[131] "What now, venerable sir, is existence (bhava), and for whom is this existence?"
"It is not a fitting question," the Blessed One said. "Bhikkhu, whether one should say, 'What is existence, and for whom is this existence?' or whether one should say, 'Existence is one thing, and this existence belongs to another' — both of these are the same in meaning; they differ only in the phrasing. Bhikkhu, when there is the view 'the soul (jīva) and the body are the same,' there is no living of the holy life (brahmacariya); and, bhikkhu, when there is the view 'the soul is one thing, the body another,' there is no living of the holy life. Bhikkhu, without approaching either of these two extremes, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle: 'With clinging (upādāna) as condition, existence' … 'With craving (taṇhā) as condition, clinging' … 'With feeling (vedanā) as condition, craving' … 'With contact (phassa) as condition, feeling' … 'With the six sense bases (saḷāyatana) as condition, contact' … 'With name-and-form (nāmarūpa) as condition, the six sense bases' … 'With consciousness (viññāṇa) as condition, name-and-form' … 'With volitional formations (saṅkhārā) as condition, consciousness.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.