佛說轉法輪經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was seated beneath a tree in the Deer Park (Mṛgadāva) in the country of Vārāṇasī.

At that time there were a thousand Bhikṣus, and the Devas all came and gathered in great numbers about the Great Assembly, dwelling in the open sky. Then there appeared of itself a Wheel of the Dharma (Dharma-cakra: the Dharma Wheel), which came flying and turned directly before the Buddha.

The Buddha, with the palm of his hand, gently touched the Wheel (Cakra) and said: "Stop! From innumerable kalpas until now, I have been turned about by Name-and-Form (Nāma-rūpa) and have endured immeasurable suffering. Now the mind of Deluded Craving has come to rest, the feelings of the Outflowing Fetters have been cast off, the Faculties have been settled, Birth-and-Death has been severed, and there is no more revolving within the five paths."

The Wheel then stopped. At that time the Buddha said to the Bhikṣus: "In the world there are two things that fall into the Extreme Practices (the path that runs along the brink). A disciple who practices the Path and forsakes the household life should, throughout his whole life, not follow after them. What are the two?

1. To dwell upon Craving for Desire (Kāma), without a pure resolve.

2. To rely upon and become attached to the clinging love of the body, unable to be diligent. Thus one falls back into the Extreme Practices and cannot meet the Buddha, who is fully endowed with the Path and Virtue.

If this Bhikṣu does not dwell upon Craving for Desire, attached to actions of clinging love for the body, then he can receive the Middle (the Receiving of the Middle).

The Tathāgata, the Supreme and Perfectly Enlightened One, gained the Eye and gained Wisdom (Prajñā); from the two brinks he crossed over and, by himself, arrived at Nirvāṇa (Nê Hoàn).

What is called the Receiving of the Middle? It is the eight upright paths (that is, the Eightfold Right Path: Aṣṭāṅgika-mārga):

1. Right View (Samyak-dṛṣṭi): the seeing that is true and correct.

2. Right Thought (Samyak-saṃkalpa: Right Intention): the thinking that is true and correct.

3. Right Speech (Samyak-vāc: Right Speech): the speaking that is true and correct.

4. Right Conduct (Samyak-karmānta: Right Action): the doing of deeds that is true and correct.

5. Right Livelihood (Samyak-ājīva): the sustaining of life that is true and correct.

6. Right Effort (Samyak-vyāyāma: Right Diligence): the right governing, or the diligence that is true and correct.

7. Right Resolve (Samyak-smṛti: Right Mindfulness): the resolve that is true and correct, or the mindful recollection that is true and correct.

8. Right Concentration (Samyak-samādhi): the settling of the mind that is true and correct.

If the Bhikṣus, from beginning to end, hear the Path, they should know profoundly that 'Suffering (Duḥkha-āryasatya: the Noble Truth of Suffering) is the Ultimate Truth (Paramārtha).' With a single mind they receive the Eye, receive the stillness of reflection (Meditative Reflection), and receive clear discernment (Prajñā: Wisdom), seeing and knowing the place of mindful recollection, causing the Mind to understand clearly.

They should know profoundly that 'the Origin of Suffering (the Noble Truth of Origination: Samudaya-āryasatya), brought to its complete end, is the Ultimate Truth.' Having received the Eye of contemplation, the stillness of reflection, and clear discernment (Wisdom), seeing and knowing the place of mindful recollection, causing the Mind to understand clearly. Thus brought to its complete end is the Ultimate Truth.

What is called Suffering (Duḥkha-āryasatya: the Noble Truth of Suffering)? It is this: birth and aging and decay are suffering. Sickness is suffering. Sorrow, grief, and vexation are suffering. To meet often with those one hates and resents is suffering. To be parted from those one has loved is suffering. To seek and not obtain is suffering. In essence, the receiving and bearing of the five Aggregates (Skandhas) is suffering.

What is called the Origin of Suffering (Samudaya-āryasatya: the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering)? It is this: from clinging love (Tṛṣṇā) there comes again the inclination to delight, which does not depart from every place of greed and pleasure. The clinging love bound to Craving for Desire (Rāga-tṛṣṇā: Craving for Sensual Pleasure), the clinging love bound to that which has form (Rūpa-tṛṣṇā), the clinging love bound to that which has no form (Na-rūpa: Craving for the Formless)—this Origin (Samudaya) is Suffering.

