[266] "Well then, friend, I shall make a simile for you; for by means of a simile some wise persons here understand the meaning of what is said. Just as, friend, two sheaves of reeds might stand leaning against each other, even so, friend, with name-and-form (nāmarūpa) as condition there is consciousness (viññāṇa); with consciousness as condition, name-and-form; with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases (saḷāyatana); with the six sense bases as condition, contact (phassa) … Thus is the origin of this whole mass of suffering (dukkha).
"If, friend, one were to pull away one of those sheaves of reeds, the other would fall; and if one were to pull away the other, the first would fall. Even so, friend, with the cessation of name-and-form comes the cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, the cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, the cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, the cessation of contact … Thus is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.