四諦論

I.4 Chapter on the Analysis of the Noble Truth of Suffering

The signs of teeth falling out are not uniform, and suffering likewise is not immutable. Why, then, is aging called the Noble Truth of Suffering?

Answer: Because it pervades the three realms and because all conditioned formations undergo change, it is called aging. This is the Noble Truth of Suffering. It is like the exhaustion of the lifespan. As stated in the sutra: All sentient beings must grow old; even devas with beautiful bodies must undergo change, becoming different from before, and none are exempt from aging. Subtle changes are difficult to discern fully, as with this body, and as when an earlier state of life differs from a later one. Because this is the change in the characteristics of conditioned things brought about by formations, it is called aging, just as an ox is none other than an ox. Conditioned things do not remain still but change, arising and ceasing from moment to moment. But why does aging occur?

Answer: All conditioned dharmas change in every single instant and truly have no place of rest; yet, depending upon one another, they continue in succession. Therefore, this is said to be the characteristic of aging. It is like a river swollen by rain, or like the flowing waters of a river: thought after thought, they never remain still, yet they appear continuous and unbroken. Thus people say, “The water of this river flows swiftly,” or, “This river is long.” Rain is likewise.

Furthermore, what lies between life and death is aging. Why is this so? When the five skandhas first arise, this is called birth. When the five skandhas finally disintegrate, this is called death. Between these two, the skandhas undergo change as illness, its countermeasures, birth, and death intermingle with one another. Therefore, illness is said to be suffering. Because of illness, this body is constantly afflicted. Why does this not accord with the verse stating that freedom from illness is the foremost gain?

Answer: When illnesses caused by heat or cold arise, there is suffering. Because the body is frequently subject to illness, yet is free from leprosy, discharges, and other grave diseases, one has the strength and opportunity to walk, stand, maintain proper deportment, recite, reflect, cultivate, and study. Therefore, with reference to this body, freedom from illness is said to be the foremost good.

Furthermore, because the suffering of formations is like a blazing fire, this body is said to be prone to illness; and because one has escaped suffering, freedom from illness is said to be rare. Moreover, because it constantly requires treatment, it is said to be continually ill. With regard to a disciplined body, freedom from illness is said to be best.

In the heavenly realms there is no illness, yet illness is said to be a condition inherent to all sentient beings. How should this statement be understood?

Answer: When the skandhas arise, suffering itself pervades the three realms; therefore, the heavenly realms also contain illness. As stated in the sutra, the arising of form is suffering. Illness depends upon arising, and the same is true of form and the other skandhas. The sutra also states: “Bhikshus, illness is merely a designation for the five skandhas,” extending to such afflictions as tumors and so forth. Another teaching states that when the signs of a deva’s decline appear, body and mind become coarse and impaired. This is called heavenly illness. The Treatise on the Right Path states: “Illness is the fruit of karma.” Is this suffering that is the fruit of karma not the Noble Truth of Suffering?

Answer: This karmic retribution is not separate from the fruit of craving. Therefore, to speak of karmic retribution is to speak of the fruit of craving. Craving itself is not separate from karma, just as a lamp is not separate from its flame. Karma, craving, and the view of self constitute the nature of consciousness associated with the fruit of suffering. Because the Truth of Suffering encompasses these without distinction, the Buddha said that suffering itself is illness. There is also a verse stating that hunger and thirst are the foremost illness. How, then, do these two teachings differ?

Answer: When illness is said to be suffering, both grave and minor illnesses are included. Hunger is likewise included; therefore, the two teachings differ in this respect. Furthermore, because it cannot be cured, hunger and thirst are said to be the foremost illness.

Why is this so? The suffering of hunger is difficult to cure, and treatment never brings it to a final end. It is unlike an illness caused by sunlight or a disease of the eyes.

Moreover, it never ceases; thus hunger is an illness that continues without respite from birth until death. Other illnesses are not like this. Hunger is an illness that must continually be treated, like applying plaster to a wall.

Though one may appear free from illness, hunger is like an enemy reviling one’s kin and filling every place. If sentient beings cease eating, they immediately suffer from hunger, as explained in the Chapter on the Hells. Thus the illness of hunger is foremost.

What, then, is called death?

Answer: The complete severance of the life faculty is called death, and it extends throughout all sentient beings. Just as there is fire capable of cooking food, so within the body there is always a venomous serpent; there is no difference between them. When this nature is completely extinguished, it is therefore called loss. The faculties, receiving no nourishment, are extinguished just as a fire goes out. The faculties are the principal conditions for the mind and mental dharmas. Because the faculties cease, the mental dharmas consequently disappear. When life and warmth remain but consciousness departs from the body, that moment is called death. A verse states:

Life, warmth, and consciousness,

When they have departed from the body,

It lies with eyes turned sideways upon the ground,

Like dry wood, devoid of awareness.

Furthermore, it is like the breaking apart of an assemblage: the continuity of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas is severed. This is called death. Death is also of two kinds: first, natural death; and second, untimely death. Natural death is likewise of two kinds: first, death because karma is exhausted; and second, death because the lifespan is exhausted. Untimely death is also of two kinds: first, untimely death caused by oneself; and second, untimely death caused by another.

Furthermore, death is of three kinds: first, death in each instant; second, untimely death; and third, death when its cause is exhausted. Death in each instant means that, from rebirth until the kalala stage, the eleven states have neither radiance nor breath and perish instant by instant. A verse states:

From the first night, sentient beings,

Through craving, arise within the womb;

Unhindered, they naturally proceed,

Once gone, they never return.

Furthermore, as stated in the sutra: “Bhikshus, in every instant there is birth, aging, and death.” This is called death occurring in each instant. Untimely death means being killed by poison, fire, knives, clubs, and so forth, whether inflicted by oneself or by another. Through these causes the life faculty is exhausted. This is called untimely death. Death when its cause is exhausted means that the karma producing longevity has been completely exhausted and no longer remains. This alone is true death. Only an arhat undergoes it like the extinguishing of a lamp. This is called death when its cause is exhausted. What is called the characteristic of death? What is the event of death, and what is called the condition for death?

Answer: The severance of the life faculty is called the characteristic of death. Departure from the proper course is called the event of death. Birth itself is a condition for death. Why is death called suffering?

Answer: It is suffering because it inspires fear. When a person approaches the end of life, death is like the destruction of something made of diamond, followed by birth in another place. One can no longer remain close to one’s dearly loved relatives but must leave them behind.

