A depiction of the first teaching of the Buddha from a Vietnamese Buddhist monastery in Quebec, Canada.
Retaining the oldest teachings    Edit
Modern
scholars agree that the teachings of the Buddha were passed down in an
oral tradition for approximately a few hundred years after the passing
of the Buddha; the first written recordings of these teachings were made
hundreds of years after the Buddha’s passing. According to academic
scholars, inconsistencies in the oldest texts may reveal developments in
the oldest teachings.[11][note 3] While the Theravada tradition holds
that it is likely that the sutras date back to the Buddha himself, in an
unbroken chain of oral transmission,[web 2][web 3][note 4] academic
scholars have identified many of such inconsistencies, and tried to
explain them. Information of the oldest teachings of Buddhism, such as
on the Four Noble Truths, which are an important topic in the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, has been obtained by analysis of the oldest
texts and these inconsistencies, and are a matter of ongoing discussion
and research.[12][13][14][15][note 5]

Development of the sutta    Edit
According
to Bronkhorst this “first sermon” is recorded in several sutras, with
important variations.[22][note 6] In the Vinaya texts, and in the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta which was influenced by the Vinaya texts,
the four truths are included, and Kondañña is enlightened[22][23] when
the “vision of Dhamma”[24] arises in him: “whatever is subject to
origination is all subject to cessation.”[note 7] Yet, in the
Ariyapariyesanā Sutta (”The Noble Search”, Majjhima Nikaya 26) the four
truths are not included,[note 8] and the Buddha gives the five ascetics
personal instructions in turn, two or three of them, while the others go
out begging for food. The versions of the “first sermon” which include
the four truths, such as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, omit this
instruction, showing that

…the accounts which include the Four
Noble Truths had a completely different conception of the process of
liberation than the one which includes the Four Dhyanas and the
subsequent destruction of the intoxicants.[22]
According to
Bronkhorst, this indicates that the four truths were later added to
earlier descriptions of liberation by practicing the four dhyanas, which
originally was thought to be sufficient for the destruction of the
arsavas.[22] Anderson, following Norman, also thinks that the four
truths originally were not part of this sutta, and were later added in
some versions.[28][note 9] According to Bronkhorst, the “twelve
insights” are probably also a later addition, born out of unease with
the substitution of the general term “prajna” for the more specific
“four truths”.[30]

The “essence” of Buddhism    Edit
According
to Cousins, many scholars are of the view that “this discourse was
identified as the first sermon of the Buddha only at a later date.”[29]
According to Richard Gombrich,

Of course we do not really know
what the Buddha said in his first sermon […] and it has even been
convincingly demonstrated[note 10] that the language of the text as we
have it is in the main a set of formulae, expressions which are by no
means self-explanatory but refer to already established doctrines.
Nevertheless, the compilers of the Canon put in the first sermon what
they knew to be the very essence of the Buddha’s Enlightenment.[32]
Yet,
the understanding of what exactly constituted this “very essence” also
developed over time. What exactly was regarded as the central insight
“varied along with what was considered most central to the teaching of
the Buddha.”[33] “Liberating insight” came to be defined as “insight
into the four truths,” which is presented as the “liberating insight”
which constituted the awakening, or “enlightenment” of the Buddha. When
he understood these truths he was “enlightened” and liberated,[note 11]
as reflected in Majjhima Nikaya 26:42: “his taints are destroyed by his
seeing with wisdom.”[37] The four truths were superseded by
pratityasamutpada, and still later by the doctrine of the non-existence
of a substantial self or person.[38]

According to Anderson, a
long recognized feature of the Theravada canon is that it lacks an
“overarching and comprehensive structure of the path to nibbana.”[39]
The sutras form a network or matrix, which have to be taken
together.[40][note 12] Within this network, “the four noble truths are
one doctrine among others and are not particularly central,”[40] but are
a part of “the entire dhamma matrix.”[42] The four noble truths are set
and learnt in that network, learning “how the various teachings
intersect with each other,”[43] and refer to the various Buddhist
techniques, which are all explicitly and implicitly part of the passages
which refer to the four truths.[44] According to Anderson,

There
is no single way of understanding the teachings: one teaching may be
used to explain another in one passage; the relationship may be reversed
or altered in other talks.[42]
Translations into English    Edit

