chos 'khor dang po

1st turning of the wheel of dharma [IW]

First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. The teachings focusing on renunciation, karma, and the four noble truths. (RY)

First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, first promulgation at Sarnath. (RY)

1st Turning of the Wheel of Dharma [at Sarnath in the Deer Park]. [IW]

The First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. The first of the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, chos 'khor gsum. The first turning is traditionally said to have taken place at Deer Park in Sarnath near Varanasi in northern India, to an audience of shravakas. It consisted of the teaching of the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: catvāry āryasatyāni) and the other elements of the Tripitaka – the Abhidharma, Sutrapitaka and Vinaya. The Abhidharma referred to is the Abhidharma Pitaka of the Sarvastivada school, which is a later composition not taught by the Buddha, and contains philosophy which is antithetical, one may say, to the early teachings. The first turning is mainly concerned with abandoning negative actions of the body, speech and mind. The first turning of the wheel of Dharma by the Buddha took place at the site of Sarnath outside Varanasi, and it was accomplished through a sutta known as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the sutta of, or the Discourse of the Turning of the Wheel of Dharma that was delivered to the Buddha’s five initial disciples. The initial teachings of that sūtra are elaborated in enormous detail by the succeeding Pali texts: the discourses that the Buddha gave for the next forty-five years of his human life on earth, as well as in the Pali commentaries and scholastic texts. [Erick Tsiknopoulos]