This body, which has sustained one, now disintegrates and collapses, and one must forever depart from this rare and precious state of birth; therefore, fear arises. Thus death is said to be suffering. Moreover, when the corpse is burned, the person has already passed through evil deeds, has not delighted in wholesome deeds, and, because at the end of life one has broken the precepts and sees that one will be reborn in an evil destiny, anxiety arises and body and mind are afflicted by grief, as explained in the Sutra on the Dharma of Death.

Therefore, death is suffering. Gestation is also suffering, and while an infant remains in its mother’s womb, it too endures immeasurable hardship. If the mother eats or drinks irregularly, or exerts herself in standing or walking, the infant is oppressed by suffering.

One must endure such hardship to preserve one’s life safely; but if death should come unexpectedly and take away the life faculty, the suffering is very great. Childbirth is likewise suffering. Although it is extremely arduous, life may still be preserved intact.

But if untimely death should occur, the lifespan is thereby brought to an end.

When one grows into youth and enjoys the six sense-objects without ever knowing contentment, lives together with relatives for only a short time, and, being young, seldom ill, and possessing wealth, one readily gives rise to intoxication, arrogance, and conceit. At that time, one gives no thought to the suffering of death. When youth has passed, one may then possess abundant wealth, grain, and all manner of necessities.

Yet one may be severely punished by the king and officials, or encounter distressing illness, and only then think, “Surely I am going to die.” Once the mind becomes certain of this, one chokes with grief and sheds tears, consumed and gradually scorched within; before one’s very eyes, none among one’s relatives and kin can remain with one. Death is about to arrive—what tragedy could compare with this suffering? The coming of death is like a great mountain looming before one.

Looking in all four directions, one still cannot prevent it. It is like a force that cannot be resisted; the throat becomes like the mouth of a horse, and searing heat consumes everything, as though at the end of a kalpa when there is no sun.

No sentient being can cross beyond it, just as one cannot reach the far shore of the Eastern Sea; it is like a thunderbolt striking the mountain of the five skandhas, like a great wind uprooting a tree, like Garuda devouring a dragon, like a spirit feeding upon a person and taking his life, like a great enemy and bandit who constantly plunders precious life, like a person guilty of a grave crime whose mind knows no peace, like a wicked king whose grave offense is difficult to pardon, or like something that inevitably occurs when spring arrives. This is precisely the meaning of the statement that death is suffering. There are death through heedlessness, death through violation of the precepts, and death through the conditions of birth. How do these three differ?

Answer: The loss of the life of wisdom is called the death of the heedless person. When pure morality is destroyed during one’s lifetime and lost, this is called a person’s death through violation of the precepts. When the span of life comes to an end, this is called death through the conditions of birth.

Furthermore, falling away from the true Dharma is called death through heedlessness; losing the nature of a bhikshu is called death through violation of the precepts; and falling away from the class to which one belongs is called death produced by conditions. There are also death with awareness and death without awareness, death with remorse and death without remorse, heedless death and non-heedless death, death with attachment and death without attachment, disciplined death and undisciplined death, and partially disciplined death.

What are the characteristics of these?

Answer: When an ordinary person who has practiced goodness, or a noble one or bodhisattva, gives rise to mindful awareness and relinquishes the faculty of life, this is called death with awareness. What differs from this is called death without awareness. The death of a person who has violated the precepts is called death with remorse.

When a person who observes the precepts dies, it is called death without fear. Because one is intoxicated by five things and fails respectfully to practice the rules and training precepts, this is called heedless death. What differs from this is called non-heedless death.

When one gives rise to affectionate attachment and clinging toward parents, spouse, and children and relinquishes one’s lifespan, this is called death with attachment. What differs from this is called death without attachment. Arhats constantly discipline the six faculties; therefore, when they relinquish their lifespan, this is called disciplined death.

When an ordinary person commits evil deeds and dies with a distracted mind, this is called undisciplined death. When a noble disciple who is still in training relinquishes his lifespan, this is called partially disciplined death. Since the five skandhas perish of themselves in every thought-moment, and their destruction brings harm, how can death itself be established?

Answer: All the skandhas cease in each and every thought-moment, yet continually flow onward in succession. It is based upon the ending of that continuity and the harm it entails that death is established, just as when the continuity of a lamp is cut off and its flame is extinguished. At the same time, the faculties can no longer perform any function, just like a broken vessel.

The collapse of the faculty of life is likewise. Others say: During the lifespan of this present life, it is not lost in any single instant. Why is this?

If thought changes moment by moment but the lifespan does not, then death would not occur at the time of dying, and the destruction that constitutes another death could not be established at all; nor could the three kinds of illness be established. Therefore, the faculty of life is not lost in each successive thought-moment. Why is meeting those whom one hates suffering?

Answer: Because hatred and affection are never fixed, and sense-objects constitute the place where enemies meet. Because gathering together gives rise to mutual anger, it is also the occasion for resentment to meet resentment, like a person confronted with the feeding of pigs. Others say that the Truth of Suffering cannot be established because it is indeterminate.

That is to say, whether one is an enemy or a relative and whether the sense-object is agreeable or disagreeable are indeterminate; and whether meeting one whom one hates produces suffering is also indeterminate. Just as an object is indeterminate, yet the arising of a wholesome deed is determinate, so too is an evil deed; and the suffering of meeting those whom one hates is likewise. Furthermore, because evil karma from a previous life is joined with its fruit and comes together with it, the suffering of meeting those whom one hates is thereby established, and this itself is suffering.

Moreover, the suffering of meeting those whom one hates is explained in terms of bondage to painful feeling and its supporting conditions. Why is this? Because all sentient beings delight in happiness and detest suffering.

The convergence with such feeling is called meeting those whom one hates. Furthermore, because associating with evil companions entails many faults, it is called the suffering of meeting those whom one hates, as stated in the following verses:

Living together with evil friends,

Without concord and never free from faults;

Great indeed is the merit

Of departing, for then there is no suffering.

Dwelling together with good friends—

For me, it is difficult to judge and discern;

Separation is truly suffering,

The price of having lived together.

Furthermore, a practitioner of pure morality clearly contemplates the loss and fear involved, while an evil person who violates the precepts, having experienced mutual hatred, gives rise to remorse and contemplates the arising of shame. For this practitioner, that hatred can wither away, for this is a wholesome dharma. The burning of the afflictions and resentment toward noble ones can, conversely, oppose the purified mind. Here, evil karmic dharmas, their fruits, and the afflictions correspond with one another; therefore, this is called meeting those whom one hates. What is the characteristic of meeting those whom one hates? What is its function? What are its conditions?

Answer: The gathering of what is not loved is its characteristic; distress of mind is its function; and karma and the afflictions are its conditions. Why is meeting those whom one hates suffering?

