The Great Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma

Part I

THE WHEEL OF DHAMMA

FIRST PART

(Delivered on the New Moon day of Tawthalin, 1324, Myanmar Era).

Reverence to that Blessed One, the Exaulted One, the supremely Enlightened.

PREFACE TO THE DISCOURSE

Today is the New Moon day of Tawthalin. Beginning from today, we will expound the First Sermon of the Blessed One, namely the Dhamma Cakkappavattana Sutta commonly known as the Great. Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma.

Being the First Sermon ever delivered by the Blessed One, it is the most ancient and the most straight forward of His Teachings. Rare is the person, amongst the laity of this Buddhist country of the Union of Myanmar, who has not heard of, this discourse, Numerous are those who have committed this Sutta to memory. There are m almost every town and village, religious groups under the name of "the Wheel of Dhamma Reciting Society", devoted to group recitation of the Sutta and listening to it. The Buddhist followers regard this Sutta with great esteem and veneration as it was the First Dispensation of the Blessed One.

There are now m existence numerous Nissaya or other forms of translation, explaining and interpreting the Pali of the Sutta in Burmese. But there is scarcely any work which explicily shows what practical methods are available from the Sutta and how they could be utilized by the ardent, sincere meditators who aspire to gain the Path and its Fruition.

We ourselves have expounded this Sutta on numerous occasions, emphasising on its practical application to meditation. We formally opened this (yangon) Meditation Centre with a discourse of this Sutta end have repeatedly delivered the Sermon in this place.

Elsewhere too wherever a Meditation Centre was newly opened, we always employed this Sutta as an inaugural discourse.

The Buddhist Canon has three main divisions - The three Baskets or Ti Pitaka in Pali: (1) The Sutta Pitaka or the Sermon Basket; (2) The Vinaya Pitaka or the Discipline Basket; (3) The Abidhamma Pitaka or the Analytical and Philosophical Basket. The Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma is included in the Sutta Pitaka which is made up of the five Nikayas, namely, the Digha Nikaya, the Majjhima Nikaya, the samyutta Nikaya, the Anguttara Nikaya and Khuddaka Nikaya.

The Samyutta Nikaya is divided into five groups known as Vaggas: (a) Sagathdvagga (b) Nidanavagga (c) Khandavagga (d) Salayatanavagga and (e) Mahavagga The Mahdavagga is divided again into 12 subgroups such as Maggasamyutta, Bojjhan-gasamyutta, Satipatthanasamyutta etc., the last of which being Sacca-samyutta.

The Wheel of Dhamma appears as the first discourse in the second vagga of the subgroups Saccasamyutta and it was recited as such in the proceedings of the Sixth Great Council. In the Sixth Great Council edition of the Tri Pitaka, it is recorded on pages 368371 of the third volume of the Samyutta Pitaka. There the mtroduction to the Discourse reads: "Evam me sutam, ekam samayam ..... thus have I heard. At one time ....."

These wefe the introductory words uttered by the venerable Ananda when interrogated by the Ven. Mahakassapa at the First Council held just over 3 months after the passing away of the Blessed One. The Ven. Mahakassapa said to the Ven. Ananda:

"Friend Ananda, where was the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta delivered? By whom was it delivered and on whose account? And how was it delivered?" The Ven. Ananda answered, "My Lord, Ven. Mahakassapa. Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying at the Sage's Resort, the Pleasance of Isipatana, (where Pacceka Buddhas and Enlightened Ones alighted from the sky), in the deer Sanctuary, in the township of Benares. Then the Blessed One addressed the group of five Bhikkhus.'These two extremes.

Bhikkhus, should not be followed by one who has gone forth from the worldly life"

THE DATE OF THE DISCOURSE

This introduction lacks a definite date of delivery of the Discourse, As in all other Suttas, the date was mentioned merely as "Once" or "At One Time". A precise chronological data as to the year, the month and the date on which each Discourse was delivered would have been very helpful. But chronological details would appear to be an encumbrance to committing the Suttas to memory and to their recitation. Thus it is not easy to place a precise date for each the Suttas.

