4.
The Discourse on the World
44.
He was dwelling at Sāvatthī, etc.
"I will teach you, monks, the origin and passing away of the world.
Listen to that and attend closely,
I will speak."
"Yes, venerable sir," those monks assented to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said this:
"And what, monks, is the origin of the world? Dependent on the eye and visible forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, existence; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish come to be. This, monks, is the origin of the world.
"Dependent on the ear and sounds, etc. dependent on the nose and odours... dependent on the tongue and flavours... dependent on the body and tangibles... dependent on the mind and mental phenomena, mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling, etc. with birth as condition, ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish come to be. This, monks, is the origin of the world.
"And what, monks, is the passing away of the world? Dependent on the eye and visible forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving. From the complete fading away and cessation of that very craving comes the cessation of clinging; from the cessation of clinging comes the cessation of existence, etc. Thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is the passing away of the world.
"Dependent on the ear and sounds, etc. dependent on the nose and odours... dependent on the tongue and flavours... dependent on the body and tangibles... dependent on the mind and mental phenomena, mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving. From the complete fading away and cessation of that very craving comes the cessation of clinging; from the cessation of clinging comes the cessation of existence, etc. Thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is the passing away of the world." The fourth.