Answer: Its essence is oppression and torment. Like the nearness of evil, it serves as a causal condition for suffering. Just as the consciousness that sees a wolf causes fear throughout body and mind, and as poison harms the body, anger and delusion serve as its conditions.

Seeing the root of enmity is a cause of insecurity, as in the account of King Ashoka. Moreover, it is associated with many kinds of suffering and can bring harm upon one’s own body, as in the case of one who was an arhat in a former life. Association with what is not loved gives rise to many desires.

Seeking what is desired is the cause and condition for the three kinds of suffering, as the verse says: “The seeker undergoes suffering.” Furthermore, because of evil companions, great fear arises, like a deer seeing a hunter. It is as though a person were sitting or lying upon a precious bed covered with celestial garments, yet these burned red-hot and pierced the body like needles; body and mind would be agitated and give rise to great distress.

Therefore, it is called the suffering of meeting those whom one hates. If there is a kind of meeting with those whom one hates in which one encounters them and is never separated from them, what does this mean?

Answer: At a single time, the nature of the object continues together with the arising wisdom concerning all dharmas, and they constantly meet in an uninterrupted succession. Thus, the distinction involved in meeting those whom one hates lies in this meaning, though it is difficult to establish. Furthermore, painful feeling itself is what is hated, and this feeling is not separate from the mind. Does this meaning accord with the objection?

Answer: As stated in the sutras, just as “inclusion” has many meanings, “meeting” likewise has many meanings, as praised in the following verse:

One part fully includes the factors of mind;

The path employs things of a similar kind;

Supreme in its own nature—

The sutra calls this the inclusion of dharmas.

Just as inclusion has many such kinds, meeting also has many kinds, such as not being separate from a single object and the corresponding characteristic of attachment, and so forth. Therefore, this objection may be answered in either the affirmative or the negative. Why is separation from those whom one loves suffering?

Answer: This affection is delusion concerning sense objects, also called delusion concerning sentient beings. It is not the sentient being itself; separation from this is called separation from what one loves. Likewise, while one is still young and free from illness, with one’s life and physical appearance full and flourishing, possessing freedom and ease, one becomes separated from friends.

This is also called separation. Likewise, when the fruits of wholesome karma, included within the six sense bases, depart from one, this is called separation from what one loves. For example, when one departs from the heavenly realm and that happiness is shattered, it is called separation from what one loves.

Why is this? That very happiness is a feeling imbued with craving. Because of that craving, attachment again arises toward beauty and those objects.

Here, taking pleasurable feeling as a companion refers to perception, formations, and consciousness, toward which attachment also arises. Strictly speaking, it is solely the experiencing of pleasure; when that pleasure perishes, it is called separation from what one loves. What is the characteristic of separation from what one loves?

What is its function?

What is the condition for separation from what one loves?

Answer: Separation from what one loves is its characteristic; mental distress is its function; and encountering loss is its condition. Why is separation from what one loves said to be suffering?

Answer: Its cause is precisely that those who love one another must be separated. This is an inward affliction of sentient beings, just as trees in a forest are suddenly consumed by fire. As stated in the sutra: when devas fall from their realm, the suffering of separation from what they love causes them to descend into hell, as in the account of Maudgalyayana.

Furthermore, when sentient beings think about, hear of, see, or recollect separation from those they love, sorrow, lamentation, pain, and distress arise. This is called the suffering of separation from what one loves. Again, because parents, wives, children, and beloved relatives are causes of separation, when people lose them, they lose their proper state of mind, as though entranced and intoxicated by attachment.

They speak and weep in despair, like those who have just encountered the death of someone dear. They are oppressed by suffering as though they had lost a kingdom, becoming unconscious, unknowing, deluded, and deranged—plainly like a wrecked ship drifting anxiously upon the great sea. Therefore, such is the suffering of separation from what one loves.

The sudden arrival of old age is also association with what one hates, while the departure of youth also means separation from what one loves. Thus these are spoken of as association with what one hates and separation from what one loves.

Why is nothing further said?

Answer: The sudden arrival of old age and the departure of youth—these two sufferings are also experienced by arhats, although they do not undergo association with what they hate, as stated in the following verse:

If all things truly are empty,

Both the hated and the beloved,

One neither grieves nor defiles the mind;

Such a person attains nirvana.

Because of this meaning, nothing further is said. The sufferings of old age and illness arise without discrimination and are the same even for arhats, as stated in the preceding verse. You may grieve over the ugliness of old age, whereas the suffering of association with what one hates and the causes of separation from what one loves arise through discrimination; all belong to mental suffering. Those who have not relinquished desire undergo these sufferings. Furthermore, old age and illness are called sufferings dependent upon what is internal, while association with what one hates and separation from what one loves are called sufferings dependent upon what is external. Therefore, nothing else is said. What, then, does it mean not to obtain what one seeks?

Answer: One desires to be free from suffering and not encounter it, to attain happiness and not be separated from it. When these wishes cannot be fulfilled, this is called the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks. Furthermore, birth, old age, illness, and death are all suffering. One seeks not to encounter them, yet cannot succeed, because birth is a fixed principle. Therefore, this is called the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks. Again, one seeks not to associate with what one hates and not to be separated from what one loves, yet this cannot be achieved. Therefore, it is called the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks. In addition to the four sufferings described above, two further sufferings are revealed here. How should they be explained?

Answer: Having to encounter those whom one does not love is called association with what one hates; being separated from those whom one loves is called separation from what one loves. Now, one seeks not to encounter what one hates and seeks not to be separated from those dear to one. As already explained, these two are suffering; therefore, no further explanation is given.

Again, after obtaining something, one does not relinquish it, and one associates with the various sense objects; this is called association with what one hates. After obtaining something, one does not relinquish it, yet one cannot remain together with beloved sense objects; this is called separation from what one loves. Before obtaining those beloved sense objects, and before relinquishing the desire for them, one seeks them but cannot obtain them; this is called the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks.

Since this is so throughout the three times, no more is said. What is the characteristic of not obtaining what one seeks? What is its function?

And what is the condition for not obtaining what one seeks?

Answer: Not obtaining what one seeks has as its characteristic opposition to one’s desires; anxious longing is its function; the manifest futility of searching and seeking is its condition; and it leads to unwholesome conduct. Why is not obtaining what one seeks suffering?

Answer: It is like the breaking of a wish-fulfilling vase or the loss of one’s hoped-for kingship. It is itself a suffering that creates further causes and conditions, giving rise to desire for the five sense objects. Because these cannot be obtained, the fire of desire burns one, as the art of Ba Gia burns things to ashes.