It should, however, be possible to work out the exact date on which Dhammacakka Sutta was delivered because it was the First Sermon of the Blessed One and also because reference could be made to internal evidences provided in other Suttas and Vinaya Pitakas. ..... The Buddha attained Supreme Enlightenment on the night of the Full Moon of Kason in the year 103 of the Great Era. Then He preached this Dhammacakka Sutta in the early evening on the Full Moon day of the following Waso. It is exactly 2506 years now in this year 1324 of the Burmese Era since the Buddha's final Pannibbana. had taken place. Adding on the 45 years of dispensation before Parinibbana, it would total up to 2551 years. Thus it was on the First Watch of the Full Moon of Waso, 2551 years ago that this First Sermon was delivered by the Blessed One. The westem scholars regard this estimation as 60 years too early. According to their calculation, it was only 2491 years ago that the First Sermon was preached. As the event of the Tuming of the Wheel took place in the East, we would rather go by the oriental calculation and regard the First Sermon as being taught 2551 years ago.

The deer park, in which the deers were given sanctuary, must have been a forested area with deers roaming about harmlessly. At present, however, the area has been depleted of forest trees and has become an open plain with cultivated patches sur-

rounding human habitations. In ancient times, Paccekabuddhas travetled im space by supematural powers from the Gandhamdadana Mountain and descended to earth at this isolated place. Likewise, the Enlightened Ones of the dim past came here by magical flights and alighted on this same spot to preach the First Sermon. Hence the name Hermitage or the Sage’s Resort.

The Introduction to the Sutta says the Blessed One préached the First Sermon to the group of five Bhikkhus wdhile he was staying in the pleasance of the deer Sanctuary in the township of Benares. That is all the information that could be obtained from the introductory statement which is bare and inadequate. It needs some elaboration and we propose to provide one by drawing materials from other Suttas also.

THREE KINDS OF INTRODUCTIONS

The imtroduction to a sutta explains on whose or what account the Sutta was taught by the Buddha. Introductions are of three kinds. (a) The mtroduction which gives the background story of the

remote distant past. This provides an account of how

Bodhisatta, the future Buddha, fulfilled the perfections re-

quired of an aspirant Buddha, beginning from the time of

prophecy proclaimed by Dipankara Buddha to the time when

he was rebom in the Tusita Heaven as a king of the Devas

named Setaketu. There is no need nor time to deal more

with this background story of the distant past.

(b) The introduction touching on the background story of the

intermediate period. This deals with the account of what

passed from the time of existence in the Tutisé Heaven to

the attainment of Full Enlightenment on the Throne of

Wisdom. We shall give attention to this mtroduction to a

considerable extent. (c) The introduction which tells of the recent past, just preceeding

the teaching of the Dhammacakka Sutta. This is what is

leamt from the statement "Thus have I heard. At one time. .."

quoted above.

We shall deal now with relevant extracts from the second category of introductions, drawing our materials from Sukhumala Sutta of Tika mpata, Anguttara Nikaya, Pasarasi or Ariyapariyesana Sutta and Mahasaccaka Sutta of Mulapannasa; Bodhirajakumara sutta and Sangarava Sutta of Majjhimapannasa; Pabbajja Sutta, Padhana Sutta of Suttanipata and many other Suttas.

BODHISATTA AND WORLDLY PLEASURES

After the Bodhisatta had passed away from the Heaven of Tusita, the entered the womb of Mahamaya Devi, the Principle Queen of King Suddhodana of Kapilavatthu. The Bodhisatta was bom on Friday, the full moon of Kason in the year 68 of the Great Era, in the pleasure-grove of Sal trees called Lumbini Grove and was named Siddhattha. At the age of sixteen, he was married to Yasodaya Devi. daughter of Suppabuddha, the Royal Master of Devadaha. Thereafter, surrounded by forty thousand attendant pnncesses, he lived in enjoyment of kingly pleasures in great magnificence

While he was thus wholly given over to sensuous pleasure amidst pomp and splendour, he came out one day accompanied by attendants to the royal pleasure-grove for a garden feast and merrymaking. On the way to the grove, the sight of the decrepit, aged person gave him a shock and he tumed back to his palace. As he «went out on a second occasion he saw a_ person who was sick with disease and retumed greatly alarmed. When he sallied forth for the third time, he was agitated in heart on seeing a dead man and hurriedly retraced his steps. The alarms and agitations that set upon the Bodhisatta were described in the Anyapariyesana Sutta.

THE IGNOBLE QUEST

The Bodhisatta pondered thus; "When oneself is subjected to old age. to seek and crave for what is subjected to old age is not

befitting. And what are subjected to old age? Wife and children, slaves, goats and sheep, fowls and pigs, elephants, horses, cattle, gold and silver, all objects of pleasures and luxuries , animate and inanimate are subjected to old age. Being oneself subjected to old age, to crave for these objects of pleasures, to be enveloped and immersed in them is not proper."

