Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṃyutta
6. Rukkha Vagga
Sutta 55
Mahā Rukkha Suttaṃ
The Great Tree
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Sourced from the edition at dhammatalks.org
Provenance, terms and conditons
[55][pts][bodh] Dwelling near Sāvatthī.
"Monks, when one remains focused on the allure of phenomena that offer sustenance for clinging,[1] craving grows.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair come into play.
Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress and suffering.
"Suppose that there were a great tree.
All its roots growing downward and outward would provide it with water and nutriment, so that the great tree — thus nourished, thus sustained — would stand for a long, long time.
"In the same way, monks, when one remains focused on the allure of phenomena that offer sustenance for clinging, craving grows.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair come into play.
Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress and suffering.
"But when one remains focused on the drawbacks of phenomena that offer sustenance for clinging, craving ceases.
From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance.
From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming.
From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth.
From the cessation of birth, then aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair all cease.
Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress and suffering.
"Suppose there were a great tree.
A man would come, bringing a shovel and basket, and would cut down the tree at its root.
Having cut it at the root, he would dig it up.
Having dug it up, he would pull out the roots, down to the rootlets and root fibers.
Then he would cut the tree into pieces; having cut the pieces, he would split them; having split them, he would make them into slivers.
Having made the slivers, he would dry them in the wind and sun.
Having dried them in the wind and sun, he would burn them in a fire.
Having burned them in a fire, he would reduce them to ashes.
Having reduced them to ashes, he would winnow them before a high wind or let them be washed away by a swift-flowing stream
Thus the great tree, cut at the root, would be made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising.
"In the same way, monks, when one remains focused on the drawbacks of phenomena that offer sustenance for clinging, craving ceases.
From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance.
From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming.
From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth.
From the cessation of birth, then aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair all cease.
Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress and suffering."
[1] Upādāniyesu dhammesu: This can also be translated as "clingable phenomena" or "phenomena that offer sustenance." SN 22:121 identifies these phenomena as the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, fabrications, and consciousness. See the discussions in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapter Three, and The Paradox of Becoming, Chapter Four.
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