Therefore, not obtaining what one seeks is called suffering. Furthermore, suffering may arise at three times: when one seeks gain but does not obtain it, when one acts so that it will not be obtained, and when, after all, it remains unobtained. From this, grief and suffering arise.

This is called the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks. Life and sense objects are already suffering, and even obtaining them is suffering. Why, then, is seeking them without obtaining them also suffering?

Answer: This is not invariably so, for even obtaining something without complete fulfillment is suffering. Why is this? If one gains faith, it is not called suffering.

Furthermore, this matter depends upon being free from anxiety. Not obtaining what one seeks means that the mind seeks the five worldly gains and, because of this, produces evil, sorrow, and distress. If they are not obtained, this suffering arises through conceptualization.

Again, just as youth is followed by old age, which is called suffering, so too, after one obtains the benefits of the five sense objects, harm follows; therefore, it is called suffering. Just as clinging to the skandhas in old age is suffering and they become a basis for suffering, so too obtaining the pleasures of the five sense objects is suffering. The meaning here is likewise the same.

What are the causes and conditions for the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks?

Answer: Its causes and conditions are insufficiency, just as a seed that does not sprout cannot produce growth. Because in former lives one was miserly, jealous, held wrong views, and through anger obstructed important undertakings, these become the causes of not obtaining what one now seeks. It is like the account of the bhiksu Uttara, or like sentient beings in the Avici hell who, because of unwholesome dharmas, seek to escape suffering and experience happiness but cannot obtain it. In brief, there are three causes for not obtaining what one seeks: first, the absence of wholesome causes from former lives; second, never having made an effort; and third, failing to cherish and respect others. Why are the five aggregates said, in brief, to be suffering?

Answer: Because their beginning, middle, and end are all seen to be suffering. Birth is suffering at the beginning; death is suffering at the end; and old age, sorrow, and lamentation are suffering in the middle. Furthermore, because all suffering is encompassed according to whether it is intermittent or uninterrupted: intermittent suffering is such as old age, illness, and death; uninterrupted suffering constantly accompanies every part.

Moreover, each individual characteristic encompasses boundless suffering. Therefore, clinging to the aggregates is described as the universal characteristic of suffering. Why is this?

Because the other sufferings are of innumerable kinds. Even if the Tathagata were to explain extensively the characteristics of suffering for immeasurable kalpas, he still could not exhaust them.

Moreover, the suffering of birth is like fire, while the aggregates of the five destinies are like straw. As stated in the Burning Discourse, the sufferings of birth are also said to be like the earth. Why is this so?

The suffering of the arising of the aggregates of clinging is called the birth of the aggregates of clinging. The alteration of this suffering becomes the aging of the aggregates of clinging. The suffering of affliction is called the illness of the aggregates of clinging.

The suffering of dissolution is called the death of the aggregates of clinging. The suffering of encountering what one does not love is called the aggregate of clinging consisting in association with the hated. The suffering of separation from those one loves is the aggregate of clinging consisting in separation from the loved.

That which does not accord with one’s wishes is called not obtaining what one seeks. What is the meaning of this summary?

Answer: There are three kinds: first, multiplicity; second, difference; and third, a single locus. This means that the three times are dispersed, neither of one kind nor identical, yet they are gathered into a single locus; therefore, it is called a summary. Furthermore, there are two kinds of summary: first, a summary of meaning, in which one meaning encompasses many meanings, like a genuine jewel; second, a summary in verse, whose meaning can encompass concisely, like a truly precious object. Thus, suffering has many meanings and many names, yet each is encompassed by a single name and a single meaning. Collectively, this is called a summary.

Question: What are the characteristics of the aggregates? What is the meaning of “aggregate”? What common characteristic do the aggregates share? Why is a single aggregate not established? In what way are the aggregates and the aggregates of clinging two kinds?

Answer: Regarding these questions, they have already been clearly explained in the Chapter on Analysis in the Commentary on the Treatise on the Five Aggregates.

Question: Why are the aggregates of clinging said to be suffering, rather than simply calling the aggregates suffering?

Answer: In order to distinguish the four characteristics of the Truths, the aggregates of clinging are said to be suffering. If one directly said that the aggregates were suffering, then two Truths could not be established. Why is this so? The aggregates of knowledge, morality, and concentration, as well as the five aggregates, would all constitute the truth of suffering.

Question: What is the meaning of “aggregates of clinging”?

Answer: Craving means clinging. These aggregates can give rise to attachment and grasping; because grasping arises in relation to them, they are associated with grasping. Wherever there is that which is grasped, grasping can consequently occur; therefore, they are called the aggregates of clinging.

Question: If, by contemplating any single suffering, one penetrates the truth of suffering, why is it necessary to distinguish extensively the various characteristics of suffering?

Answer: Practitioners, through contemplating the various sufferings, give rise to a mind of detachment. Once this mind of detachment has arisen, they can further contemplate and penetrate suffering, thereby entering right contemplation and putting it into practice. Therefore, suffering must be explained extensively.

Furthermore, by distinguishing samsara and suffering, the wisdom of discernment arises. Having attained this wisdom, one contemplates the single meaning of suffering, rather than discriminative knowledge. Through this cause, such wisdom is produced. Taking equality as its object, it requires no laborious effort but flows naturally, without initial or sustained thought. This is called the eighth wisdom. It arises in dependence upon the objective Dharma, as in the analogy of the noble elephant.

Question: The sutra calls pleasure a basis of pleasure. Why, then, are the aggregates of clinging said to be suffering?

Answer: As this verse says:

Because of attachment and its antidote,

The deluded desire to regard it as pleasure;

The sutra declares that it is suffering,

And with right view one takes no delight in it.

This meaning is extensively explained in the Treatise on the Five Aggregates. In relation to the chapter on slight suffering and the antidote to suffering, the pleasure that arises is imagined to be real, yet it is only suffering.

Question: What does this sutra state in summary, and why do other sutras also explain extensively that form is suffering?

Answer: For those of wisdom and great learning, it is stated briefly that the aggregates of clinging are suffering. For those without wisdom, it is explained extensively that clinging to form is suffering. Likewise, because they see the light but have not yet seen the luminous one, it must be explained further and in detail.

Question: Why are the aggregates of clinging said to be suffering?

