Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel
- Apr 3, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 15, 2025
(*)"It is said there are 84,000 dharma gates, which is a poetic way of saying there are infinite ways to enter the practice of the Buddha dharma. And over the centuries Buddhism has developed an enormous diversity of schools and practices. One way to understand how this diversity came about is by understanding the three turnings of the dharma wheel."
(*) By Barbara O'Brien. Updated on July 28, 2018. "Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel." Learn Religions, Feb. 8, 2021, learnreligions.com/three-turnings-of-the-dharma-wheel-450003.
Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel
The dharma wheel, usually depicted as a wheel with eight spokes for the Eightfold Path, is a symbol of Buddhism and of the Buddha's Dharma. Turning the Dharma wheel, or setting it in motion, is a poetic way to describe the Buddha's teaching of the dharma.
In Mahayana Buddhism, it is said the Buddha turned the dharma wheel three times. These three turnings represent three significant events in Buddhist history.
Ramnath Bhat/CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
The First Turning of the Dharma Wheel
The first turning began when the historical Buddha delivered his first sermon after his enlightenment. In this sermon, he explained the Four Noble Truths, which would be the foundation of all the teachings he gave in his life.
In his book The Third Turning of the Wheel: Wisdom of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra, Zen teacher Reb Anderson explained how the Buddha began his teaching:
"He had to speak in a language that the people listening to him could understand, so in this first turning of the dharma wheel he offered a conceptual, logical teaching. He showed us how to analyze our experience and he set out a Path for people to find freedom and liberate themselves from suffering."
His purpose was not to give people a belief system to soothe their suffering, but to show them how to perceive for themselves what was causing their suffering. Only then they could they understand how to free themselves.
The Second Turning of the Dharma Wheel
The second turning, which also marks the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism, is said to have occurred about 500 years after the first.
You might ask, if the historical Buddha was no longer alive, how could the wheel have turned again?
"Lovely myths arose to answer this question: The Buddha was said to have revealed the second turning in sermons delivered on Vulture Peak Mountain in India; however, the contents of these sermons were kept hidden by supernatural creatures called nagas and it was only revealed when humans were ready."
Another way to explain the second turning is that the basic elements of the second turning can be found in the historical Buddha's sermons, planted here and there like seeds, and it took about 500 years before the seeds began to sprout in the minds of living beings. Then great sages such as Nagarjuna came forth to be the Buddha's voice in the world.
The Buddhist Doctrine of Two Truths: Origins. In this video we'll look at the origins of the Buddhist doctrine of "two truths" in the Upaniṣads and certain of the suttas of early Buddhism. While the Buddha never actually discussed a concept of "two truths" per se, he did elaborate a number of related ideas that in time would mature into this doctrine.
The second turning gave us perfection of wisdom teachings. The principal component of these teachings is sunyata, emptiness (not to be confused with nothingness). This teaching represents a deeper understanding of the nature of existence than the first turning doctrine of anatta, non-self (not to be confused with not existing).
The Buddhist Doctrine of Two Truths: Abhidharma and Nagarjuna.
This is a short introduction to the development of the doctrine of two truths in Buddhism. We'll look briefly at the doctrine's origins that are treated in an earlier video, then we'll turn to the role of the abhidhamma/abhidharma in establishing a Buddhist understanding of ultimate truth or ultimate reality. Finally we'll turn to the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna's presentation of the doctrine of two truths and some of its later implications.
The Buddha on Self and Non-Self.
The Buddha's teachings on the self and on non-self are some of his most subtle, interesting, and unique. We'll take a look at them in this video. We'll also compare the Buddha's view of the self with that of western philosophers David Hume and Derek Parfit.
Emptiness in Buddhism: Early Doctrine and Development.
What is the doctrine of emptiness in Buddhism? We'll look at its early history to see how the notion of emptiness may have began in response to ideas of the day, how it matured, and how it developed in later Buddhist dharma.
The second turning also moved the focus away from individual enlightenment. It refers to the practice of the bodhisattva, who strives to bring all beings to enlightenment.
«"Bodhisattva", literally meaning "enlightenment ('bodhi') being ('sattva')" in Sanskrit, has two primary meanings in Buddhism. One of them, held by the Theravada and by some Mahayanists, is of someone who is dedicated to becoming a Buddha. The other, held by some Mahayanists, is of someone who deliberately refrains from becoming enlightened, a Buddha, in order to help others.» (Chenrezig Bodhisattva, https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/116Chenrezig.htm)
Indeed, we read in the Diamond Sutra that individual enlightenment is not possible for bodhisattva:
"... all living beings will eventually be led by me to the final Nirvana, the final ending of the cycle of birth and death. And when this unfathomable, infinite number of living beings have all been liberated, in truth not even a single being has actually been liberated. "Why Subhuti? Because, a bodhisattva still clings to the illusions of form or phenomena, such as an ego, a personality, a self, a separate person, or a universal self existing eternally. Because that person is a bodhisattva."
Reb Anderson wrote that the second turning "refutes the previous method and the previous path based on a conceptual approach to liberation". While the first turning made use of conceptual knowledge, the second turning, showed that wisdom cannot be found in conceptual knowledge.
The Third Turning of the Dharma Wheel
The third turning is more difficult to pinpoint in time. It arose, apparently, not long after the second turning and had similar mythical and mystical origins. It is an even deeper revelation of the nature of truth.
The main focus of the third turning is Buddha Nature. The doctrine of Buddha Nature is described by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche this way:
"This [doctrine] declares that the fundamental nature of mind is utterly pure and primordially in the state of buddhahood. It is the absolute buddha (conscience above the mind). It has never changed from beginningless time. Its essence is wisdom and compassion that is inconceivably profound and vast."
Because all beings are fundamentally Buddha Nature, all beings may realize enlightenment. Reb Anderson calls the third turning "a logical approach that is based on the refutation of logic".
In the third turning, we find a presentation of the first turning that is in accordance with the second turning," - Reb Anderson says, - "We are offered a systematic path and a conceptual approach that are free of self."
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche said,
... our fundamental nature of mind is a luminous expanse of awareness that is beyond all conceptual fabrication and completely free from the movement of thoughts.
It is the union of emptiness and clarity, of space and radiant awareness that is endowed with supreme and immeasurable qualities.
From this basic nature of emptiness everything is expressed; from there everything may arise and manifest.
Because this is so, all beings are without an abiding self yet may realize enlightenment and enter Nirvana.
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