Three Turnings

Buddha Shakyamuni turning the Wheel of Dharma for the first time

Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma (Skt. tridharmacakra; Tib. ཆོས་འཁོར་རིམ་པ་གསུམ་, chö khor rimpa sum, Wyl. chos 'khor rim pa gsum) — the three major series of teachings given by the Buddha, according to the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition and as found in the Samdhinirmochana Sutra. To 'turn the wheel of Dharma' means to teach the Dharma.

1. The first turning took place in the Deer Park at Sarnath, Varanasi, where Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths.
2. The intermediate turning on the absence of characteristics took place on Vulture's Peak Mountain near Rajagriha.
3. The final turning on the complete revelation took place in Vaishali and other places and included the sutras that explain the three natures, such as the Lankavatara Sutra.

Brief Explanation of the Three Turnings

Very simply,

• the first turning is mainly concerned with abandoning negative actions of the body, speech and mind.
• The second turning is primarily about abandoning clinging to the self of individual and of phenomena.
• The third turning is about abandoning clinging to emptiness.

According to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the three turnings can be related to the following quote from the Prajñaparamita sutras:

“Mind is devoid of mind. The nature of mind is clear light.”

• "Mind" refers to the first turning where mind is spoken of as if it is inherently existent.
  
• "...is devoid of mind" refers to the intermediate turning and the teachings on emptiness.
  
• "The nature of mind is clear light" refers to the final turning and the teachings on buddha nature.
  

The Nyingma View of the Three Turnings

According to the Nyingma School, the first turning is of provisional meaning, whereas the second and third turnings together are the definitive meaning. In his The Lion's Roar: A Commentary on Sugatagarbha, Mipham writes:

The omniscient Longchen Rabjam held that the meanings of both the second and third turnings—together and without separation—constituted the definitive teaching, and this is precisely the position that we too should hold.

There is no conflict between the second and third turnings of the dharma wheel. There is no need to say [as some do] that one turning is definitive while the other is provisional. What is more, when the two turnings are brought together and when it is understood that the causal [ground] continuum is the sugatagarbha, this becomes the crucial point of the essential instructions of the Vajrayana. One must therefore understand that all such teachings of the Buddha come together into a single point. Regarding this final meaning, Nagarjuna, Asanga, and all the aryas are of one mind—as we may understand clearly from such writings as (Nagarjuna’s) Dharmadhatustava (Praise of the Dharmadhatu) and Bodhichittavivarana (Commentary on Bodhichitta) and (Asanga’s) Uttaratantra.

Main Sutras of the Three Turnings

First Turning

• Sutra of the Wheel of Dharma

Second Turning

• The collection of six mother scriptures and eleven son scriptures of the Prajñaparanita sutras revealed by Nagarjuna and bodhisattva Mañjushri.
• Lotus Sutra
• Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra

Third Turning

• Avatamsaka Sutra
• Ratnakuta Sutra
• Lankavatara Sutra
• Tathagatagarbha Sutra
• Lion's Roar of Shrimaladevi Sutra
• Mahaparinirvana Sutra

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, 9 June 2010, Lerab Ling, France
• Khenpo Sonam Tsewang, online, 30 June 2021

External Links

• A Brief Overview of the Three Turnings and the Mantra Pitaka of the Vidyadharas by Khenpo Pema Vajra