Answer: This suffering oppresses beings. It is like a person dwelling in a house adorned with the seven treasures and many kinds of beautiful ornaments, where the five sense objects are exceedingly delightful and cause joy to arise in the mind. Yet as soon as a tiny needle pricks him, a painful sensation arises, and he forgets his former pleasure, as when a sour taste overwhelms all else; then suffering becomes predominant. That is to say, aging, illness, death, separation from those one loves, association with those one hates, not obtaining what one seeks, sorrow, lamentation, pain, and distress, gain and loss, oppressive suffering, and other harmful sufferings. Within the aggregates of clinging, pleasure is extremely slight and entirely illusory, like spoiled water.

Question: Eight sufferings have been stated in summary. What does this mean?

Answer: The various kinds of suffering arise in dependence upon one another and therefore are called suffering. That which causes alteration and decline into aging is called suffering. That which oppresses, bringing bodily pain and illness, is called suffering.

That which destroys the faculties and brings death is called suffering. Encountering what one does not love is called the suffering of association with the hated. Being separated from what is lovable is called the suffering of separation from the loved.

Hoping for something but failing to fulfill that hope is called suffering. Not obtaining what one seeks and the other characteristics of suffering within the aggregates of clinging are also called suffering, like being struck by an arrow. Moreover, there is real suffering, and what is it that arises within existence, and what is the Dharma of birth?

It is name and form. Form is what is harmed by aging, illness, and death. Name is harmed by separation, association with the hated, and not obtaining what one seeks.

The aggregates of clinging are likewise harmed by all sufferings. Furthermore, aging, illness, and death belong to bodily suffering. When regarded without differentiation, separation from the loved and the other three kinds of suffering belong to mental suffering.

They exist because they arise through discrimination. Birth and the aggregates of clinging comprise the two sufferings of body and mind. Furthermore, birth is spoken of as the suffering of conditioned formations.

Death is spoken of as the suffering of change.

The other five statements concern the suffering of suffering. These three sufferings take the aggregates of clinging as their cause. Furthermore, because the aggregates of clinging arise, birth occurs and the six destinies appear.

The body changes and matures, and this is aging. Through emaciation, the body becomes unhealthy and susceptible to illness, causing it to change. At the end of life, the aggregates disintegrate, and this is called death.

Departing from the proper path, one experiences what one does not love; its cause is gathering together with the hated and being associated with what is disagreeable to the mind. Because the cause and characteristic of a pleasant experience are separated from one, it is called separation from the loved—being apart from that which one loves. When one’s desires are not fulfilled, it is called not obtaining what one seeks, as when one’s wishes do not come to pass.

Because the aggregates of clinging are the root of all these sufferings, they are called suffering. These sufferings arise spontaneously, without any deliberate effort. Thus, Dharma Master Vasubandhu clearly distinguished the chapter on the truth of suffering in this manner.

I.5 Chapter on the Provisions for the Truth of Origin (Fourth)

Having explained the truth of suffering, how is the truth of origin explained next in sequence? What is the meaning of “origin”? What is meant by questioning oneself and answering oneself? What is thirsting craving? What is the characteristic of this thirsting craving? What is its object, and what are its conditions? “Thirsting craving” is an expression whose meaning is clear. Why is thirsting craving itself the Origin? This alone should be sufficient to explain thirsting craving. Why, then, is it further said that it can bring about future existence? What does it mean that it can bring about future existence? That which can bring about future existence is definitively characterized by delight and desire, following wherever there is loving attachment.

Why are many different expressions used to describe delight and desire, and what meanings follow from them? Why is attachment here and there stated repeatedly? Why are there various distinctions that can constitute the characteristic of Origin?

Why is thirsting craving said to be the Origin? On what basis is contact taken as the condition for saying that thirsting craving is the Origin? Why are the accumulation of craving in various karmic actions and the accumulation of karma and afflictions not mentioned?

Why is it said to be the origin of suffering? What are the differences among ignorance as condition, contemplation of flavor as condition, the three sensations as conditions, and craving? It has already been said that the four great elements, contact, and name-and-form each serve as causes of the aggregates, yet thirsting craving is also said to be their cause.

Are these two teachings not different? Thirsting craving, ignorance, conceit, karma, and food and drink are all causes of suffering. How do their characteristics differ?

What are the meanings of delight in desire and desire for desire? What is the meaning of the differing names “forest thicket” and “greed”?

You have already asked about the truth of suffering. Why, then, is the truth of origin explained next in sequence?

Answer: Resolve concerning faith in the result has already been established; but faith in the cause has not yet been clearly understood, and in order to engender faith in the cause, the truth of origination is next explained, clearly revealing that this truth of suffering depends upon causes and conditions. Furthermore, because those to be transformed are deluded, the twelve links of dependent origination arise; it is also taught that the truth of suffering is like a mechanism dependent upon causes and conditions, weak in its own nature and bearing the characteristic of non-self.

Furthermore, worldly beings are tightly bound by craving and cannot escape the prison of birth and death. Therefore, one should understand both the bondage and that which binds. It also causes beings to think: “This truth of suffering has neither beginning nor end and is difficult to eliminate.” Yet because it arises through causes and conditions, it can be eliminated, just as a seed may sprout and grow well and upright.

You ask: What is the meaning of origination?

The equal convergence that brings life into being is called origination. Apart from these three meanings, a cause cannot be established: it causes something to arise, serves as its root and source, can bring it into being, and can make it manifest. Thus, the successive sequence of causes and conditions is called origination.

You ask: Why does the Buddha ask and answer the question himself, rather than leaving these three matters for disciples who are unable to resolve the fear in their minds to retain?

The Buddha answers himself: Because erroneous views are difficult to destroy, and because the correct cause is thereby disclosed and established. Erroneous attachments hold that Brahma, Ishvara, heavenly beings, the inherent nature of the four great elements, space, or empty dust are the cause upon which things abide. To destroy such erroneous attachments, the correct cause is revealed.

The Buddha answers himself: Furthermore, the arising of the twelve links of dependent origination and the truth of Origination have been extensively taught in various sutras. Some disciples still do not understand what dharma this sutra identifies as the origination of suffering.

The Buddha answers himself: It is to enable them to attain certainty through the power of wisdom, and because the wisdom of those to be transformed is obscured and fails to comprehend, that the meaning is taught in brief. To open the way to awakening, the Buddha answers himself. Furthermore, because those of superior wisdom who are to be transformed engage in much examination and investigation yet do not retain the teaching, the Buddha answers himself to make their wisdom firm. Furthermore, to clarify the meaning for those to be transformed and enable them to attain certainty through the power of wisdom, the Buddha answers himself. Furthermore, to make the discerning wisdom of the disciples shine clearly like a lamp, the Buddha answers himself.

You ask: What is the meaning of thirsting craving? What are its characteristic, its basis, and its conditions?

