ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 27.17

27.17

“should there be an opportunity for you to answer questions, I would like to ask you about a few matters.”

“Kāśyapa,” the Blessed One replied, “a second and a third time you have insisted on discussing this. Inquire about whatever you wish, Kāśyapa.”

“Tell me, Gautama, is suffering created by itself?” he asked.

“Kāśyapa, I have not proclaimed that suffering is created by itself,” the Blessed One replied.

“Tell me, Gautama, is suffering created by another?”

“Kāśyapa, I have not proclaimed that suffering is created by another.”

“Tell me, Gautama, is suffering created both by itself and by another?”

“Kāśyapa, I have not proclaimed that suffering is created both by itself and by another.”

“What then, Gautama? If suffering is not created by itself, nor created by another, does it then not arise from a cause?”

“Kāśyapa, this too I have not proclaimed.”

“What then, Gautama? Aren’t you proclaiming that suffering is neither created by itself, nor created by another, nor arisen from a cause?”

“Kāśyapa, if you are asking whether suffering is created by itself, created by another, or whether or not it arises from a cause, my answer is that I did not proclaim this.”

“What then, Gautama? Is there no such thing as suffering?”

“Kāśyapa, it’s not that there is no suffering. It merely is.”

“Tell me, Gautama—if in fact suffering is self-created, can the Blessed One please teach me the Dharma by which I can come to know and see suffering?”

“Kāśyapa, if sensation were self-existent, and experience were also self-existent, then suffering would be created by itself. But this is not what I proclaim, Kāśyapa.

“Kāśyapa,