Thorough Investigation  

 Thorough Investigation

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Savatthi in Jeta's grove, Anathapindika’s Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus!"

"Venerable sir!" those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:

"Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu is making a thorough investigation, in what way should he thoroughly investigate for the utterly complete destruction of suffering?"

"Venerable sir, our teachings are rooted in the Blessed One, take recourse in the Blessed One. It would be good if the Blessed One would clear up the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will remember it."

"Then listen and attend closely, bhikkhus, I will speak."

"Yes, venerable sir," the bhikkhus replied.

The Blessed One said this:

"Here, bhikkhus, when he makes a thorough investigation, a bhikkhu thoroughly investigates thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] aging-and-death: what is the source of this suffering, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does aging-and-death come to be? When what does not exist does aging-and-death not come to be?'

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] aging-and-death: this suffering has birth as its source, birth as its origin; it is born and produced from birth. When there is birth, aging-and-death comes to be; when there is no birth, aging-and-death does not come to be.’

"He understands aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of aging-and-death.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this birth, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does birth come to be? When what does not exist does birth not come to be?'

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] birth: this suffering has existence as its source, existence as its origin; it is born and produced from existence. When there is existence, birth comes to be; when there is no existence, birth does not come to be.’

"He understands birth, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of birth.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this existence, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does existence come to be? When what does not exist does existence not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] existence: this suffering has clinging as its source, clinging as its origin; it is born and produced from clinging. When there is clinging, existence comes to be; when there is no clinging, existence does not come to be.’

"He understands existence, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of existence.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this clinging, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does clinging come to be? When what does not exist does clinging not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] clinging: this suffering has craving as its source, craving as its origin; it is born and produced from craving. When there is craving, clinging comes to be; when there is no craving, clinging does not come to be.’

"He understands clinging, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of clinging.  

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this craving, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does craving come to be? When what does not exist does craving not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] craving: this suffering has feeling as its source, feeling as its origin; it is born and produced from feeling. When there is feeling, craving comes to be; when there is no feeling, craving does not come to be.’

"He understands craving, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of craving.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this feeling, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does feeling come to be? When what does not exist does feeling not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] feeling: this suffering has contact as its source, contact as its origin; it is born and produced from contact. When there is contact, feeling comes to be; when there is no contact, feeling does not come to be.’

"He understands feeling, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of feeling.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this contact, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does contact come to be? When what does not exist does contact not come to be? ’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] contact: this suffering has the six sense bases as its source, the six sense bases as its origin; it is born and produced from the six sense bases. When there are the six sense bases, contact comes to be; when there are no six sense bases, contact does not come to be.’

"He understands contact, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of contact.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of these six sense bases, what are their origin, from what are they born and produced? When what exists do the six sense bases come to be? When what does not exist do the six sense bases not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] the six sense bases: this suffering has mentality/materiality as its source, mentality/materiality as its origin; it is born and produced from mentality/materiality. When there is the mentality/materiality, the six sense bases come to be; when there is no mentality/materiality, the six sense bases do not come to be.’

"He understands the six sense bases, their origin, their cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of the six sense bases.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this  mentality/materiality, what is their origin, from what are they born and produced? When what exists do mentality/materiality come to be? When what does not exist does mentality/materiality not come to be? What is their origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does mentality/materiality come to be? When what does not exist does mentality/materiality not come to be? When what does not exist does mentality/materiality not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] mentality/materiality: this suffering has consciousness as its source, consciousness as its origin; it is born and produced from consciousness. When there is consciousness, mentality/materiality comes to be; when there is no consciousness, mentality/materiality do not come to be.’

"He understands mentality/materiality, its  origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of mentality/materiality.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of this consciousness, what is its origin, from what is it born and produced? When what exists does consciousness come to be? When what does not exist does consciousness not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] consciousness this suffering has volitional formations as its source, volitional formations as its origin; it is born and produced from volitional formations. When there are volitional formations, consciousness comes to be; when there are no volitional formations , consciousness does not come to be.’

"He understands consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of consciousness.

"Then investigating further, he thoroughly investigates thus: ‘What is the source of these volitional formations, what are their origin, from what are they born and produced? When what exists do volitional formations come to be? When what does not exist do volitional formations not come to be?’

"As he thoroughly investigates he understands thus: ‘The many diverse kinds of suffering that arise in the world [headed by] volitional formations this suffering has ignorance as its source, ignorance as its origin; they are born and produced from ignorance. When there is ignorance, volitional formations come to be; when there is no ignorance, volitional formations do not come to be.’

"He understands volitional formations, their origin, their cessation, and the way leading to that is in conformity with its cessation. He practices that way and conducts himself accordingly. This is called a bhikkhu who is practicing for the utterly complete destruction of suffering, for the cessation of volitional formations.

"Bhikkhus, if a person immersed in ignorance generates a meritorious volitional formation, consciousness fares on to the meritorious; if he generates a demeritorious volitional formation, consciousness fares on to the demeritorious; if he generates an imperturbable volitional formation, consciousness fares on to the imperturbable. But when a bhikkhu has abandoned ignorance and aroused true knowledge, then, with the fading away of ignorance and the arising of true knowledge, he does not generate a meritorious volitional formation, or a demeritorious volitional formation, or an imperturbable volitional formation. Since he does not generate or fashion volitional formations, he does not cling to anything in the world. Not clinging, he is not agitated. Not being agitated, he personally attains Nibbana. He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.’

"If he feels a pleasant feeling, he understands: ‘It is impermanent’; he understands; ‘It is not held to’; he understands: ‘It is not delighted in.’ If he feels a painful feeling, he understands: ‘It is impermanent’; he understands: ‘It is not held to’; he understands: ‘It is not delighted in.’ If he feels a neither painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands: ‘It is impermanent’; he understands: ‘It is not held to’; he understands: ‘It is not delighted in’.

"When he feels a feeling terminating with the body, he understands: ‘I feel a feeling terminating with the body.’ When he feels a feeling terminating with life.’ He understands: ‘I feel a feeling terminating with life’. He understands: ‘With the break-up of the body, following the exhaustion of life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here; mere bodily remains will be left.’

"Suppose, bhikkhus, a man would remove a hot clay pot from a potter’s kiln and set it on smooth ground: its heat would be dissipated right there and potsherds would be left. So too, when he feels a feeling terminating with the body, he understands: ‘I feel a feeling terminating with the body.’ When he feels a feeling terminating with life.’ He understands: ‘I feel a feeling terminating with life’. He understands: ‘With the break-up of the body, following the exhaustion of life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here; mere bodily remains will be left.’

"What do you think, bhikkhus, can a bhikkhu whose taints are destroyed generate a meritorious volitional formation, or a demeritorious volitional formation, or an imperturbable formation?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there are utterly no volitional formations, would consciousness be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no consciousness, would mentality/ materiality be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no mentality/materiality, would the six sense bases be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no six sense bases, would contact be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no contact, would feeling be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no feeling, would craving be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no craving, would clinging be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no clinging, would existence be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no existence, would birth be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"When there is utterly no birth, would aging-and-death be discerned?"

"No, venerable sir."

"Good, good, bhikkhus! It is exactly so and not otherwise! Place faith in me about this, bhikkhus, resolve on this. Be free from perplexity and doubt about this. Just this is the end of suffering."