Answer: Beings contemplate the merits of conditioned dharmas and, relying upon the mind’s enjoyment of them, never know contentment; therefore, it is called thirsting craving. It is like drinking salt water. Just as a person in the blazing heat of summer, scorched by the sun and tormented by thirst, searches everywhere for water but drinks salt water instead, and the seawater makes the thirst still more intense, so ordinary beings in the world, whose minds are burned by craving throughout birth and death, give rise to thirst through false and distorted discrimination and single-mindedly pursue the pleasures of sensual desire.

The eye, ear, body, consciousness, and mind continually experience objects, yet whether something has been obtained or not, they are never satisfied. Therefore, this dharma is called thirsting craving. Again, because it knows no satisfaction, it is called thirsting craving, like a fire burning straw until everything bursts open and flows.

This is burning. Being unsatisfied with anything whatsoever, ordinary worldly beings have their minds burned by craving. Amid the pleasing sense objects of humans and gods, they remain unsatisfied with every enjoyment; even if they become kings, they still do not know contentment.

Thirsting craving manifests in many different kinds, each of which may be divided into two. When attachment to self and love of self arise in relation to the appropriated skandhas, this is called internally conditioned craving. When attachment to what belongs to oneself arises in relation to appropriated objects, this is the root of craving belonging to the external kind.

Because of divergent views, one relies upon a cause and hopes for further existence to arise. This is called craving for existence upon which one may rely. Not seeing existence, one seeks pleasure and the annihilation of the self; this is called craving for nonexistence.

Difference in nature means that inverted craving arises and obscures all matters like a covering cloud; therefore, it is said to lie above the mind. Craving follows delusion and engages in its activity like a vicious rat. This is called craving separated from the mind.

Furthermore, because the causes of thirsting craving differ according to the conditions of karma, each has three kinds. A difference in cause is the wish for pleasure through sense objects not yet encountered. This craving is precisely the cause of the suffering involved in guarding and preserving them.

A difference in reliance means that, among the objects fully experienced by beings, beings delight in obtaining the skandhas of future existence. Because they desire birth, this is called reliance upon beings. A difference in place means delighting in the three paths and constantly wishing to reach them.

This is called reliance upon a place as the object of craving. Delighting in pleasant sounds, tangible objects, colors, flavors, fragrances, and other sense objects, and seeking to enjoy sensual pleasures, is called reliance upon the complete enjoyment of craving. A difference in conditions means that craving can produce the karma of the afflictions, takes suffering as its condition, and from that condition gives rise to these three kinds.

A difference in karma includes continuous, balanced, and unbalanced thirsting craving. Balanced craving means seeking satisfying enjoyment in accordance with proper principles. This is called balanced craving.

Its opposite is unbalanced craving. Continuous craving means that, following delusion, craving has persisted from beginningless time. This is called continuous craving.

Furthermore, thirsting craving is divided according to differences in grasping, the path, antidotes, and requisites, each having four kinds. Difference in grasping means that, in the desire realm, the mind is deluded by sensual desire, thirsts for it, and clings to it. This is called grasping at sensual desire.

The same applies to craving and attachment within assertions concerning the self, views, and precepts. Difference in antidotal paths means the antidotes pertaining to the nature of the four fruits of the noble ones. Difference in requisites means food and drink, clothing, bedding, and medicines.

Thirsting craving depends upon the differences among three kinds of experience and thus becomes five kinds: Regarding pleasant experience, two kinds of craving arise—craving for union and craving for non-separation. Regarding painful experience, two kinds likewise arise—craving for non-encounter and craving for separation. Regarding neutral experience, craving rooted in ignorance arises.

Furthermore, thirsting craving is divided into five kinds according to differences in its activities. First, when something has not yet been obtained, one seeks to obtain it; once it has been obtained, one wishes to put it to use. Second, having obtained the pleasure one sought, one seeks to make the matter complete. Third, once it is complete, one seeks to increase it further. Fourth, once it has increased, one acts to preserve it. Fifth, after preserving it, when it is lost or dispersed, anxiety, grief, and sorrow arise.

Furthermore, thirsting craving is said to be fivefold because it relies upon the five skandhas, and it becomes sixfold because it relies upon the six faculties. Because each of the six faculties has three kinds of experience, it becomes eighteenfold. Again, through reliance upon conjunction, it becomes thirty-sixfold.

In this way, the tree of craving follows delusion, sending forth ever more roots. The requisites of craving for self are objects of enjoyment, with the body as their root. Craving in the three realms forms its crown.

The six groups of craving form its branches, and the activities of craving are like its leaves. The eight hundred kinds of craving are its flowers, and they produce unwholesome fruits. Thus, thirsting craving is the cause of the origination of suffering, and this cause gives rise to other sufferings.

This is called thirsting craving. Here one should understand the characteristic of thirsting craving: its mental characteristic is delight, and its basis is precisely the absence of contentment, from which eleven different kinds arise. Its condition is the contemplation of the merits of conditioned things.

Question: Why is this craving described differently, saying that craving itself is the origin? Is it sufficient to state it in this way?

Answer: Craving is of many kinds. It commonly brings about renewed existence after birth and is definitively the origin; other things are therefore not singled out. Were this not so, hearing the true Dharma should also be called the origin.

Furthermore, this craving can bring about future existence; what cannot bring it about cannot be appropriated. Moreover, this craving continually accompanies delight and desire and is therefore called the origin. Were this not so, it would not be an object of appropriation.

Furthermore, that desire alone is a dharma belonging to the truth of origin. It is said that this itself is craving. Just as attachment manifests in the present life, craving is the root cause of suffering and will bring about subsequent birth.

We should know that suffering arising in the past likewise did not occur apart from craving, as stated in the Householder Ugga Sutra.

Question: Having spoken of craving, why is it further said that it can bring about renewed existence?

Answer: The meaning of craving cannot be fully exhausted; therefore, by saying that it brings about renewed existence, the definite characteristic of craving is revealed. Craving is commonly said to be the cause, or origin. If so, the thirst of arhats and their liking for water would also be an origin. If there were a craving capable of extinguishing craving, then, because it depends upon a basis, it too would become an origin.

Question: What is the meaning of “bringing about renewed existence”?

Answer: It can cause consciousness and the skandhas to adhere to existence. Why is this? Because the self and what belongs to the self are objects of attachment. Thus craving can cause consciousness and attachment to abide therein. It is like dust settling in a low place and a seed depending upon moist soil. It can also produce future existence, as a mother gives birth to a child. Moreover, because it produces nutriment for the future, it is called the nutriment of contact. This nutriment can lead to what is cherished; therefore, it is said to bring about renewed existence.