From the Pali version    Edit
In
the Pāli Canon, this sutta is found in the Samyutta Nikaya, chapter 56
(”Saccasamyutta” or “Connected Discourses on the Truths”), sutta number
11 (and, thus, can be referenced as “SN 56.11″). There are multiple
English translations of the Pali version of this sutta, including:

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma
Ñanamoli Thera (trans.) (1993). Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth.
Piyadassi Thera (trans.) (1999). Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1993). Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion.
Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.) (2018). Rolling Forth the Wheel of Dhamma.
Thich
Nhat Hanh (trans.) (1999). “Discourse on Turning the Wheel of the
Dharma: Dhamma Cakka Pavattana Sutta”. In The Heart of the Buddha’s
Teaching, p. 257.[45]
Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma (trans.) (1997). “The
First Discourse of the Buddha: Turning the Wheel of Dhamma”. In The
First Discourse of the Buddha, Wisdom, pp. 17–20.[46]
Walpola Rahula (trans.) (2007). “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth”. In What the Buddha Taught.[47]
From Tibetan, Chinese and Sanskrit versions    Edit
The
Tibetan ‘Missing Translator’s Colophon’ Version of the Dharma Wheel
Discourse (chos kyi ‘khor lo’i mdo ‘gyur byang med pa): A New
Translation into English by Erick Tsiknopoulos (2013) This is a
translation of one of two versions of the Dharma Wheel Sutra in Tibetan,
known as the ‘Missing Translator’s Colophon’ version (Tib: ‘gyur byang
med pa). It has a correlate in Chinese, translated into English by Lapiz
Lazuli Texts and listed below.
Lapis Lazuli Texts: Saṃyuktāgama 379.
Turning the Dharma Wheel. This is a translation from the Chinese canon;
the Chinese version is based on the Sarvastivadin Sanskrit version of
the text (Dharmacakra Pravartana Sutra).
Thich Nhat Hanh has produced
a notable rendering of the first teaching of the Buddha in his
biography of the Buddha entitled Old Path White Clouds.[9] Thich Nhat
Hanh relied on multiple sources for this rendering.[48] This rendering
is also included in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Path of Compassion: Stories
from the Buddha’s Life.[49] See Turning the Wheel of Dharma
The 26th
chapter of the Lalitavistara Sutra contains a Mahayana version of the
first turning that closely parallels the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.
The following English translations of this text are available:

The
Play in Full: Lalitavistara (2013), translated by the Dharmachakra
Translation Committee. Translated from Tibetan into English and checked
against the Sanskrit version.[web 5]
Voice of the Buddha: The Beauty
of Compassion (1983), translated by Gwendolyn Bays, Dharma Publishing
(two-volume set). This translation has been made from French into
English and then checked with the original in Tibetan and Sanskrit.
See also    Edit

Dharmacakra
Enlightenment
Four Noble Truths
Middle Way
Noble Eightfold Path
Sarnath
Taṇhā
Three marks of existence
Notes    Edit

