The Lucky man,
Sāvatthi-town revisiting,
Jeta Grove,
Anathapiṇḍika's Sporting Grounds.

There then The Lucky Man addressed the beggars, saying:

"Beggars!"

And the beggars responding
"Bhante!"
The Lucky Man said this to them:

"Four, Beggars, are the foods
of established living things,
or for the assistance
of beings seeking existence.

What four?

Made-edible food,[1]
substantial or subtle;[2]
contact is the second;
intentions[3] the third;
consciousness the fourth.

These then, beggars, are the four foods
of established living things,
or for the assistance
of beings seeking existence."

And of these four foods, beggars,
by what is their anchor?[4]

What is their arising?[5]

What is their birth?

What is their source?

Of these four foods,
thirst is their anchor,
thirst is their arising,
thirst is their birth
thirst is their source.

And of thirst, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of thirst,
sensation is its anchor,
sensation is its arising,
sensation is its birth,
sensation is its source.

And of sensation, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of sensation,
touch[6] is its anchor,
touch is its arising,
touch is its birth,
touch is its source.

And of touch, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of touch,
the six-realms is its anchor,
the six-realms is its arising,
the six-realms is its birth,
the six-realms is its source.

And of touch, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of touch,
the six-realms[7] is its anchor,
the six-realms is its arising,
the six-realms is its birth,
the six-realms is its source.

And of the six-realms, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of the six-realms,
named form[8] is its anchor,
named form is its arising,
named form is its birth,
named form is its source.

And of named form, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of named form,
consciousness is its anchor,
consciousness is its arising,
consciousness is its birth,
consciousness is its source.

And of consciousness, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of consciousness,
own-making[9] is its anchor,
own-making is its arising,
own-making is its birth,
own-making is its source.

And this own-making, beggars, what is its arising?

What is its birth?

What is its source?

Of own-making,
blindness[10] is its anchor,
blindness is its arising,
blindness is its birth,
blindness is its source.

So, beggars,
rebounding off blindness,
own-making
rebounding off own-making,
consciousness
rebounding off consciousness,
named-form
rebounding off named-form,
the six-realms
rebounding off the six-realms,
touch
rebounding off touch,
sensation
rebounding off sensation,
thirst
rebounding off thirst,
bind-ups
rebounding off bind-ups,
existence
rebounding off existence,
birth
rebounding off birth,
aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair
become one's own.

Even thus
is the self-arising
of this pile of pain
made to be.

But with passionless ending of blindness,
the ending of own-making
ending own-making,
ends consciousness
ending consciousness,
ends named-form
ending named-form,
ends the six-realms
ending the six-realms,
ends touch
ending touch,
ends sensation
ending sensation,
ends thirst
ending thirst,
ends bind-ups
ending bind-ups,
ends existence
ending existence,
ends birth
ending birth,
ends aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair
becoming one's own.

Even thus
is the ending
of this pile of pain
made to be.

[1] Kabalinkāro āhāro Usually found translated as "material"; kabala: stuff-offerable, kāro: made. Made-edible generally because it has had the life taken out of it.

[2] oḷāriko vā sukhumo vā. Substantial or subtle because this must fit the edible food requirements of all sorts of living things, from humans who eat gross material foods, to plants which eat fine material foods, to the gods that are sustained on such things as aromas or thoughts.

[3] mano-sañcetanā. Mind one with heart. Thought in alignment with the will to do. Having the heart for what is in mind.

[4] Nidāna. Down-tie. To what is it tied?

[5] Samudayā. Arising or self-arising = arising to self, arising as self.

[6] Phassa. Touch = contact.

[7] Saḷāyatana. The realm of the senses. Eye and sight; ear and sounds; nose and scents; tongue and tastes; body and touch; mind and mental objects.

[8] Nāma-rūpa. Named forms. Things and their identities.

[9] Saṅkhārā. Saṇ = own; khārā = making. Identificatio with the intent to create personal experiences for the self by way of thoughts, words, or deeds and the resulting identified-with thing.

[10] Avijjā. Non-vision. Specifically not seeing how own-making always ends in pain. Not seeing this formula. Not seeing the Aristocratic Multi-dimensional High Way.

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