Furthermore, ancient elder teachers explained the Buddha’s teaching by saying that craving has four causes and conditions through which it can bring about renewed existence. First, it can serve as a reciprocal condition, as the sutra says: So long as infatuation and craving have not been destroyed, suffering arises and continues without interruption, like a pool inhabited by a naga. Second, it can appropriate the paths, as the sutra says: When a bhikshu gives rise to lust and attachment toward beautiful forms and their corresponding objects, this consciousness abides in dependence upon form in accordance with that association; the same applies to feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

Third, it can bind and perpetuate, as the sutra says: It can bind, join, and prevent one from relinquishing objects, thereby causing birth in the three realms in a future life. Fourth, it can cause one to take birth, as the sutra says: In this fourth case, when sensual craving is present, name-and-form immediately arises.

Question: If “bringing about renewed existence,” “accompanied by delight and desire,” and “becoming attached here and there” are definitive characteristics, why are so many expressions used?

Answer: These three phrases are all different names for craving. It is like a person whose hand is called Atsida, also called Khara, and also called Pani. Furthermore, the result is accompanied by different objects.

Therefore, several expressions are used: giving and the future are results, and hence it is said to bring about future existence; because delight and desire are its companions, it is said to be accompanied by delight and desire; and because it appropriates many kinds of objects, it is said to become attached here and there. Furthermore, some dharmas continually bring about renewed existence but are not accompanied by delight and desire, as in the case of infatuation and craving.

Some dharmas are commonly said to be accompanied by delight and desire but cannot produce existence, as when one does not fall into an object of craving. Therefore, the matter is fully expressed through many names.

Question: What is the meaning of delight and desire?

Answer: Delight means that there are provisions in the mind that produce ease and happiness; hence it is called joyful pleasure. The desire arising within this is called delight and desire, just as there is sensual desire. Furthermore, delight involving many kinds of desire is called delight and desire, just as one speaks of a precious vessel. Moreover, because this is a kind of defiling drug, it is called mental delight and defiled desire. These two are combined and called delight and desire, just as name-and-form is a compound expression. Furthermore, delight and desire mutually give rise to one another; hence they are called delight and desire, like the fruit of the mango tree.

Question: What does “accompanied by” mean?

Answer: In general, it means following. It follows infatuation and the preceding mental factor and can produce subsequent existence. Furthermore, because external craving acts together with it, internal craving is said to be accompanied by delight, just as craving is accompanied by appropriation.

Moreover, “following” means obtaining a basis. As the Vibhajyavada school says, there are four kinds of accompaniment: first, accompaniment by an object; second, accompaniment through association; third, intermingled accompaniment; and fourth, accompaniment through dependent origination. Accompaniment by an object is as stated in the sutra: a person gives rise to discriminative initial and sustained thought accompanied by form.

Accompaniment through association is as stated in the sutra: this mental state is accompanied by loving-kindness. Intermingled accompaniment is as stated in the sutra: this person cultivates the faculty of faith accompanied by loving-kindness. It is also as stated in the sutra: defiling attachment arises accompanied by anger, while anger is accompanied by thought.

Accompaniment through dependent origination is as stated in the sutra: one cultivates right view accompanied by heedfulness. The delight and desire clarified in this treatise constitute intermingled accompaniment.

Question: What is the further meaning conveyed by saying “becoming attached here and there”?

Answer: Within the three realms, attachment has many objects. In this treatise, the many kinds of attachment give rise to many varieties. In the various places of birth, one becomes attached to the assembled multitudes of sentient beings.

Within those assemblies of sentient beings, attachment rests upon the faculties. Through the faculties, attachment embraces many kinds of sense objects. In relation to those sense objects, attachment produces many kinds of karma.

Furthermore, the mind is like a monkey, rendering its objects unstable, delighting in grasping sense objects; craving assumes many modes of existence and possesses many provisions. Because it appropriates and relinquishes things in various ways, it becomes attached here and there. Moreover, when attachment is examined, its wish to act is seen to have no fixed object, like an ox and grain.

Furthermore, attachment to the self and to external sense objects does not depart from desire, like five prisoners in their mother’s womb. Therefore, it is said to become attached here and there.

Question: In some places, other afflictions are said to be capable of constituting a characteristic of the origin. Why, then, is craving said to be the origin?

Answer: Because it is supreme. Craving is king everywhere, and all the various afflictions gather together within the origin.

Furthermore, because the other afflictions are subsumed by craving, when craving no longer leaves behind the residual flavor of those afflictions, the remaining afflictions disappear. If the various afflictions do not arise, craving also does not arise. Why is this?

Because there is no discrimination of the basis. It is also said that, even when the other afflictions have been eliminated without remainder, craving for samsaric existence can still arise again, as in the case of Shou-Chuan-Shi-Sha. Moreover, it is difficult to discern because this craving also enters wholesome dharmas.

One should therefore regard desire for speech as an enemy within. It even bars one from entering the gate: just as an anagamin reaches the gate of nirvana but, because of craving, cannot enter and become one who has entered the higher stream.

Question: Is ignorance not even more powerful? Why is it not mentioned?

Answer: It is not so. Ignorance is like a blind person, but it is because of craving that the skandhas fall into the fiery pit of suffering, like a blind elephant. Because one seeks desire and later birth, one undergoes future retribution; this is not due to ignorance, just as a blind person enters through the doors of houses. Such is the meaning. Therefore, it is said that craving itself is the origin.

Question: For what reason is craving alone said to be the origin, while the various kinds of karma are not mentioned?

Answer: It is an affliction. Why is this so? Craving itself is the true cause of birth, whereas karma is not so. How can this be known? Because karma remains fully present in the current life. Since craving has been extinguished, arhats are not born again. As stated previously, there is something resembling an origin. Craving can serve as the cause of this existence. This is precisely the truth of origin; karma leads to existence and has a cause. Thus it is said to resemble the origin. Furthermore, craving is extinguished through the Path, whereas karma is not so. Why? Because when the Buddhas have completed their cultivation to the ultimate end, it is as though residual karma is still heard of; and because karma does not perish, it is not called the true origin.

Question: If craving is also karma and affliction, and is the origin, why is it called the origin of suffering?

Answer: The meaning is as follows: here the Four Truths are established, and this truth is precisely the origin of suffering. Why? Because within the Noble Truths it is an abbreviated designation for the true cause; therefore craving is said to be the origin in the truth of suffering.

Furthermore, craving for existence and for the arising skandhas is the origin. In the present life, this craving, together with life and the various conditions, jointly constitutes the origin comprising karma and afflictions; craving alone is not the origin of suffering. Thus craving may be called the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering.

