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Fuel

Translator: Bhikkhu Sujato

sn / sn12

Linked Discourses 12.11 · 2. Fuel

So I have heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. …

“Mendicants, these four fuels maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those about to be born. ^[1]

What four?

Edible food, whether solid or subtle; contact is the second, mental intention the third, and consciousness the fourth. ^[2]

These are the four fuels that maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those about to be born.

What is the source, origin, birthplace, and inception of these four fuels?

Craving. ^[3]

And what is the source, origin, birthplace, and inception of craving?

Feeling.

And what is the source of feeling?

Contact.

And what is the source of contact?

The six sense fields.

And what is the source of the six sense fields?

Name and form.

And what is the source of name and form?

Consciousness.

And what is the source of consciousness?

Choices.

And what is the source of choices?

Ignorance.

And so, mendicants, ignorance is a requirement for choices.

Choices are a requirement for consciousness. …

That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.

When ignorance fades away and ceases with no residue left behind, choices cease.

When choices cease, consciousness ceases. …

That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”

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[1] Āhāra (“fuel”, “food”, “nutriment”) means literally “intake”, and is etymologically parallel to upādāna (“grasping”, “uptake”). Both terms have dual senses, on the one hand denoting fuel or sustenance, and on the other grasping and attachment.

“About to be born” is sambhavesī, which I follow Norman and Bodhi in reading as a future active participle, although the commentary takes it in the sense “seeking” to be born. Compare such Sanskrit constructions as Rig Veda 1.66.8, yamo ha jāto yamo janitvaṁ (“the twin that is born and the twin about to be born”) and Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 2.3.1.24, bhūtaṁ caiva bhaviṣyacca jātaṁ ca janiṣyamāṇaṁ (“has become and will be, born and to be born”).

The phrase is one of several in the suttas that appears to indicate an intermediate state between one life and the next, despite the fact that this view is formally rejected by the Theravada Abhidhamma (Kv 8.2).

[2] Coarse edible food sustains the bodies of beings in the human and animal realms, while fine edible food sustains the gods and ancestors, a belief intertwined with the Vedic notion that the gods partake of the food offered in sacrifice (eg. Rig Veda 1.187).

“Contact” (phassa) is the interaction between the inner and outer worlds, allowing us to situate ourselves in a sensory world full of fears and joys, stimulating feeling and hence the craving for more.

“Volition” (manosañcetanā) allows us to act in the world revealed by the senses and secure further “fuel”.

“Consciousness” (viññāṇa) is aware of all this, experiencing suffering, and giving rise to a new “name and form” in a future life in a fruitless search to find a world free of pain. Thus the four “fuels” can be considered as a distinctive perspective on dependent origination.

[3] Āhāra is created by craving, just like upādāna in the standard sequence (MN 9:11.5, MN 38:16.1).