Thus have I heard—At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling at 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, |intention::will [cetanā]|; and fourth, |consciousness::quality of awareness — distinctive knowing that arises in dependence on the meeting of eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and tangible object, mind and mind object [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 bases—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are the faculties that enable sensory contact and experience. They are not the physical organs themselves, but the functional conditions that enable consciousness to meet an object [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::mentality and materiality—the integrated structure of mental capacities (intention, attention, contact, feeling, perception) and physical form that together constitute and sustain an individual being [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 — distinctive knowing that arises in dependence on the meeting of eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and tangible object, mind and mind object [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 |intentional constructs::intentions, volitions, and choices expressed as mental, verbal, and bodily activities; thought formations and constructed experiences (including proliferative tendencies); processes that produce kamma [saṅkhāra]|as its source, intentional constructs as its arising, intentional constructs as its characteristic, and it comes into being from intentional constructs.
And these intentional constructs, bhikkhus, have what as their source, what as their arising, what as their characteristic, and from what do they come into being? These intentional constructs 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, intentional constructs [arise]; dependent on intentional constructs, 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, distress, 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 intentional constructs; with the ending of intentional constructs, 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 felt experience; with the ending of felt experience, 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, distress, and despair cease. Thus is the ending of this whole mass of suffering.”