Thus have I heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.

It was then that the Bhagavān addressed Venerable Ānanda, “Suppose a faithful prominent man or a prominent man’s son comes and asks you, ‘How shall I know the arising and ceasing of things?’ How would you answer him?”

Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Bhagavān, if some prominent man or a prominent man’s son came and asked me that, I would answer, ‘Know that form is something that arises and ceases. Know that feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is something that arises and ceases.’ Bhagavān, if a prominent man or a prominent man’s son thus questions me, I would answer him in this way.”

The Buddha told Ānanda, “Good, good! You should answer him in this way. Why is that? Form is something that arises and ceases. Feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is something that arises and ceases. Knowing that form is something that arises and ceases is called knowing form. Knowing that feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is something that arises and ceases is called knowing feeling … conception … volition … consciousness.”

After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.