What then is the Holy Truth of Ill? Birth is ill, decay is ill, sickness is ill, death is ill. To be conjoined with what one dislikes means suffering. To be disjoined from what one likes means suffering. Not to get what one wants, also that means suffering. In short, all grasping at any of the five Skandhas involves suffering.

What then is the Holy Truth of the Origination of Ill? It is that craving which leads to rebirth, accompanied by delight and greed, seeking its delight now here, now there, i.e. craving for sensuous experience, craving to perpetuate oneself, craving for extinction.

What then is the Holy Truth of the Stopping of Ill? It is the complete stopping of that craving, the withdrawal from it, the renouncing of it, throwing it back, liberation from it, non-attachment to it.

What then is the Holy Truth Of the steps which lead to the stopping of Ill ? It is this holy eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intentions, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

Conditioned co-production

Conditioned by Ignorance are the Karma-formations; conditioned by the karma-formations is Consciousness; conditioned by consciousness is Name and Form; conditioned by name and form are the Six Sense-fields; conditioned by the six sense-fields is Contact; conditioned by contact are Feelings; conditioned by feelings is Craving; conditioned by craving is Grasping; conditioned by grasping is Becoming; conditioned by becoming is Birth; conditioned by birth are Decay and Death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and despair. Thus is the origination of all this mass of suffering.

But from the utter fading out and stopping of Ignorance comes also the stopping of the Karma-formations; from the stopping of the karma-formations the stopping of Consciousness; from the stopping of consciousness that of Name and Form; from the stopping of name and form that of the Six Sense-fields; from the stopping of the six sense-fields that of Contact; from the stopping of contact that of Feeling; from the stopping of feeling that of Craving; from the stopping of craving that of Grasping; from the stopping of grasping that of Becoming; from the stopping of becoming that of Birth; from the stopping of birth comes the stopping of Decay and De-ath, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and despair. Such is the stopping of all this mass of Ill.

The view of self

What is the 'view of self'? Here the untaught common man, who does not see the holy men, is unacquainted with the holy Dharma or misinformed about it, who does not see Pious men, is unacquainted with the Dharma of the pious or misinformed about it regards (i) the self as form, or (2) the sea as having form, or (3) form as in the self, or (4) the self as in form. And so with feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness in place of 'form'.

The absence of self in evetything

'Form, brethren, is not the self. If this form, brethren, were the self, it could not turn oppressive, and one could achieve one's intention, "Let my body be thus, let my body not be thust" It is because the body is not the self, brethren, that it turns oppressive, and that one cannot achieve the intention, "let my body be thus, let my body not be thus !" And so with feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.

'Now, what do you think, brethren, is form, or any other constituent of the "personality", permanent or impermanent?' -'Impermanent, 0 Lord!' - Does then impermanence conduce to suffering, or to ease?' - 'To suffering, 0 Lord!' But is it fitting to consider that which is impermanent, linked to suffering, and doomed to reversal, as "This is mine, I am this, this is myself" ?' - 'No, indeed not, 0 Lord!' - 'Therefore, brethren, whatever form, or other skandha, there may be - past, future, or present, inward or outward, gross or subtle, low or exalted, near or far away - all that should be seen by right wisdom as it really is, i.e. that "All this is not mine, I am not this, this is not myself". The learned holy disciple who perceives this becomes disgusted with form, and everything else, up to consciousness. Disgusted, he sheds his greed for these things. His dispassion sets him free, and he then also knows that he is liberated. "Birth is extinct, the holy life completed; what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further to do" - so he wisely knows.'

The illusory nature of the world

Form should be seen as a mass of foam, because easily crushed; feeling as a water bubble, because pleasurable only for a moment; perception as a mirage, because delusive; volitions as like the trunk Of the plantain tree, because without substance; consciousness as a mock show, because deceptive.

An artist once a picture painted

Of such a monster that he fainted

So endlessly worlds transmigrate

By false ideas infatuate.

As stars, a fault of vision, as a lamp

A mock show, dew-drops, or a bubble,

A dream, a lightning flash, or cloud,

So should we view what is conditioned.