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SN 12.23 
Nidānavagga Saṁyutta (Connected Discourses Beginning with Causation) 
 
Nidāna Saṁyutta (Connected Discourses on Causation) 
Dasabala Vagga (The Section on the Ten Powers) 
 
Upanisa Sutta 
“Closely Tied To” 
 
Translated by Bhikkhu Candana 
Copyright © Bhikkhu Candana 2022 
At one time, the Blessed One was living in the monastery offered by Anāthapiṇḍika at Jeta’s 
Grove, in the city of Sāvatthi. 
 
“Bhikkhus, I declare that the destruction of the mental contaminants is for the one who knows 
and sees, not for the one who does not know and does not see. 
 
“But Bhikkhus, by knowing and seeing what can the mental contaminants be destroyed?  
 
“By understanding that this is material form, this is the arising of material form, and this is the 
fading away of material form. These are feelings, this is the arising of feelings, and this is the 
fading away of feelings. These are memories, this is the arising of memories, and this is the 
fading away of memories. These are habitual tendencies, this is the arising of habitual 
tendencies, and this is the fading away of habitual tendencies. This is sense awareness, this is the 
arising of sense awareness, and this is the fading away of sense awareness.  
 
Therefore, Bhikkhus, the destruction of the mental contaminants comes about for the one who 
sees and knows this.  
 
Yet, this knowledge of the destruction of the mental contaminants comes about through reliance 
and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does that knowledge arise in 
him that the mental contaminants have been destroyed? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Release (vimutti).  
 
“But Bhikkhus, release itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not come 
about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does release take place? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Dispassion (virāga).

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“But Bhikkhus, dispassion itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does dispassion take place? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Disenchantment 
(nibbidā).  
 
“But Bhikkhus, disenchantment itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does 
not come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does disenchantment take 
place? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Genuine 
Understanding of How Things Come to Be (yathābhūtañāṇadassana).  
 
“But Bhikkhus, genuine understanding of how things come to be itself is associated with and 
relies on another; therefore, it does not come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does the genuine 
understanding of how things come to be take place? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Collected 
Stability of the Mind (samādhi).  
 
“But Bhikkhus, collected stability of the mind itself is associated with and relies on another; 
therefore, it does not come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does the collected stability of 
the mind take place? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Happiness (sukha).  
 
“But Bhikkhus, happiness itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does happiness come about? 
 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Tranquility of 
Mind (passaddhi).  
 
“But Bhikkhus, tranquility of mind itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it 
does not come about without reliance and close association.

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“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does tranquility of mind come 
about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Spiritual Joy 
(pīti).  
“But Bhikkhus, Spiritual Joy itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does Spiritual Joy come 
about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Delight (pāmojja).  
“But Bhikkhus, delight itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not come 
about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does delight come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Confidence 
(saddhā).  
“But Bhikkhus, confidence itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does confidence come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Suffering (dukkha).  
“But Bhikkhus, suffering itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does suffering come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Rebirth (jāti).  
“But Bhikkhus, rebirth itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not come 
about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does rebirth come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Becoming 
(bhava).  
“But Bhikkhus, becoming itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association.

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“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does becoming come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Grabbing (upādāna).  
“But Bhikkhus, grabbing itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does grabbing come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Craving (taṇhā).  
“But Bhikkhus, craving itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does craving come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Feeling (vedanā).  
“But Bhikkhus, feeling itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not come 
about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does feeling come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Contact (phassa).  
“But Bhikkhus, contact itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not come 
about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does contact come about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Six Sense 
Spheres (salāyatana).  
“But Bhikkhus, the six sense spheres themselves are associated with and rely on another; 
therefore, they do not come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, do the six sense spheres come 
about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on 
Mentality/Materiality (nāmarūpa).  
“But Bhikkhus, mentality/materiality themselves are associated with and rely on another; 
therefore, they do not come about without reliance and close association.

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“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, do mentality/materiality come 
about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Sense Awareness 
(viññāṇa).  
“But Bhikkhus, sense awareness itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does 
not come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, does sense awareness come 
about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on the Habitual 
Tendencies (saṅkhāra).  
“But Bhikkhus, the habitual tendencies themselves are associated with and rely on another; 
therefore, they do not come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“And by closely associating with and relying on what, Bhikkhus, do habitual tendencies come 
about? 
“Here, Bhikkhus, it should be stated: it is by associating with and relying on Ignorance (avijjā).  
“But Bhikkhus, ignorance itself is associated with and relies on another; therefore, it does not 
come about without reliance and close association. 
 
“Thus, Bhikkhus, ignorance is closely tied to the habitual tendencies; the habitual tendencies are 
closely tied to sense awareness; sense awareness is closely tied to mentality/materiality; 
mentality/materiality is closely tied to the six sense spheres; the six sense spheres are closely tied 
to contact; contact is closely tied to feelings; feelings are closely tied to craving; craving is 
closely tied to grabbing; grabbing is closely tied to becoming; becoming is closely tied to rebirth; 
rebirth is closely tied to suffering; suffering is closely tied to confidence.  
 
“Meanwhile, confidence is closely tied to delight; delight is closely tied to joy; joy is closely tied 
to tranquility of mind; tranquility of mind is closely tied to happiness; happiness is closely tied to 
the collected stability of mind; the collected stability of mind is closely tied to the genuine 
understanding of how things come to be; the genuine understanding of how things come to be is 
closely tied to disenchantment; disenchantment is closely tied to dispassion; dispassion is closely 
tied to release; and release is closely tied to the knowledge of the destruction of mental 
contaminants. 
 
“Bhikkhus, just as the raindrops that fall on top of the mountain and course down to the 
lowlands, filling up the mountain grottoes, crevices, and small creeks, then that water flows 
further down and fills up small pools, the pools then turn into larger lakes, and those lakes pour 
into flowing streams, which then turn into small rivers that pour into larger rivers themselves, 
until finally, the overflowing rivers pour into the sea and out into the great oceans.

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“In just the same manner, Bhikkhus, ignorance is closely tied to the habitual tendencies; habitual 
tendencies are closely tied to sense awareness; sense awareness is closely tied to 
mentality/materiality; mentality/materiality is closely tied to the six sense spheres; the six sense 
spheres are closely tied to contact; contact is closely tied to feelings; feelings are closely tied to 
craving; craving is closely tied to grabbing; grabbing is closely tied to becoming; becoming is 
closely tied to rebirth; rebirth is closely tied to suffering; suffering is closely tied to confidence.  
 
“Meanwhile, confidence is closely tied to delight; delight is closely tied to joy; joy is closely tied 
to tranquility of mind; tranquility of mind is closely tied to happiness; happiness is closely tied to 
the collected stability of mind; the collected stability of mind is closely tied to the genuine 
understanding of how things come to be; the genuine understanding of how things come to be is 
closely tied to disenchantment; disenchantment is closely tied to dispassion; dispassion is closely 
tied to release; and release is closely tied to the knowledge of the destruction of mental 
contaminants. 
 
 
Sadhu 
 
Sadhu 
 
Sadhu
