Dharmacakrapravartanasutram

“Alas! This truth that I realised and awakened to is profound, peaceful, tranquil, calm, complete, hard to see, hard to comprehend, and impossible to conceptualise since it is inaccessible to the intellect. Only wise noble ones and adepts can understand it. It is the complete and definite apprehension of the abandonment of all aggregates, the end of all sensations, the absolute truth, and freedom

from a foundation. It is a state of complete peace, free of clinging, free of grasping, unobserved, undemonstrable, and ineffable. It is indescribable, inexpressible, and incapable of being illustrated. It is unobstructed, beyond all references, a state of interruption through the path of tranquility, and imperceptible like emptiness. It is the exhaustion of craving and it is cessation free of desire. It is nirvana. If I were to teach this truth to others, they would not understand it. Teaching the truth would tire me out and be wrongly contested, and it would be futile. Thus I will remain silent and keep this truth in my heart.”

Lalitavistara Sutra

Thus spoke the Buddha shortly after His enlightenment, in response to the Lord Brahma’s exhortation to teach His newly-realised Truth. But so intense were Brahma’s supplications that the Buddha, generating boundless compassion, finally acquiesced to his request, and determined that He would teach His Dharma

to those with little dust in their eyes. As the stage for this historic happening, the Buddha chose the hallowed Deer Park in Varanasi.

Pondering upon whom He would first impart this priceless teaching, His mind settled upon his former five companions in austerities, who were still pursuing their ascetic practices at Sarnath. And so the Buddha set off for Varanasi, stopping here and there in order to satisfy the many eager invitations to stop and rest at the homes of devotees. As He reached the shores of the

Ganges, he was accosted by the local ferryman, who demanded his crossing fee. The Buddha answered that he was carrying no money and, without further ado, flew across the river, leaving the ferry man utterly perplexed and repentant. When he was told of this incident, King Bimbisara then and there abolished the crossing

fee for monks. As the Buddha approached the Deer Park, his former five companions caught sight of Him and, resentlful that He had abandoned them and their abstemious path, resolved to ignore Him. But, as the Holy One came nearer, the five were so mesmerised by His countenance that they couldn’t help but throw themselves at His feet and confess their wrong behaviour.

To pay tribute to the Buddha’s decision to Turn the Wheel of Dharma, all the gods adorned the universe with wondrous signs and and offered the Enlightened One many millions of lion thrones, while numberless bodhisattvas of the past appeared before Him and payed homage, adding their ardent entreaties for the Holy One to blow the great conch of the Dharma.

And so, that very night, the Buddha preached His first sermon to the five adepts, expounding His view of the Middle Way through the teaching of the Four Noble Truths, the Eight-Fold Noble Path and the Twelve Aspects of Interdependent Origination. In this most profound teaching of the Four Truths,

the Buddha described how the very nature of all conditioned existence is suffering, samsara, and proceded to explain that the cause of our suffering is our false belief that we, and all phenomena, have an inherent, independent existence. The Buddha then added that there is a definitive cure for our suffering and that this cure, nirvana, is to be found in our adherence to the Eight-Fold Noble Path.

“Monks, there are two extremes that you should avoid when you have taken ordination. First do not follow self-indulgence, which is shallow, worldly, ordinary, unworthy of a noble one, and attended by undesired consequences. In the long run it will prevent you from practicing your religion. You will become distracted and unable to develop nonattachment. You will not enter into the state of cessation nor develop higher knowledge, or attain the perfect awakening of nirvana. On the other hand, straying from the middle way, you will not pass beyond suffering. If you mistreat your body so that it suffers and is harmed, you will face difficulties as can be observed right now, and in the future even further misery will fall on you.

“Monks, the Bliss-Gone One teaches the Dharma by showing the middle way that does not fall into either of the two extremes. The Dharma that he teaches is one of correct view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. “Monks, there are also four truths of the noble ones. What are these four? Suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.

“What is suffering? It is the pain that accompanies birth, growing old, falling sick, and dying. It also includes the suffering of meeting the unpleasant and parting from the pleasant. Not finding what is being sought is also suffering. In short the five perpetuating aggregates are suffering. This is what we call suffering.

“What is the origin of suffering? It is the craving that perpetuates existence, which is attended upon by the passion for enjoyment, and which finds pleasures here and there. This is the origin of suffering.

“What is the cessation of suffering? It is the complete and dispassionate cessation of craving that perpetuates existence, which is attended upon by the passion for enjoyment, and which finds pleasures here and there. This is the cessation of suffering.

“What is the path that leads to the cessation of suffering? It is exclusively the eightfold path of the noble ones. This is the path that starts with correct view and ends with correct concentration. It is called ‘the path that leads to the cessation of suffering - a noble truth. “Monks, these four truths are the truths of the noble ones.

“Monks, this teaching I had not heard previously. I understood it by intensely and introspectively focusing my mind on suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest.

“Monks, this teaching I had not heard previously. I understood it by focusing intently on the origin of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding,

intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest.

“Monks, this teaching I had not heard previously. I understood it by focusing intently on the cessation of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest. “Monks, this teaching I had not heard previously. I understood it by focusing intently on the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest.

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, suffering must be known. This I understood by focusing intently on suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest.

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, the origin of suffering must be abandoned. This I understood by focusing intently on the origin of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest. “Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, the cessation of suffering must be actualized. This I understood by focusing intently on the cessation of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest.

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, the path that leads to the cessation of suffering must be practiced. This I understood by focusing intently on the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge, and insight became manifest.

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, I have fully understood suffering. This I did by focusing intently on suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge and insight became manifest.

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, I have abandoned the origin of suffering. This I did by focusing intently on the origin of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge and insight became manifest.

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, I have actualized the cessation of suffering. This I did by focusing intently on the cessation of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge and insight became manifest

“Monks, within this teaching that I had not heard previously, I have practiced the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. This I did by focusing intently on the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. In this way my wisdom, vision, understanding, intellect, intelligence, knowledge and insight became manifest.

“Monks, in this way I genuinely contemplated each of the four truths of the noble ones while I recited them three times. Still I did not develop the wisdom that sees their twelve aspects. Monks, therefore I did not make any claims of having awakened to unsurpassable, perfect and complete buddhahood, and I still lacked the insight of wisdom.

“However, monks, once I had recited the four truths of the noble ones three times, I developed the wisdom that sees their twelve aspects. At that point my mind was free and my insight was now free and pure. Monks, at that point I declared that I had awakened to unsurpassable, perfect and complete buddhahood. My wisdom vision had been developed, my births had been exhausted, I had carried out my religious practice, I had done what needed to be done, and I will not have another life.”