[138] Bhikkhus, if anyone should say, "What is aging and death (jarāmaraṇa), and whose is this aging and death?" — or, bhikkhus, if anyone should say, "Aging and death is one thing, and the one to whom this aging and death belongs is another" — both these assertions are identical in meaning; they differ only in the phrasing. Bhikkhus, when there is the view "the soul (jīva) and the body (sarīra) are the same," there is no living of the holy life (brahmacariya); and, bhikkhus, when there is the view "the soul is one thing, the body another," there is no living of the holy life. Bhikkhus, without veering toward either of these two extremes, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle: "With birth as condition, aging and death" … What is birth? … What is existence (bhava)? … What is clinging (upādāna)? … What is craving (taṇhā)? … What is feeling (vedanā)? … What is contact (phassa)? … What are the six sense bases (saḷāyatana)? … What is name-and-form (nāmarūpa)? … What is consciousness? …
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.