“I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering,”
—Shakyamuni Buddha from his first teaching
Today, is one of the major dates in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, called Cho-khor Duchen in Tibetan. Traditionally, it is celebrated on the fourth day of the sixth Tibetan lunar month. It commemorates when Buddha Shakyamuni ‘turned the wheel of Dharma’ (Cho-khor).
“For seven weeks after his enlightenment, the Buddha did not teach. After this period, Indra and Brahma offered a dharmachakra and a conch shell and requested Shakyamuni to teach.”
What Shakyamuni taught is called the Dharma, and when he taught, it is called “the turning of the wheel”. A dharmachakra, or Dharma wheel, is one of the oldest symbols in Buddhism. The Tibetan term for the wheel symbol is “chos kyi’khor lo”, which means “the wheel of transformation”.
There are said to have been three main turnings of the wheel of Dharma by the Buddha. For more on that and the teachings of the ‘third wheel turning’ see also today’s article on the Empty-of-Other view teaching by 9th Thrangu Rinpoche.
Buddha was said to have given 84 000 teachings during his lifetime, so it is a great day to remember Buddha’s great kindness, wisdom, love and power and to remember what he taught and his intent, to liberate all beings from suffering and place them in the fully awakened state.
Music? Buddha Shakyamuni mantra: Om Muni Muni Mahamuniye Svaha.
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