"Similarly, it does not befit one, when oneself is subjected to disease and death, to crave for sensual objects which are subjected to disease and death. To go after what is subjected to old age, disease and death (what is not befitting and proper) constitutes an Ignoble Quest (Anariyapariyessana).”

THE NOBLE QUEST

"Being oneself subjected to old age, disease and death, to go in search of that which is not subjected to old age, disease and death constitutes a Noble Quest (Anyapariyesana).”

That Bodhisatta himself was engaged at first in Ignoble Quests was described in the Sutta as follows:-

"Now Bhikkhus, before my Enlightenment while I was only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, being myself subject to birth I sought after what was also subject to birth; ‘being myself subject to old age | sought after what was also subject to old age."

This was a denunciation or stricture of the life of pleasure he had lived with Yasodaya amidst the gay society of attendant princesses. ‘Then, having perceived the wretchedness of such life, he made up his mindto go in search of the Peace of Nibbana which is free from buth, old age, disease and death. He said, "Having perceived the wretchedness of being myself subject to birth, old age, ‘it occurred to me it would be fitting if I were to seek the incomparable, unsurpassed Peace of Nibbana, free from birth. and old age."

Thus it occurred to the Bodhisatta to go in quest of Nibbanic Peace, which 1s free from old age, disease and death. That was a very laudable aim and we shall consider it further to see

clearly how it was so.

Suppose there was some one who was already old and decrepit. Would it be wise for him to seek the company of another man or woman who like himself was aged and frail; or of someone, who though not advanced in age yet would surely tum old in no time? No, not at all judicious.

Again, for someone who was himself in declining health and suffering, it would be quite irrational if he were to seek for companionship in another who was ill and afflicted with painful disease. Companionship with someone who though enjoying good health presently would soon be troubled with illness, would not be prudent either There are even those who hoping to enjoy each other's company for life got into wedlock and settled down Unfortunately, one of the partners soon becomes a bed-ridden invalid. imposing on the other the onerous duty of looking after the stricken mate. The hope of a happy married life may be dashed when one of the partners passes away leaving only sorrow and lamentation for the bereaved one. Ultimately both of thecouple would be faced with the misery of old age, disease and death.

Thus it is extremely unwise to go after sensual pleasures which are subject to old age, disease and death The most noble quest is to seek out what is not subject to old age. disease and death Here at_this Meditation Cenire, it is a matter for gratification that the devotees; monks and laymen, are all engaged in the noblest quest-the quest for the unageing, the unailing and the deathless

THE RENUNCIATION OF THE BODHISATTA

On his fourth excursion to the Pleasure-grove. the Bodhisatta met with a monk. On leaming from the monk that he had gone forth from the worldly life and was engaged in meritorious pursuits. it occurred to the Bodhisatta to renounce the wourld. become a recluse and go in search of what is not subject to old age, disease and death When he had gained what he had set out for, his intention was to pass on the knowledge to the world so that other

beings would also leam to be free from misery of being subject to old age, disease and death. A noble thought, a noble intention indeed!

On that same day, about the same time, a son was bom to his Consort Yasodhara Devi. When he heard the news, the Bodhisatta murmurred, "An impediment (Rahula) has been bom, a fetter has been bom." On leaming this remark of the Bodhisatta, his sire King Suddhodana caused his newbom grandson to be named Prince Rahula (Prince Impediment), hoping that the child would indeed prove to be a fetter to the Bodhisatta and become a hindrance to his plan of renunciation.

But the Bodhisatta had become averse to the pleasures of the world. That night be remained unmoved, unsolaced by the amusements provided by the royal entertainers and went into an early slumber. The discouraged musicians lay down their instruments and went to sleep then and there. The sight of recumbent, sleeping dancers, which met him on awakening in the middle of the night repulsed him and made his magnificent palace apartment seem like a cemetery filled with corpses.

Thus at midnight the Bodhisatta went forth on the Great Retirement nding the royal horse Kandhaka and accompanied by his courtier Channa. When they came to the river Anoma, he cut off his hair and beard while standing on the sandy beach. Then after discarding the royal garments, he put on the yellow robes offered by the Brahma God Ghatikara and became a monk. The Bodhisatta was only twenty-nine then, an age most favourable for the pursuit of pleasures. That he renounced with indifference the pomp and splendour of a sovereign and abandoned the solace and comfort of his Consort Yasodhara and retinues at such a favcourable age while still blessed with youth is really awe-inspinng.

MAKING HIS WAY TO ALARA, THE GREAT ASCETIC

At that time the Bodhisatta was not yet in possession of practical knowledge of leading a holy life. So he made his way to the then famous ascetic Alara who was no ordinary person. Of the