^ For instance, in the context of the objects of mindfulness, dhamma refers to “mental objects” (see, Satipatthana Sutta).
^ English translations of this sutta’s full title include:
“Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma” (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 1843–7)
“Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth” (Piyadassi, 1999)[1]
“Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth” (Ñanamoli, 1993)[2]
“Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion” (Thanissaro, 1993)[3] (Geshe Tashi Tsering, 2005)[3]
“The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth” (Ajahn Sucitto, 2010)[4]
“Turning the Wheel of Dhamma” (Dhamma, 1997).
“The Four Noble Truths Sutra” (Geshe Tashi Tsering, 2005)[3]
^ See:
La Vallee Possin (1937), Musila et Narada; reprinted in Gombrich (2006), How Buddhism Began, appendix
Erich Frauwallner (1953), Geschichte der indischen Philosophie, Band Der Buddha und der Jina (pp. 147-272)
Andre
Bareau (1963), Recherches sur la biographiedu Buddha dans les
Sutrapitaka et les Vinayapitaka anciens, Ecole Francaise
d’Extreme-Orient
Schmithausen, On some Aspects of Descriptions or
Theories of ‘Liberating Insight’ and ‘Enlightenment’ in Early Buddhism.
In: Studien zum Jainismus und Buddhismus (Gedenkschrift für Ludwig
Alsdorf), hrsg. von Klaus Bruhn und Albrecht Wezler, Wiesbaden 1981,
199-250.
Griffiths, Paul (1981), “Concentration or Insight; The
Problematic of Theravada Buddhist Meditation-theory”, The Journal of the
American Academy of Religion
K.R. Norman, Four Noble Truths
Bronkhorst 1993, Chapter 8
Tilman Vetter (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, by Tilmann Vetter
Richard
F. Gombrich (2006) [1996]. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis
of the Early Teachings. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-19639-5., chapter four
Anderson, Carol (1999), Pain and Its Ending: The Four Noble Truths in the Theravada Buddhist Canon, Routledge
Alexander Wynne (2007), The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Routledge
^
Bhikkhu Sujato & Bhikkhu Brahmali, p.4: “Most academic scholars of
Early Buddhism cautiously affirm that it is possible that the EBTS
contain some authentic sayings of the Buddha. We contend that this
drastically understates the evidence. A sympathetic assessment of
relevant evidence shows that it is very likely that the bulk of the
sayings in the EBTS that are attributed to the Buddha were actually
spoken by him. It is very unlikely that most of these sayings are
inauthentic.[web 3]
^ According to Schmithausen, three positions held
by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished regarding the possibility
to retain knowledge of the oldest Buddhism:[16]
“Stress on the
fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a
considerable part of the Nikayic materials;”[subnote 1]
“Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;”[subnote 2]
“Cautious optimism in this respect.”[subnote 3]
^
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is best-known from the Pāli Canon,
Saṃyutta Nikāya chapter 56, sutta 11. In the Chinese Buddhist canon
there are numerous editions of this sutra from a variety of different
schools in ancient India, including the Sarvāstivāda, Dharmaguptaka, and
Mahīśāsaka, as well as an edition translated as early as 170 by the
early Parthian missionary An Shigao. Parallel texts can be found in
other early Buddhist sources as well, such as the Sarvāstivādin
Lalitavistara Sūtra and the Lokottaravādin Mahāvastu.[web 4]
^ Translation Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000), Samyutta Nikaya, SN 56.11, p.1846. See also Anderson (2001), Pain and its Ending, p.69.
^
MN 26.17 merely says “[’]This will serve for the striving of a clansman
intent on striving.’ And I sat down there thinking: ‘This will serve
for striving.’[25] According to Bhikkhu Bodhi Majjhima Nikaya 36 then
continuous with the extreme ascetic practices, which are omitted in MN
26.[26] In verse 18, the Buddha has attained Nirvana, being secured from
bondage by birth, ageing, sickness and death, referring to the truths
of dependent origination and “the stilling of all formations, the
relinquishing of all attachments, the destruction of craving,
dispassion, cessation.”[27]
^ According to Cousins, Anderson
misunderstands Norman in this respect, but does “not think that this
misunderstanding of Norman’s position critically affects Anderson’s
thesis. Even if these arguments do not prove that the four truths are
definitely a later insertion in the Dhammacakkapavattana-sutta, it is
certainly possible to take the position that the sutta itself is
relatively late.”[29]
^ Gombrich includes an end note here citing “Norman 1982″ (.[31]
^
“Enlightenment” is a typical western term, which bears its own,
specific western connotations, meanings and interpretations.[34][35][36]
^
Gethin: “The word satya (Pali sacca) can certainly mean truth, but it
might equally be rendered as ‘real’ or ‘actual thing’. That is, we are
not dealing here with propositional truths with which we must either
agree or disagree, but with four ‘true things’ or ‘realities’ whose
nature, we are told, the Buddha finally understood on the night of his
awakening. […] This is not to say that the Buddha’s discourses do not
contain theoretical statements of the nature of suffering, its cause,
its cessation, and the path to its cessation, but these descriptions
function not so much as dogmas of the Buddhist faith as a convenient
conceptual framework for making sense of Buddhist thought.”[41]
Subnotes
^ Well-known proponents of the first position are:
*
A.K. Warder. According to A.K. Warder, in his 1970 publication “Indian
Buddhism”, from the oldest extant texts a common kernel can be drawn
out,[17] namely the Bodhipakkhiyādhammā. According to Warder, c.q. his
publisher: “This kernel of doctrine is presumably common Buddhism of the
period before the great schisms of the fourth and third centuries BC.
It may be substantially the Buddhism of the Buddha himself, although
this cannot be proved: at any rate it is a Buddhism presupposed by the
schools as existing about a hundred years after the parinirvana of the
Buddha, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was formulated by
anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers.”[17]
*
Richard Gombrich: “I have the greatest difficulty in accepting that the
main edifice is not the work of a single genius. By “the main edifice” I
mean the collections of the main body of sermons, the four Nikāyas, and
of the main body of monastic rules.”[15]
^ A proponent of the second
position is Ronald Davidson: “While most scholars agree that there was a
rough body of sacred literature (disputed)(sic) that a relatively early
community (disputed)(sic) maintained and transmitted, we have little
confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is
actually the word of the historic Buddha.”[18]
^ Well-known proponent of the third position are:
*
J.W. de Jong: “It would be hypocritical to assert that nothing can be
said about the doctrine of earliest Buddhism […] the basic ideas of
Buddhism found in the canonical writings could very well have been
proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and developed by his
disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas.”[19]
* Johannes
Bronkhorst: “This position is to be preferred to (ii) for purely
methodological reasons: only those who seek may find, even if no success
is guaranteed.”[20]
* Donald Lopez: “The original teachings of the
historical Buddha are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recover
or reconstruct.”[21]
References    Edit

