Thus have I heard—At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in Sāvatthi, in Jeta‘s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s park. There, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus.”
“Venerable sir,” those bhikkhus responded to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said:
“I will teach you the |dependent co-arising::arising together from a cause, chain of causation, dependent origination [paṭiccasamuppāda]|. Listen well and pay close attention, I will speak.”
“Yes, venerable sir,” those bhikkhus responded to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said:
“And what, bhikkhus, is dependent co-arising? |Dependent on::contingent on, supported by, grounded on [paṭicca]| |ignorance::fundamental unawareness or misunderstanding of the true nature of reality, not experientially understanding the four noble truths [avijjā]|, bhikkhus, |volitional formations::intentions, choices, decisions, karmic activity [saṅkhāra]| [arise]; dependent on volitional formations, |consciousness::quality of awareness — subjective awareness of experiences and the knowing of objects through the six sense doors [sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mind] [viññāṇa]| arises; dependent on consciousness, |name and form::combination of mental processes [intending, attention, contact, sensation, and perceiving] and physical form that constitute an individual being, the mental and physical objects of consciousness [nāmarūpa]| arise; dependent on name and form, the |six sense bases::the six internal sense faculties - eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind - that enable sensory experience [saḷāyatana]| arise; dependent on the six sense bases, |contact::sense impingement, raw experience, touch [phassa]| arises; dependent on contact, |felt experience::pleasant, neutral or painful sensation, feeling, second of the five aggregates [vedanā]| arises; dependent on felt experience, |craving::wanting, yearning, longing, attachment, lit. thirst [taṇha]| arises; dependent on craving, |clinging::grasping, acquiring, appropriating, taking possession, identifying [upādāna]| arises; dependent on clinging, |existence::being, becoming [bhava]| arises; dependent on existence, |birth::rebirth, conception, coming into existence [jāti]| arises; dependent on birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair arise. Thus is the arising of this whole mass of suffering. This is called, bhikkhus, dependent co-arising.
With the |complete fading away and ending::remainderless dispassion and cessation [asesavirāganirodha]| of ignorance comes ending of volitional formations; with the ending of volitional formations, ending of consciousness; with the ending of consciousness, ending of name and form; with the ending of name and form, ending of the six sense bases; with the ending of the six sense bases, ending of contact; with the ending of contact, ending of sensation; with the ending of sensation, ending of craving; with the ending of craving, ending of clinging; with the ending of clinging, ending of existence; with the ending of existence, ending of birth; with the ending of birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair cease. Thus is the ending of this whole mass of suffering.”
The Blessed One said this. The bhikkhus were satisfied and rejoiced in the Blessed One’s words.