Thus have I heard—At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in Sāvatthi, at Jeta‘s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus.”
“Venerable sir,” those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
“There are these four kind of |nourishment::sustenance, nutriment, fuel [āhāra]|, bhikkhus, for the |endurance::continuity, longevity [ṭhitiyā]| of beings that are existing and for the support of those seeking birth. What four? Edible food, whether coarse or fine; second, |contact::sense impingement, raw experience, touch [phassa]|; third, |mental volition::intention, choice, decision, karmic activity [cetanā]|; and fourth, |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]|. These are the four kind of nourishment for the endurance of beings that are existing and for the support of those seeking birth.
These four kind of nourishment, bhikkhus, have what as their |source::foundation, cause [nidāna]|, what as their |arising::appearance, origination [samudaya]|, what as their |characteristic::nature, quality, type [jātika]|, and from what do they |come into being::generated by [pabhava]|? These four kind of nourishment have |craving::wanting, yearning, longing, attachment, lit. thirst [taṇha]| as their source, craving as their arising, craving as their characteristic, and they come into being from craving.
And this craving, bhikkhus, has what as its source, what as its arising, what as its characteristic, and from what does it come into being? This craving has |felt experience::pleasant, neutral or painful sensation, feeling, second of the five aggregates [vedanā]| as its source, sensation as its arising, sensation as its characteristic, and it comes into being from sensation.
And this felt experience, bhikkhus, has what as its source, what as its arising, what as its characteristic, and from what does it come into being? This felt experience has |contact::sense impingement, raw experience, touch [phassa]| as its source, contact as its arising, contact as its characteristic, and it comes into being from contact.
And this contact, bhikkhus has what as its source, what as its arising, what as its characteristic, and from what does it come into being? This contact has the |six sense bases::the six internal sense faculties - eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind - that enable sensory experience [saḷāyatana]| as its source, the six sense bases as its arising, the six sense bases as its characteristic, and it comes into being from the six sense bases.
And these six sense bases, bhikkhus, have what as their source, what as their arising, what as their characteristic, and from what do they come into being? These six sense bases have |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]| as their source, name and form as their arising, name and form as their characteristic, and they come into being from name and form.
And this name and form, bhikkhus, has what as its source, what as its arising, what as its characteristic, and from what does it come into being? This name and form has |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]| as its source, consciousness as its arising, consciousness as its characteristic, and it comes into being from consciousness.
And this consciousness, bhikkhus, has what as its source, what as its arising, what as its characteristic, and from what does it come into being? This consciousness has |volitional formations::intentions, choices, decisions, karmic activity [saṅkhāra]| as its source, volitional formations as its arising, volitional formations as its characteristic, and it comes into being from volitional formations.
And these volitional formations, bhikkhus, have what as their source, what as their arising, what as their characteristic, and from what do they come into being? These volitional formations have |ignorance::fundamental unawareness or misunderstanding of the true nature of reality, not experientially understanding the four noble truths [avijjā]| as their source, ignorance as their arising, ignorance as their characteristic, and they come into being from ignorance.
And so, dependent on ignorance, bhikkhus, volitional formations [arise]; dependent on volitional formations, consciousness arises; dependent on consciousness, name and form arises; dependent on name and form, the six sense bases arise; dependent on the six sense bases, contact arises; dependent on contact, sensation arises; dependent on felt experience, craving arises; dependent on craving, clinging arises; dependent on clinging, existence arises; dependent on existence, birth arises; dependent on birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair arise. Thus is the arising of this whole mass of suffering.
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.”