The Three Turnings of the Wheel (of Dharma) refers to a framework for understanding the sutra stream of the teachings of Buddhism. The distinction is a historic or quasi-historic scheme by which the Buddha's first sermons, as recorded in the Pali Canon and the tripitakas of other early schools, constitute the First Turning, and the later Mahayana sutras comprise the Second and Third turnings. The schema appears in the Samdhinirmochana Sutra, a central Yogachara text, although it may predate it.
The teachings of the Buddha can be divided into three vehicles which are the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. Another way is to look at them in terms of the sutra and the tantra level of teaching. The Sanskrit word sutra was translated into Tibetan as “teachings” or “explanation.” Generally, the sutra level of teachings contains all of the explanations, all the ways of presenting the vast meaning that the Buddha gave in his life of teachings. The other aspect is the tantra. When this Sanskrit word was translated into Tibetan, it became ju which means “continuum.” Sometimes it is called mantra which in Tibetan is nga. The tantras of the Vajrayana are generally not included under the Three Turnings. The model of three turnings of the 'Wheel' is an attempt to categorise the content, philosophical view, and practical application of the whole array of Buddhist sutrayana teachings.
The first turning is traditionally said to have taken place at Deer Park in Sarnath near Varanasi in northern India near Nepal, 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 sect, which is a later composition not taught by the Buddha, and contains philosophy which is antithetical, one may say, to the early teachings.
The second turning is said to have taken place at Vulture Peak Mountain in Rajagriha, in Bihar, India. The audience comprised bodhisattvas; in some telling there were also shravaka arhats there as well, who promptly had heart attacks and died from the shock of the new teachings. In the second turning, the emphasis is on emptiness (Skt: śūnyāta) as epitomised in the Prajnaparamita sutras, and on compassion (Skt: karuṇā). These two elements form bodhicitta, the epitome of the second turning. The Madhyamika school that Nagarjuna founded arose from his exegesis of the early texts and is included under the second turning. Nagarjuna attacked the metaphysics of the Sarvastivada sect and a sect which broke away from it called Sautrantika, and promoted, among other things, the classical emphasis on the dependent arising of phenomena of the early texts.
The third turning was also delivered to an audience of bodhisattvas in Shravasti and other Indian locations (e.g. in Kusinagara, to Bodhisattvas and onlooking Buddhas, in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) – or even in transcendental Buddha realms (in the Avatamsaka Sutra). The focal point of the third turning is Buddha nature and particularly the Tathāgatagarbha doctrine. This was elaborated on in great detail by Maitreya via Asanga in the Five Treatises of Maitreya, which are also generally grouped under the third turning. The Yogachara school reoriented later refinements, in all their complexity, so as to accord with the doctrines of earliest Buddhism.
we are left without the Great Teacher. But He left us His teaching "Dhamma" as our teacher. So it obliges our good actions in preserving it without omitting or adding a word.
But humans are weirdo egoists. They altered the Great Dhamma - more or less. They caused chasms. They manipulated the good cause into their own interests.
But the good always prevail. Of course evil always overwhelms the world but it doesn't mean there wouldn't be any good person. So is Buddhism preserved as original as possible by those good.
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It branched and slowly spread out of India and Nepal.
The Three Turnings of the Wheel (of Dharma) refers to a framework for understanding the sutra stream of the teachings of Buddhism. The distinction is a historic or quasi-historic scheme by which the Buddha's first sermons, as recorded in the Pali Canon and the tripitakas of other early schools, constitute the First Turning, and the later Mahayana sutras comprise the Second and Third turnings. The schema appears in the Samdhinirmochana Sutra, a central Yogachara text, although it may predate it.
The teachings of the Buddha can be divided into three vehicles which are the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. Another way is to look at them in terms of the sutra and the tantra level of teaching. The Sanskrit word sutra was translated into Tibetan as “teachings” or “explanation.” Generally, the sutra level of teachings contains all of the explanations, all the ways of presenting the vast meaning that the Buddha gave in his life of teachings. The other aspect is the tantra. When this Sanskrit word was translated into Tibetan, it became ju which means “continuum.” Sometimes it is called mantra which in Tibetan is nga. The tantras of the Vajrayana are generally not included under the Three Turnings. The model of three turnings of the 'Wheel' is an attempt to categorise the content, philosophical view, and practical application of the whole array of Buddhist sutrayana teachings.
The first turning is traditionally said to have taken place at Deer Park in Sarnath near Varanasi in northern India near Nepal, 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 sect, which is a later composition not taught by the Buddha, and contains philosophy which is antithetical, one may say, to the early teachings.
The second turning is said to have taken place at Vulture Peak Mountain in Rajagriha, in Bihar, India. The audience comprised bodhisattvas; in some telling there were also shravaka arhats there as well, who promptly had heart attacks and died from the shock of the new teachings. In the second turning, the emphasis is on emptiness (Skt: śūnyāta) as epitomised in the Prajnaparamita sutras, and on compassion (Skt: karuṇā). These two elements form bodhicitta, the epitome of the second turning. The Madhyamika school that Nagarjuna founded arose from his exegesis of the early texts and is included under the second turning. Nagarjuna attacked the metaphysics of the Sarvastivada sect and a sect which broke away from it called Sautrantika, and promoted, among other things, the classical emphasis on the dependent arising of phenomena of the early texts.
The third turning was also delivered to an audience of bodhisattvas in Shravasti and other Indian locations (e.g. in Kusinagara, to Bodhisattvas and onlooking Buddhas, in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) – or even in transcendental Buddha realms (in the Avatamsaka Sutra). The focal point of the third turning is Buddha nature and particularly the Tathāgatagarbha doctrine. This was elaborated on in great detail by Maitreya via Asanga in the Five Treatises of Maitreya, which are also generally grouped under the third turning. The Yogachara school reoriented later refinements, in all their complexity, so as to accord with the doctrines of earliest Buddhism.
Split into 3 branches of Buddhism.
we are left without the Great Teacher. But He left us His teaching "Dhamma" as our teacher. So it obliges our good actions in preserving it without omitting or adding a word.
But humans are weirdo egoists. They altered the Great Dhamma - more or less. They caused chasms. They manipulated the good cause into their own interests.
But the good always prevail. Of course evil always overwhelms the world but it doesn't mean there wouldn't be any good person. So is Buddhism preserved as original as possible by those good.
For some it became a "gospel" which many developed an "attachement" for and so prolonged their suffering.
There was one less person practicing it
idk prob took off his pants and put a new pair on