the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion
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BUDDHIST
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting
the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion
I have heard that
on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in
the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the
group of five monks:
“There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in
by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure
with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable;
and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable.
Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata β
producing vision, producing knowledge β leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to
self-awakening, to Unbinding.
“And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that β
producing vision, producing knowledge β leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to
self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view,
right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the
Tathagata that β producing vision, producing knowledge β leads to calm, to
direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
“Now
this, monks, is the noble truth of stress:[1]
Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation,
pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is
stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted
is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
“And this,
monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes
for further becoming β accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here
& now there β i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming,
craving for non-becoming.
“And this,
monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading
& cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of
that very craving.
“And this,
monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of
stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path β right view, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right
concentration.
“Vision arose,
insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me
with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of stress.’
Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination
arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This noble truth of
stress is to be comprehended.’ Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose,
knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard
before:’ This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.’
“Vision arose,
insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me
with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the
origination of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress is to
be abandoned’ [2]
… ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.’
“Vision arose,
insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me
with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the
cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be
directly experienced’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been
directly experienced.’
“Vision arose,
insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me
with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the way
of practice leading to the cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the way
of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed’… ‘This
noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress has been
developed.’ [3]
“And, monks,
as long as this β my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision
concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be β was not pure, I
did not claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled
in the cosmos with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives
& priests, its royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this β my
three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four
noble truths as they have come to be β was truly pure, then I did claim to have
directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its
deities, Maras & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its
royalty & commonfolk. Knowledge & vision arose in me: ‘Unprovoked is my
release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.’”
That is what the
Blessed One said. Gratified, the group of five monks delighted at his words.
And while this explanation was being given, there arose to Ven. KondaΓ±Γ±a the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye:
Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.
And when the
Blessed One had set the Wheel of Dhamma in motion, the earth devas cried out:
“At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in
motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by priest or
contemplative, deva, Mara or God or anyone in the
cosmos.” On hearing the earth devas’ cry, the devas of the Four Kings’
Heaven took up the cry… the devas of the Thirty-three… the Yama
devas… the Tusita devas… the Nimmanarati
devas… the Paranimmita-vasavatti devas…
the devas of Brahma’s retinue took up the cry: “At
Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion
the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by priest or
contemplative, deva, Mara, or God or anyone at all in the cosmos.”
So in that moment,
that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahma worlds. And this ten-thousand
fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless
radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the devas.
Then the Blessed
One exclaimed: “So you really know, KondaΓ±Γ±a? So you really know?”
And that is how Ven. KondaΓ±Γ±a acquired the name AΓ±Γ±a-KondaΓ±Γ±a β KondaΓ±Γ±a who
knows.
“The practice of Dhamma, [1] the practice of continence, [2]
mastery of this is said to be best if a person has gone forth from home
to the homeless life. But if he is garrulous and, like a brute,
delights in hurting others, his life is evil and his impurity increases.
“A quarrelsome bhikkhu shrouded by delusion, does not comprehend the
Dhamma taught by the Awakened One when it is revealed. Annoying those
practiced in meditation, being led by ignorance, he is not aware that
his defiled path leads to Niraya-hell.
Falling headlong, passing from womb to womb, from darkness to (greater)
darkness, such a bhikkhu undergoes suffering hereafter for certain.
“As a cesspool filled over a
number of years is difficult to clean, similarly, whoever is full of
impurity is difficult to make pure. Whoever you know to be such,
bhikkhus, bent on worldliness, having wrong desires, wrong thoughts,
wrong behavior and resort, being completely united avoid him, sweep him
out like dirt, remove him like rubbish. Winnow like chaff the
non-recluses. Having ejected those of wrong desires, of wrong behavior
and resort, be pure and mindful, dwelling with those who are pure. Being
united and prudent you will make an end to suffering.”