འཕགས་པ་བགྲས་མས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 2

2

the Bhagavān, bowed her head at his feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān three times, and sat to one side.

Bowing with her palms together in the direction of the Bhagavān, the woman then asked him, “O Bhagavān, where does birth come from? Where does aging come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does sickness come from? Where does death come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does form come from? Where do sensation, notions, formative factors, and consciousness come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does the earth element come from? Where do the water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element, and the element of consciousness come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does the eye come from? Where do the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind come from? Where do they go?”

The Bhagavān replied, “Sister, birth does not come from anywhere. Aging does not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, sickness does not come from anywhere. Death does not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, form does not come from anywhere. Sensation, notions, formative factors, and consciousness do not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, the earth element does not come from anywhere. The water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element, and the element of consciousness do not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, the eye does not come from anywhere. The ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind do not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere.

“Sister, it is as follows: As an analogy, a fire arises based on a stick to rub with, a stick to rub on, and also a person’s effort to generate it. That fire, moreover, once it has burnt the grass and wood, will have no more causes and will die. Sister, where do you think the fire comes from and where does it go?”

She answered, “O Bhagavān, that fire comes into being owing to the power of a collection of causes. It ceases and dies when it lacks the collection of causes.”

“Sister,” said the Bhagavān, “likewise, all phenomena