Furthermore, this determination accords with delusion concerning craving as the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering. To reveal this meaning, the Buddha spoke this verse:

So long as a tree’s root has not been removed,

Though cut down, it grows again;

So long as craving has not been severed,

That suffering continues without end.

When craving is conditioned internally, it is said that conditioned by craving, clinging arises. When craving is conditioned externally, it is said that conditioned by clinging, the seeking of karma arises.

Question: Ignorance conditions observation; because it conditions three places, feeling conditions karma—what, then, of this craving?

Answer: The sutra says that ignorance itself arises from craving; conditioned by this craving, afflictions arise through conditions. The condition called observation of flavor is the constant arising, upon seeing an object, of erroneous views concerning that perception. From this cause, craving arises. This craving itself arises conditioned by karma. The sutra also says that because of craving there are three kinds; this craving itself arises conditioned by feeling.

Furthermore, all the afflictions of ignorance are conditions, and this craving arises in dependence upon ignorance; therefore it is called craving conditioned by ignorance. All views are conditioned by karma. Craving arises conditioned by seeing and hearing; this is called craving conditioned by karma.

The sufferings of the three kinds of craving have this as their essence; craving arising from this condition is called craving conditioned by suffering. Furthermore, taking a lack of faith and understanding as its cause is called craving conditioned by ignorance. Taking as its cause the observation of conditioned phenomena as permanent and pleasurable, together with erroneous knowledge of their flavor, is called craving conditioned by the observation of flavor.

Other kinds, taking other causes as their causes, are called craving conditioned by feeling. This craving itself is where conditions arise, together with the results of the three kinds. This is because there are six fields of experience.

Question: It has been said that contact with the four great elements is called form, and that each has a cause for the skandhas. It is also said that craving is the cause. What difference is there between these two teachings?

Answer: To reveal the cause of existence, craving is said to exist. To reveal each particular part of the cause, the four great elements are mentioned. To reveal the many kinds of causes, contact is spoken of in relation to contact; it is not one, while feeling has three kinds. To establish firm conviction in the cause, form is spoken of, as stated in the Sutra on the Great Arising through Conditions:

“Ananda! If consciousness did not descend into the mother’s womb, could this kalala truly be formed?”

“No, Blessed One, it could not.”

“Ananda! If there were no kalala, could this consciousness be lodged in the womb?”

“No, Blessed One, it could not.”

Therefore, these two dharmas sustain one another and enable each other to abide firmly. Furthermore, from beginningless time the cause itself has been craving. One concerns the period of the cause: the four great elements at a single moment are causes, while contact and name-and-form each fully possess two causes. These are the cause from the previous life and the operative cause in the present. Furthermore, the five skandhas of the previous life serve as causes. Craving in relation to birth through the four great elements is the initial cause. Just as the kalala is the cause of the arbuda, when the complete arising occurs, the cause of the initial contact and the cause of the complete arising are called form.

Question: Craving, ignorance, self-conceit, and the conditions of food and drink are all causes of suffering. In what ways are they alike and different?

Answer: Craving is not different; the cause consisting of karma is what distinguishes the causes. Food and drink lead to the cause of suffering, while ignorance and self-conceit are causes of all of it.

Furthermore, craving can produce the cause of outflows, while karma itself is a cause of the Path. Food and drink are the cause of equilibrium. Ignorance and self-conceit mutually serve as causes for one another. Moreover, craving is the cause of true suffering. This is the root of suffering. The other causes are accumulated provisions and perfuming influences that serve as supporting conditions for craving.

Question: What is the meaning of delighted desire and desire?

Answer: When a sensory object appears, joy arises in the mind. From this joy, craving arises; therefore it is called delighted desire. When the sensory object is sought but has not yet been obtained, this is called desire. Because it is the cause from which this craving arises, it is called desire for desire.

Question: The dense forest and this sensual craving have different names. What is their meaning?

Answer: Sensory objects of desire are fields of experience that can defile the mind; therefore they are called defiling sensual craving. Attachment to the four fixed stations and their result is sensual desire for form. Attachment to samapatti and its result is called desire for existence. Because it can obstruct progress toward nirvana, it is called the fire of desire. Because it can make the mind impure, it is called the dust of desire. Because it can stain the mind, it is called the impurity of desire. Because it can bind the mind, it is called the bonds of desire. Because it lacks reflection and deliberation, it is called the fetter of desire. Because it causes delusion, it is called the oppression of desire.

The defiled mind is called attachment to desire. Activity that follows existence is called the accompanying current. Because it constantly hopes, it is said to be insatiable.

Because what is obtained never suffices, it is called craving. Because it obstructs liberation, it is called a covering. That which covers the body is called an affliction.

Because it prevents one from departing from existence, it is called a fetter. Improper reflection that causes vexation is called a spike. Because it can pierce, it is called a thorn.

Because it turns upward and increases, it is called great. Desire pervades the faculties and their objects involved in the activity of the path, taking delight in them; therefore, it is said to be pervasive. Clinging to the various objects and giving rise to many attachments is called desirous attachment.

Regarding the provisions for birth and death, whether not yet obtained or already obtained, the mind gives rise to delight; this is called insatiable delight in desire. Accumulating desirable objects, profit, and sustenance is called thirsting craving. Thus, through expedient means, coming and going without departing from birth and death is called the characteristic of desire.

Roaming in the waters of affliction and joining strands of affection into binding cords is called the net of desire. Entering the ocean of birth and death from above and below is called the river of craving, like one suffering from the illness of altered thirst who encounters an ocean of sensory objects. Because one is never satisfied by them, it is called thirst.

It is like the ocean swallowing streams and like fire consuming straw. This defilement is without outflow and is therefore called an unceasing current. It can link successive births and deaths without interruption; therefore, it is called conjunction.

So long as this thirsting craving exists, it can cause birth and death to continue without interruption, and through oneself or others, one may undergo birth and death in the six destinies. In relation to other defilements, it is called Origination. This has been fully explained herein.

This explanation of craving and attachment should be understood as having eleven aspects:

First, the name,

Second, the meaning,

Third, the essence,

Fourth, the function,

Fifth, the cause,

Sixth, the antidote,

Seventh, purity,

Eighth, impurity,

Ninth, the sequence of arising,

Tenth, the establishment of difficulties,

Eleventh, the ultimate meaning.

If a practitioner clearly understands this and initiates contemplation, one may personally act or instruct others, turning them away from delusion concerning the principle of the path. Therefore, this meaning has been explained. The chapter examining the Truth of Origination is complete.

The Treatise on the Four Truths, end of fascicle two.