#Linked Discourses 12

The Buddha defines the four kinds of “food” or “nutriment”, which include edible food, contact, intention, and consciousness, showing how they lead to suffering according to dependent origination. At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, there are these four fuels. They maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those that are about to be born. What four? Solid food, whether coarse or fine; contact is the second, mental intention the third, and consciousness the fourth. [Read More]

The Buddha defines the four kinds of “food” or “nutriment”, which include edible food, contact, intention, and consciousness. He illustrates them with a series of powerful and horrifying similes.At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, there are these four fuels. They maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those that are about to be born. What four? Solid food, whether coarse or fine; contact is the second, mental intention the third, and consciousness the fourth. [Read More]

An ignorant person might become free of attachment to their body, but not their mind. Still, it would be better to attach to the body, as it is less changeable than the mind. But a noble disciple reflects on dependent origination.At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, when it comes to this body made up of the four primary elements, an uneducated ordinary person might become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed. Why is that? This body made up of the four primary elements is seen to accumulate and disperse, to be taken up and laid to rest. [Read More]

An ignorant person might become free of attachment to their body, but not their mind. Still, it would be better to attach to the body, as it is less changeable than the mind, which jumps about like a monkey.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. … “Mendicants, when it comes to this body made up of the four primary elements, an uneducated ordinary person might become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed. [Read More]

When Ānanda suggests that dependent origination is simple, the Buddha rebukes him. The opening of this is similar to DN 14 Mahānidāna.At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Kurus, near the Kuru town named Kammāsadamma. Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to the Buddha: “It’s incredible, sir! It’s amazing, in that this dependent origination is deep and appears deep, yet to me it seems as plain as can be. [Read More]

Consciousness is reborn when you linger on pleasing things that stimulate fetters, illustrated with the simile of a tree.At Sāvatthī. “There are things that are prone to being fettered. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, consciousness is conceived. Consciousness is a condition for name and form. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. Suppose there was a great tree. And its roots going downwards and across all draw the sap upwards. [Read More]

The mental and physical organism is reborn when you linger on pleasing things that stimulate fetters, illustrated with the simile of a tree.At Sāvatthī. “There are things that are prone to being fettered. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, name and form are conceived. Name and form are conditions for the six sense fields. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. Suppose there was a great tree. [Read More]

Craving increases when you linger on pleasing things that stimulate fetters, illustrated with the simile of a sapling.At Sāvatthī. “There are things that are prone to being fettered. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, your craving grows. Craving is a condition for grasping. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. Suppose there was a sapling. And from time to time someone would clear around the roots, supply soil, and water it. [Read More]

Craving increases when you linger on pleasing things that stimulate grasping, illustrated with the simile of a tree.At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, suppose there was a great tree. And its roots going downwards and across all draw the sap upwards. Fueled and sustained by that, the great tree would stand for a long time. In the same way, there are things that are prone to being grasped. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, your craving grows. [Read More]

Craving increases when you linger on pleasing things that stimulate grasping, illustrated with the simile of a tree.At Sāvatthī. “There are things that are prone to being grasped. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, your craving grows. Craving is a condition for grasping. Grasping is a condition for continued existence. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates. Suppose there was a great tree. And its roots going downwards and across all draw the sap upwards. [Read More]