‘When ignorance ceases, choices cease.’ That’s what I said. Is that how you see this or not?” “That’s how we see it.”
“Good, mendicants! So both you and I say this. When this doesn’t exist, this doesn’t come to be; due to the cessation of this, this ceases. That is: When ignorance ceases, choices cease. When choices cease, consciousness ceases. When consciousness ceases, name and form cease. When name and form cease, the six sense fields cease. When the six sense fields cease, contact ceases. When contact ceases, feeling ceases. When feeling ceases, craving ceases. When craving ceases, grasping ceases. When grasping ceases, continued existence ceases. When continued existence ceases, rebirth ceases. When rebirth ceases, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress cease. That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.