"The City", in which the Buddha Shows that His Teachings Evolved

Abstract

SN 12.65, "The City", contains two versions of dependent arising, one with ten links, one with eleven. Some have assumed that this was not original to the discourse, that perhaps it reflects two suttas combined. This paper proposes that the two schemes are part of one original sutta, and that the reason they are presented with differing numbers of links is evident from the sutta itself.