If There Is Lust
At Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to be and for the assistance of those about to come to be. What four? The nutriment edible food, gross or subtle; second, contact; third, mental volition; fourth, consciousness. These are the four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to be and for the assistance of those about to come to be.
“If, bhikkhus, there is lust for the nutriment edible food, if there is delight, if there is craving, consciousness becomes established there and comes to growth. Wherever consciousness becomes established and comes to growth, there is a descent of name-and-form. Where there is a descent of name-and-form, there is the growth of volitional formations. Where there is the growth of volitional formations, there is the production of future renewed existence. Where there is the production of future renewed existence, there is future birth, aging, and death. Where there is future birth, aging, and death, I say that is accompanied by sorrow, anguish, and despair.
“If, bhikkhus, there is lust for the nutriment contact, or for the nutriment mental volition, or for the nutriment consciousness, if there is delight, if there is craving, consciousness becomes established there and comes to growth. Wherever consciousness becomes established and comes to growth … I say that is accompanied by sorrow, anguish, and despair.
“Suppose, bhikkhus, an artist or a painter, using dye or lac or turmeric or indigo or crimson, would create the figure of a man or a woman complete in all its features on a well-polished plank or wall or canvas. So too, if there is lust for the nutriment edible food, or for the nutriment contact, or for the nutriment mental volition, or for the nutriment consciousness, if there is delight, if there is craving, consciousness becomes established there and comes to growth. Wherever consciousness becomes established and comes to growth … I say that is accompanied by sorrow, anguish, and despair.
“If, bhikkhus, there is no lust for the nutriment edible food, or for the nutriment contact, or for the nutriment mental volition, or for the nutriment consciousness, if there is no delight, if there is no craving, consciousness does not become established there and come to growth. Where consciousness does not become established and come to growth, there is no descent of name-and-form. Where there is no descent of name-and-form, there is no growth of volitional formations. Where there is no growth of volitional formations, there is no production of future renewed existence. Where there is no production of future renewed existence, there is no future birth, aging, and death. Where there is no future birth, aging, and death, I say that is without sorrow, anguish, and despair.
“Suppose, bhikkhus, there was a house or a hall with a peaked roof, with windows on the northern, southern, and eastern sides. When the sun rises and a beam of light enters through a window, where would it become established?”
“On the western wall, venerable sir.”
“If there were no western wall, where would it become established?”
“On the earth, venerable sir.”
“If there were no earth, where would it become established?”
“On the water, venerable sir.”
“If there were no water, where would it become established?”
“It would not become established anywhere, venerable sir.”
“So too, bhikkhus, if there is no lust for the nutriment edible food … for the nutriment contact … for the nutriment mental volition … for the nutriment consciousness … consciousness does not become established there and come to growth. Where consciousness does not become established and come to growth … … I say that is without sorrow, anguish, and despair.”
- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Editor: Blake Walsh
If There Is Desire
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.
These are the four fuels that maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those that are about to be born.
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for solid food, consciousness becomes established there and grows.
Where consciousness is established and grows, name and form are conceived.
Where name and form are conceived, there is the growth of choices.
Where choices grow, there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say this is full of sorrow, anguish, and distress.
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for contact as fuel …
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for mental intention as fuel …
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for consciousness as fuel, consciousness becomes established there and grows.
Where consciousness is established and grows, name and form are conceived.
Where name and form are conceived, there is the growth of choices.
Where choices grow, there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say this is full of sorrow, anguish, and distress.
Suppose an artist or painter had some dye, red lac, turmeric, indigo, or rose madder. And on a polished plank or a wall or a canvas they’d create the image of a woman or a man, complete in all its various parts.
In the same way, if there is desire, relishing, and craving for solid food, consciousness becomes established there and grows.
Where consciousness is established and grows, name and form are conceived.
Where name and form are conceived, there is the growth of choices.
Where choices grow, there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say this is full of sorrow, anguish, and distress.
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for contact as fuel …
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for mental intention as fuel …
If there is desire, relishing, and craving for consciousness as fuel, consciousness becomes established there and grows.
Where consciousness is established and grows, name and form are conceived.
Where name and form are conceived, there is the growth of choices.
Where choices grow, there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say this is full of sorrow, anguish, and distress.
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for solid food, consciousness does not become established there and doesn’t grow.
Where consciousness is not established and doesn’t grow, name and form are not conceived.
Where name and form are not conceived, there is no growth of choices.
Where choices don’t grow, there is no rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is no rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is no rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is no rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say there’s no sorrow, anguish, and distress.
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for contact as fuel …
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for mental intention as fuel …
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for consciousness as fuel, consciousness doesn’t become established there and doesn’t grow.
Where consciousness is not established and doesn’t grow, name and form are not conceived.
Where name and form are not conceived, there is no growth of choices.
Where choices don’t grow, there is no rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is no rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is no rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is no rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say there’s no sorrow, anguish, and distress.
Suppose there was a bungalow or a hall with a peaked roof, with windows on the northern, southern, or eastern side. When the sun rises and a ray of light enters through a window, where would it land?”
“On the western wall, sir.”
“If there was no western wall, where would it land?”
“On the ground, sir.”
“If there was no ground, where would it land?”
“In water, sir.”
“If there was no water, where would it land?”
“It wouldn’t land, sir.”
“In the same way, if there is no desire, relishing, and craving for solid food, consciousness does not become established there and doesn’t grow. …
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for contact as fuel …
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for mental intention as fuel …
If there is no desire, relishing, and craving for consciousness as fuel, consciousness doesn’t become established there and doesn’t grow.
Where consciousness is not established and doesn’t grow, name and form are not conceived.
Where name and form are not conceived, there is no growth of choices.
Where choices don’t grow, there is no rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.
Where there is no rebirth into a new state of existence in the future, there is no rebirth, old age, and death in the future.
Where there is no rebirth, old age, and death in the future, I say there’s no sorrow, anguish, and distress.”
