And what, brethren, is old age-and death?

That which, of this and that being, in this and that group, is decay, decrepitude, breaking up, hoariness, wrinkling of the skin, shrinkage of a life-span, over-ripeness of faculties:this is called old age. That which , of this and that being from this or that group, is falling or decease, separation, disappearance, mortality or dying, accomplishment of time: separation of component factors, laying down of the carcass: this is called death. Thus it is this decay and this dying that is called old age-and-death.

And what, brethren, is birth?

That which, of this and that being in this and that group, is birth, continuous birth, descent, reproduction, appearance of component factors, acquiring of sense-spheres. This is called birth.

And what, brethren, is becoming?

Three are these becomings: becoming in kama (i.e., desire) [-worlds], becoming in rupa (i.e., form) [-worlds], becoming in arupa (i.e., formless) [-worlds]. This is called becoming.

And what, brethren, is grasping?

There are these four graspings: grasping of desires, grasping of opinion,grasping of rule and ritual, grasping of soul theory. This is called grasping.

And what, brethren, is craving?

There are these six groups of craving: craving for things seen, for things heard, for odors, for tastes, for things tangible, for ideas. This is called craving.

And what, brethren, is feeling?

There are these six groups of feeling:feeling that is born of eye-contact, feeling that is born of ear-contact, feeling that is born of nose-contact, feeling that is born of tongue-contact, feeling that is born of body-contact, feeling that is born of mind contact. This is called feeling.

And what, brethren, is contact?

There are these six groups of contact: eye-contact, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, mind-contact. This is called contact.

And what, brethren, is sixfold sense?

The sense of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. This is called sixfold sense.

And what, brethren, is name-and shape?
Feeling, perception, will, contact, work of mind. This is called name. The four great elements and the shape derived from them. This is called shape. This is the name, this is the shape called name-and-shape.

And what is consciousness?

There are six groups of consciousness:— eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, smell-, taste-, touch-, and mind-consciousness. This is called consciousness.

And what are activities?

These are the three activities: those of deed, speech, and mind. These are activities.

And what is ignorance?

Nescience concerning ill, its rise, its cessation and concerning the way going to the cessation of ill. This is called ignorance.

So thus,brethren:‘conditioned by ignorance activities, conditioned by activities consciousness,’ and so on to ‘despair’—such is the uprising of this entire mass of ill. But from the utter fading out and ceasing of ignorance ceasing of activities, from the ceasing of activities ceasing of consciousness, and so on to ‘despair’—such is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill. (Rhys Davids, tr. Kindred Sayings II 3-5)

“…ignorance. Where does it come from? What is its beginning? It cannot be classified as either conditioned or unconditioned but falls between the two… ignorance leads to karmic activity.

“Karmic activity is a conditioned dharma, and when it appears, consciousness, which makes distinctions about the manifestations of activity, arises. With the making of distinctions the trouble starts.

“Name and form are the trouble. Just mentioning them is asking for trouble, because you’re bound to say, ‘How are name and form troublesome? I don’t understand.’ Before I said anything, you did not have any problem of not understanding, but once I referred to name and form as trouble, the problem of your not understanding arose and with it the desire to know.

“This quest for knowledge results in the use of the six organs, the faculties through which you attempt to achieve understanding. You decide you want to know, and suddenly a visual consciousness appears as do the consciousnesses of the ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. You think you can gain understanding through the six organs without realizing that the more you ‘understand’ the more confused you become, and the more confused you are, the less you understand.

“Since you do not understand, you tend toward further involvement, which takes the form of contact. You constantly seek encounters, east, west, north, south, above, and below, like a fly madly bouncing off walls. All that results from this desperate attempt to understand is a lot of bruises from all the bumps.

“After the determination to understand sets in and the encounters occur, there is feeling. ‘Ow! It hurts!’ you exclaim when you are bumping into things, and ‘Boy do I feel good!’ when you are not. ‘If no one bothers me I’m fine, but I can’t stand criticism.’ This is where feeling lies. Don’t look for it anywhere else.

“Once there is feeling, love arises. With love comes hate. You like to get involved in pleasant situations, but you detest painful circumstances. Happiness and unhappiness come from love, and every day the trouble grows.

“Wishing to prolong your contact with the objects of love, you indulge in grasping. The reason you clutch at objects of love is that you wish to become one with them. You want them to be inseparable from you, and this grasping leads to becoming.

“Your attempt to have them for your own results in further births, which lead to old age and death. This is the Twelvefold Conditioned Arising.” (TD 31)

十二因緣