Bodhi Sutta

The Bodhi Tree (1)

Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

Read an alternate translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

From The Udana: Inspired Utterances of the Buddha, translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1997). Copyright ©1997 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying at Uruvela, beside the river Nerañjara at the foot of the Bodhi Tree, having just realized full enlightenment. At that time the Lord sat cross-legged for seven days experiencing the bliss of liberation. Then, at the end of those seven days, the Lord emerged from that concentration and gave well-reasoned attention during the first watch of the night to dependent arising in forward order, thus:

"This being, that is; from the arising of this, that arises. That is: with ignorance as condition, volitional activities come to be; with volitional activities as condition, consciousness comes to be; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to be; with name-and-form as condition, the sixfold base comes to be; with the sixfold base as condition, contact comes to be; with contact as condition, feeling comes to be; with feeling as condition, craving comes to be; with craving as condition, grasping comes to be; with grasping as condition, being comes to be; with being as condition, birth comes to be; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair come to be. This is the origin of this whole mass of suffering."

Then, on realizing its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance:

When things become manifest
To the ardent meditating brahman,
All his doubts then vanish since he understands
Each thing along with its cause.