^ Gethin 1998, p. 59.
^ Norman 2003.
^ a b Geshe Tashi Tsering 2005, Kindle Location 174.
^ Sucitto 2010, p. 193.
^ Sucitto 2010, pp. 10-12.
^ Dhamma 1997, pp. 22-24.
^ Geshe Tashi Tsering 2005, Kindle Locations 163-169.
^ Gethin 1998, p. 25.
^ a b Thich Nhat Hanh 1991, Kindle Locations 1822-1884.
^ Thich Nhat Hanh 1999, pp. 6-8.
^ Vetter 1988, p. ix.
^ Bronkhorst 1993.
^ Vetter 1988.
^ Schmithausen 1981.
^ a b Gombrich 1997.
^ Bronkhorst 1993, p. vii.
^ a b Warder 1999, inside flap.
^ Davidson 2003, p. 147.
^ Jong 1993, p. 25.
^ Bronkhorst 1997, p. vii.
^ Lopez 1995, p. 4.
^ a b c d Bronkhorst 1993, p. 110.
^ Anderson 2001, p. 69.
^ Bhikkhu Bodhi 2000, p. 1846.
^ Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator) 1995, p. 259.
^ Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator) 1995, p. 1216, note 403.
^ Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator) 1995, p. 259-260.
^ Anderson 1999, p. 68.
^ a b Cousins 2001, p. 38.
^ Bronkhorst 1993, p. 106.
^ Norman 1982.
^ Gombrich 2002, p. 61.
^ Bronkhorst 1993, p. 54-55, 96, 99.
^ Cohen 2006.
^ Sharf 1995.
^ Sharf 2000.
^ Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator) 1995, p. 268.
^ Bronkhorst 1993, p. 100-101.
^ Anderson 2001, p. 131.
^ a b Anderson 2001, p. 85.
^ Gethin 1998, p. 60.
^ a b Anderson 2001, p. 86.
^ Anderson 2001, p. 86-87.
^ Anderson 2001, p. 132.
^ Thich Nhat Hanh 1999, p. 257.
^ Dhamma 1997, pp. 17-20.
^ Rahula 2007, Kindle Location 2055.
^ Thich Nhat Hanh 1991, Kindle Location 7566.
^ Thich Nhat Hanh 2012, p. 81.
Sources    Edit

Printed sources    Edit
Pali Canon

The
Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta
Nikaya, translated by Bhikkhu, Bodhi, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000,
ISBN 0-86171-331-1
Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator) (1995), The Middle
Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima
Nikaya, Boston: Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0-86171-072-X
Buddhist teachers

