Buddha's First Sermon: Metaphor, History, Teachings

The sutta on the Rolling Forth of the Wheel of the Dharma is purported to be the Buddha's first sermon. We will consider the relevance of the metaphor of the wheel in this discourse. Then we'll turn to some historical questions and problems with it. Finally we will take a look at the content of the sutta, and its two main topics.

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✅ Video recommended:
Deep History of Buddhist Chariot Simile: Proto-Indo-European Roots? --    • Deep History of Buddhist Chariot Simi...  

✅ Suttas mentioned:
https://suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/s...
https://suttacentral.net/mn26/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/mn4/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/mn2/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/s...

✅ Other references:
https://www.themindingcentre.org/dhar...
https://www.themindingcentre.org/dhar...

KR Norman, The Four Noble Truths, KR Norman Collected Papers II, pp. 210-223. https://buddhistuniversity.net/conten...

Mahāvastu Vol. III pp. 322ff.
Lalitavistara [416]ff, pp. 321ff.

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Thumbnail courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum: Vajrapani Attends the Buddha at His First Sermon
Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara) ca. 2nd century.

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00:00 Intro
00:39 Metaphor of the wheel of dharma
03:22 Some historical issues
09:01 The content of the First Sermon
15:43 The second major point of the First Sermon
22:24 The end of the sutta

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