Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha traveled to the country of Śrāvastī and stayed at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove.

It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “There are three fording places of different clans, different names, different traditions, and different teachings. That is to say, they are well accepted, firmly held, and taught to others by wise people, but they aren’t profitable. What are the three?

“Some ascetics and priests have a view and a teaching that says the cause of everything a person does is created by their previous lives. Again, some ascetics and priests have a view and a teaching that says the cause of everything a person does is created by the Lord God. Again, some ascetics and priests have a view and a teaching that says that there is no cause or condition for anything a person does.

“Now, if some ascetic or priest had a view and a teaching that said the cause of everything a person does is created by their previous lives, I would visit them. Upon arriving, I would then ask, ‘Venerables, is it true that you have a view and a teaching that says the cause of everything a person does is created by their previous lives?’

“They would answer, ‘That’s right.’

“I would again say to them, ‘If that’s so, then you Venerables are all killers of living things. Why is that? Because the cause of all that is created by your previous lives. Thus, you Venerables take what’s not given … engage in wrong sex … speak falsely … up to … have wrong views. Why is that? Because the cause of all that is created by your previous lives.

“‘Venerables, if someone truly has the view that the cause of all this is created by previous lives, that would be an internal cause for them to do what shouldn’t be done. None of them would have any desire or make any effort. Venerables, if they do what they shouldn’t, and they don’t truly know it, then they’d lose their right mindfulness and have no right knowledge. Then, they’d be impossible to instruct.’ When an ascetic’s teaching makes such a claim, that ascetic or priest can be defeated with reason.

“Now, if some ascetic or priest had a view and a teaching that said the cause of everything a person does is created by the Lord God, I would visit them. Upon arriving, I would then ask, ‘Venerables, is it true that you have a view and a teaching that says the cause of everything a person does is created by the Lord God?’

“They would answer, ‘That’s right.’

“Again, I would say to them, ‘If that’s so, Venerables, all of you are killers of living things. Why is that? Because the cause of all that is created by God. Thus, Venerables, you take what’s not given … engage in wrong sex … speak falsely … up to … have wrong views. Why is that? Because the cause of all that is created by God.

“‘Venerables, if someone truly has the view that the cause of all this is created by God, that would be an internal cause for them to do what shouldn’t be done. None of them would have any desire or make any effort. Venerables, if they do what they shouldn’t, and they don’t truly know it, then they’d lose their right mindfulness and have no right knowledge. Then, they’d be impossible to instruct.’ When an ascetic’s teaching makes such a claim, that ascetic or priest can be defeated with reason.

“Now, if some ascetic or priest had a view and a teaching that said there is no cause or condition for anything a person does, I would visit them. Upon arriving, I would then ask, ‘Venerables, is it true that you have a view and a teaching that says there is no cause or condition for anything a person does?’

“They would answer, ‘That’s right.’

“Again, I would say to them, ‘If that’s so, Venerables, all of you are killers of living beings. Why is that? Because there’s no cause or condition for any of that. Thus, Venerables, you take what’s not given … engage in wrong sex … speak falsely … up to … have wrong views. Why is that? Because there’s no cause or condition for any of that.

“‘Venerables, if someone truly has the view that there’s no cause or condition for any of this, that would be an internal cause for them to do what shouldn’t be done. None of them would have any desire or make any effort. Venerables, if they do what they shouldn’t, and they don’t truly know it, then they’d lose their right mindfulness and have no right knowledge. Then, they’d be impossible to instruct.’ When an ascetic’s teaching makes such a claim, that ascetic or priest can be defeated with reason.

“No ascetic, priest, god like Māra or Brahmā, or any other worldly person can defeat, defile, or overcome this Dharma that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you. How is it that no ascetic, priest, god like Māra or Brahmā, or any other worldly person can defeat, defile, or overcome this Dharma that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you? ‘There are six senses’ is a principle that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you, which no ascetic, priest, god like Māra or Brahmā, or any other worldly person can defeat, defile, or overcome. Again, ‘there are six elements’ is a principle that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you, which no ascetic, priest, god like Māra or Brahmā, or any other worldly person can defeat, defile, or overcome.

“What is the principle of the six senses that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you? They are the sense of the eye … ear … nose … tongue … body … sense of the mind. This is the principle of the six senses that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you. What is the principle of the six elements that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you? They are the element of earth … water … fire … air … space, and element of awareness. This is the principle of six elements that I’ve known and realized myself and teach for you.

“One is born in a mother’s womb because these six elements come together. As a result of these six elements, the six senses exist. As a result of these six senses, there is contact. As a result of contact, there is feeling. Monks, if someone has feeling, then they will truly know suffering … the formation of suffering … the cessation of suffering, and truly know the path to suffering’s cessation.”

“How do they truly know suffering? It’s the suffering of birth, suffering of old age, suffering of illness, suffering of death, suffering of associating with what’s disliked, suffering of being separated from what’s loved, and suffering of not getting what’s sought. In brief, it’s the suffering of the five proliferating aggregates. This is truly knowing suffering.

“How do they truly know the formation of suffering? ‘This craving will get a future existence, bring me together with delight and desires, and seek this or that existence.’ This is truly knowing the formation of suffering.

“How do they truly know the cessation of suffering? ‘This craving will get a future existence, bring me together with delight and desires, and seek this or that existence’: They eliminate this [craving] without remainder and abandon, reject, exhaust, and have no desire for it. It ceases, stops, and disappears. This is truly knowing the cessation of suffering.

“How is the path to suffering’s cessation truly known? It’s the eightfold noble path: Right view … up to … right samādhi are the eight. This is truly knowing the path to suffering’s cessation.

“Monks, you should truly know suffering, should eliminate the formation of suffering, should realize the cessation of suffering, and should cultivate the path to suffering’s cessation. If a monk truly knows suffering, eliminates the formation of suffering, realizes the cessation of suffering, and cultivates the path to suffering’s cessation, this is a monk who has ended all the contaminants. Once he is freed from the bonds, he can reach the end of suffering with right knowledge.”

This is what the Buddha said. Those monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.