Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

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This is the Buddha's first discourse after he reached Enlightenment. In this sutta, the Buddha discusses the Middle Way, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths.

This sutta is also popularly known simply as the Dhammacakka Sutta or the "Wheel of Dhamma Discourse" (Dhamma, 1997, p. ix).

Contents

[edit] Source

In Pāli literature, this sutta is contained in the Samyutta Nikaya, chapter 56 ("Saccasamyutta" or "Connected Discourses on the Truths"), sutta number 11. (Thus, a reference to this sutta can be abbreviated as "SN 56:11".)

[edit] English Title

"Dhamma" (Pāli) or "Dharma" (Sanskrit) can mean a variety of things depending on its context[1]; in this context, it refers to the Buddha's teachings or his "truth" that leads to ones liberation from suffering. "Chakka" (Pāli) or "chakra" (Sanskrit) can be translated as "wheel." The "dhammacakka," which can be translated as "Dhamma-Wheel," is a Buddhist symbol referring to Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment. "Pavattana" (Pāli) can be translated as "turning" or "rolling" or "setting in motion."

English translations of this sutta's full title include:

  • "Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma" (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 1843-7)
  • "Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth" (Piyadassi, 1999)[3]
  • "Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth" (Ñanamoli, 1993)[4]
  • "Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion" (Thanissaro, 1993)[5]
  • "Turning the Wheel of Dhamma" (Dhamma, 1997).

[edit] Contents

In this discourse, the Buddha addresses five monks[2] who attended to him just prior to his Enlightenment. [3] The Buddha cautions the monks against pursuing either of two extremes: worldly sensual pleasures or painful self-mortification. The Buddha refers to the path that avoids these extremes as the "Middle Way" (majjhimā patipadā).

The Buddha then states that the middle way he awakened to involves pursuing a "Noble Eightfold Path" (ariyo atthangiko maggo) that includes "right" (sammā) understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. This path leads to vision, knowledge, peace, enlightenment and Nibbana.

The Buddha then identifies the following "Four Noble Truths":

  1. Suffering (dukkho) involves birth, aging, illness, death, being with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing, not getting what one wants, and "in brief" the five aggregates-of-clinging (pancupādānakkhandhā).
  2. Suffering's origin (dukkhasamudayo) is craving (tanhā) for sensual pleasures, existence and extermination.
  3. Suffering's end (dukkhanirodho) comes from the relinquishment of and freedom from this craving.
  4. The path leading to suffering's end is the aforementioned Noble Eightfold Path.

These Four Noble Truths should be individually achieved in a threefold manner: the noble truth is recognized, its pursuit envisioned, its attainment fully achieved. The Buddha relays that, once he achieved each of the four truths in this threefold manner, he awakened to unsurpassed perfect "Enlightenment" (anuttaram sammāsambodhim ).

While each of the monks listening to the Buddha delighted in his words, one in particular, Ven. Kondanna, understood.

Thus the Dhamma-Wheel had been set unstoppably in motion.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ For instance, in the context of the objects of mindfulness, "dhamma" refers to "mental objects" (see, Satipatthana Sutta).
  2. ^ While the Pali text refers to the five as "bhikkhus" (which is typically translated as "monks"), there was no Sangha yet and these five individuals believed in practices of severe self-denial (see, for instance, the Mahasaccaka Sutta ["The Longer Discourse to Saccaka," MN 36][1]). Thus, some commentators refer to them as ascetics.
  3. ^ Prior to his Enlightenment, these monks became disgusted with and abandoned the bodhisatta (that is, the as-yet-unenlightened-person-who-was-to-become-a-Buddha) because he had accepted solid food to eat (see the Mahasaccaka Sutta ["The Longer Discourse to Saccaka," MN 36][2]).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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