What is called the Cessation of Suffering (Nirodha-āryasatya: the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering)? It is this: to understand that from clinging love there comes again a place of delight. When mindful thought of lustful desire (lustful thought) is not received, not dwelt upon, when there is nothing else, no lustful desire, when it is cast off, and one reflects in stillness, examining and burying away existence. Thus is the Origin (Samudaya) brought to its complete end.

What is called the Path of Receiving the Ending of the Desire of the Origin of Suffering (Mārga-āryasatya: the Noble Truth of the Path)? It is this: to receive and to practice the eight upright paths: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Resolve, Right Concentration. This is the Ultimate Truth of the Path of Receiving the Ending of the Origin of Suffering.

Furthermore, Bhikṣus! Suffering (Duḥkha) is the Ultimate Truth. The Origin of Suffering (Samudaya) is the Ultimate Truth. The Cessation of the Origin of Suffering (Nirodha) is the Ultimate Truth. The Path of Receiving the Cessation of the Origin of Suffering (Aṣṭāṅgika-mārga: the Eightfold Right Path) is the Ultimate Truth.

If there be one who from of old has not yet heard this Dharma, he should receive the Eye of contemplation, the Practice of Meditation, receive the seeing of clear discernment (the Vision of Wisdom), and receive the understanding of mindful recollection, causing the Mind to understand clearly.

If it be that one in this very place has not yet heard this Dharma of the Four Truths (Catvāri-satya), then he should receive the Eye of the Path (the Eye of the Path), receive the stillness of reflection (Meditative Reflection), receive the understanding of clear discernment (the Awakening of Wisdom), causing the Mind to practice and understand clearly.

If those in that very place have not yet heard this Dharma of the Four Truths, they too should receive the Eye, receive the still examination of reflection (Meditation), receive clear discernment (Wisdom), receive understanding (Awakening), causing the Mind to understand clearly.

These are the Four Truths, turned three times, making twelve matters in all. To one who knows but is not yet pure, I do not impart it.

In all the world, among the Devas, the people, whether Brahmā, or Māra, the Śramaṇas (ascetics), or the Brāhmaṇas (the Brahmins), one who by himself comes to know, and having realized it, receives and practices Morality, Concentration, and Wisdom, perfecting the Knowledge and Vision of Liberation and Deliverance—these are the four Ultimates. After this life there shall be no more recurrence; forever departed from the world, there is no more anxiety.

When the Buddha spoke this, the company of the Venerable Ājñāta-kauṇḍinya (the Worthy Kauṇḍinya), together with eight thousand koṭis (nayutas) of Devas, all departed from dust and were freed from defilement; the Eyes of the Dharma (the Dharma Eye: Dharma-cakṣu) were born within them.

Those thousand Bhikṣus, with the Outflows exhausted and the Mind liberated (having severed all the afflictions, the Mind attained deliverance), all attained Arhatship (Arhat); and as for the assembled Dharmas above that ought to be brought to an end, all were turned about. The sound of the Wheel of the Dharma of the Blessed One (Bhagavat-dharma-cakra: the Dharma Wheel of the World-Honored One) was turned three times.

Among the Devas and in the world, dwelling upon the Ground of the Dharma (Dharma-bhūmi: the Land of the Dharma), there were none who did not hear it everywhere, reaching even to the first heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings (catvāsraḥ mahā-rājikāḥ), the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (Trāyastriṃśa: that is, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three), the Yāma Heaven (Yama: the Yāma Heaven), the Tuṣita Heaven (Tuṣita: the Tuṣita Heaven), the Heaven of Delight in Creation (Nirmita-vaśa-vartinī: the Heaven of Enjoying Creations), and the Heaven of Sovereignty over Others' Creations (Paranirmita-vaśa-vartinī: the Heaven of Mastery over Others' Creations), reaching even to the Brahmā realms (Brahma-deva: the Brahmā Heavens)—in a single instant all heard it everywhere.

At that time the Buddha-field, with its three thousand suns and moons, its twelve thousand worlds, all quaked with a great quaking. This was because the Buddha, the Blessed One (Buddha-bhagavat: the Buddha, the World-Honored One), at the beginning, in Vārāṇasī, by means of the unsurpassed Wheel of the Dharma, turned that which had not yet been turned, illumining innumerable lands, so that the Devas and humans, following upon this, attained the Path.

When the Buddha had finished speaking this, the Great Assembly all rejoiced greatly.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SŪTRA OF THE TURNING OF THE WHEEL OF THE DHARMA The End