The Long Āgama Sūtra 17.30

17.30

「或有沙門、婆羅門作是說：『此世間自造。』復有沙門、婆羅門言：『此世間他造。』或復有言：『自造他造。』或復有言：『非自造非他造，忽然而有。』彼沙門、婆羅門言世間自造者，是沙門、婆羅門皆因觸因緣，若離觸因而能說者，無有是處。所以者何？由六入身故生觸，由觸故生受，由受故生愛，由愛故生取，由取故生有，由有故生生，由生故有老、死、憂、悲、苦惱，大患陰集。若無六入則無觸，無觸則無受，無受則無愛，無愛則無取，無取則無有，無有則無生，無生則無老、死、憂、悲、苦惱，大患陰集。又言此世間他造，又言此世間自造他造，又言此世間非自造非他造，忽然而有，亦復如是，因觸而有，無觸則無。」

“Some ascetics and priests make this statement, ‘The world created itself.’ Other ascetics and priests say, ‘The world was created by another.’ Others say, ‘It was created by itself and another.’ Others say, ‘It was neither created by itself nor by another. It spontaneously came into existence.’

“There are those ascetics and priests who say, ‘The world created itself.’ These ascetics and priests do so as a result of the dependent origination of contact. If they were separated from the causes of contact, saying that would be impossible. Why is that? Contact arises from the body of six senses. Feeling arises from contact. Craving arises from feeling. Grasping arises from craving. Existence arises from grasping. Birth arises from existence. Old, death, grief, sorrow, pain, and trouble arise from birth. This is the formation of the great mass of suffering.

“If the body of six senses doesn’t exist, then there’s no contact. If there’s no contact, there’s no feeling. If there’s no feeling, there’s no craving. If there’s no craving, there’s no grasping. If there’s no grasping, there’s no existence. If there’s no existence, there’s no birth. If there’s no birth, there are no old age, death, grief, sorrow, pain, and trouble, or the formation of that great mass of suffering.

“They also say, ‘This world is created by another.’ They also say, ‘This world is created by itself and by another.’ They also say, ‘This world is neither created by itself nor by another. It comes into existence spontaneously.’ These views are the same. They exist because of contact. Without contact, they wouldn’t exist.”