Anandajoti
Bhikkhu (trans.) (2010). The Earliest Recorded Discourses of the Buddha
(from Lalitavistara, Mahākhandhaka & Mahāvastu). Kuala Lumpur:
Sukhi Hotu. Also available on-line.
Sumedho, Ajahn (2002), The Four Noble Truths, Amaravati Publications
Sucitto, Ajahn (2010), Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha’s First Teaching, Shambhala
Dhamma, Ven. Dr. Rewata (1997), The First Discourse of the Buddha, Wisdom, ISBN 0-86171-104-1
Geshe Tashi Tsering (2005), The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume I (Kindle ed.), Wisdom
Gethin, Rupert (1998), Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press
Goldstein, Joseph (2002), One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, HarperCollins
Thich Nhat Hanh (1991), Old Path White Clouds, Parallax Press
Thich Nhat Hanh (1999), The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Three River Press
Thich Nhat Hanh (2012), Path of Compassion: Stories from the Buddha’s Life, Parallax Press
Rahula, Walpola (2007), What the Buddha Taught (Kindle ed.), Grove Press
Secondary

Anderson, Carol (2001), Pain and Its Ending: The Four Noble Truths in the Theravada Buddhist Canon, Motilall Banarsidas
Bronkhorst, Johannes (1993), The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Cohen, Robert S. (2006), Beyond Enlightenment: Buddhism, Religion, Modernity, Routledge
Cousins,
L.S. (2001), “Review of Pain and its Ending: The Four Noble Truths in
the Theravada Buddhist Canon” (PDF), Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8:
36–41
Davidson, Ronald M. (2003), Indian Esoteric Buddhism, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-12618-2
Gombrich,
Richard (2002) [1988], Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from
Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-07585-8
Gombrich,
Richard F. (1997), How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the
Early Teachings, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-19639-5
Harvey, Peter (1990), Introduction to Buddhism, Cambridge University Press
Lopez, Donald S., Jr. (1995), Buddhism in Practice (PDF), Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-04442-2
Norman,
K.R. (1982), “The Four Noble Truths: a problem of Pali syntax”, in
Hercus, L.A.; et al. (eds.), Indological and Buddhist Studies: Volume in
Honour of Professor J.W. de Jong on his Sixtieth Birthday, Canberra,
pp. 377–91
Norman, K.R. (2003), “The Four Noble Truths”, K.R. Norman Collected Papers II (PDF)
Schmithausen,
Lambert (1981), On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of
‘Liberating Insight’ and ‘Enlightenment’ in Early Buddhism”. In: Studien
zum Jainismus und Buddhismus (Gedenkschrift für Ludwig Alsdorf), hrsg.
von Klaus Bruhn und Albrecht Wezler, Wiesbaden
Sharf, Robert H.
(1995), “Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience”
(PDF), NUMEN, 42, archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-12,
retrieved 2017-05-06
Sharf, Robert H. (2000), “The Rhetoric of
Experience and the Study of Religion” (PDF), Journal of Consciousness
Studies, 7 (11–12): 267–87, archived from the original (PDF) on
2013-05-13, retrieved 2017-05-06
Vetter, Tilmann (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, BRILL
Warder, A.K. (1999), Indian Buddhism, Delhi
Web-sources    Edit
^
accesstoinsight, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of
Dhamma in Motion, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu]
^ Payutto, P. A. “The Pali Canon What a Buddhist Must Know” (PDF).
^
a b *Sujato, Bhante; Brahmali, Bhikkhu (2015), The Authenticity of the
Early Buddhist Texts (PDF), Chroniker Press, ISBN 9781312911505
^
Anandajoti (2010), “Introduction,” retrieved 18 May 2010 from
http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/English-Texts/Earliest-Discourses/index.htm.
^ A Play in Full: Lalitavistara (2013), translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
Further reading    Edit

Scholarly
Anderson, Carol (2001), Pain and Its Ending: The Four Noble Truths in the Theravada Buddhist Canon, Motilall Banarsidas
Analayo,
V (2012). The Chinese Parallels to the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta (1),
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 3, 12-46
Analayo, V
(2013). The Chinese Parallels to the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta (2),
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 5, 9-41
Commentaries in English
Ajahn Sucitto (2010), Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha’s First Teaching, Shambhala
Bhikkhu Pesala, An Exposition of the Dhammacakka Sutta
Mahasi Sayadaw (1996–2012), Discourse on the Wheel of Dharma
Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma (1997), The First Discourse of the Buddha, Wisdom, ISBN 0-86171-104-1.
External links