Toh 4568-1Chapter 1: How the Wheel of Dharma was Turned, and History of the Compilation of the Teachings
Pāli / Sanskrit:dang po/ chos kyi 'khor lo bskor tshul bka' bsdu'i byung ba dang bcas pa legs par bshad pa'i yal 'dab/
Summary Toh 4568 ch. 1-5: More than a mere table of contents, the Degé Kangyur Catalogue is a detailed introduction to the Kangyur as a whole and this particular edition itself. It constitutes the entirety of the 103rd and final volume of the Kangyur and was written by the 8th Tai Situ, Chökyi Jungné (1700-1774 CE), who presided over the publication of the Degé Kangyur as its chief editor. The first three chapters of the catalog give a detailed history of Indian Buddhism and its arrival in Tibet while the final two give an account of all the texts included in the canon and an explanation of the merits of producing a Kangyur edition.
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Exposition of Chapter I: How the Wheel of Dharma Was Turned and the History of the Compilation of the Teachings
Context
This chapter is the opening section of the Degé Kangyur Catalog, a precious work compiled by the Eighth Tai Situ, Chökyi Jungné (1700-1774 CE), the official chief editor of the Degé Kangyur. This catalog is not merely a list of contents, but a profound argument concerning the entire Buddhist canon, the largest collection of scriptures in the Northern Tibetan Buddhist transmission.
The Degé Kangyur was published in the city of Degé, Tibet, in the eighteenth century, and comprises 103 volumes in all. This first chapter opens by describing how Buddha Shakyamuni first turned the Wheel of Dharma at Sarnath, marking the beginning of Buddhism in India.
Main Content
This chapter presents a detailed history of the development of Indian Buddhism and its transmission into Tibet. The work begins from the time of the Buddha's birth, the turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, and proceeds to the branching of the various Buddhist schools in India. In particular, it emphasizes the three turnings of the Wheel of Dharma set in motion by the Buddha and his disciples:
The first was the Dharma Wheel of the Four Truths, the Four Noble Truths, turned at the Deer Park in Sarnath. The second was the Dharma Wheel of Emptiness, the prajnaparamita, and the third was the Dharma Wheel of the tathāgatagarbha, reflecting the multi-layered development of the Buddhist Dharma.
The subsequent content describes the transmission of Buddhism from India into Tibet through spiritual friends, western teachers, and outstanding Tibetan translators such as Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita, and Tibetan Dharma masters such as Marpa and Naropa. It was a sacred journey lasting more than a millennium, establishing the foundation for the Northern Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
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