Three Turnings

Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma (Skt. tridharmacakra; T. chos 'khor rim pa gsum ཆོས་འཁོར་རིམ་པ་གསུམ་). The three major series of teachings given by the Buddha, according to the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition and as presented in the Samdhinirmochana Sutra.

According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the three turnings are:

1. The first turning in which the Buddha taught Four Noble Truths.
2. The second turning in which the Buddha taught the Perfection of Wisdom teachings.
   
3. The third turning explains the nature of mind (through teachings on the three natures and buddha nature).
   

The "turning of the wheel of dharma" (dharmacakrapravartana) refers to the Buddha's act of teaching the Dharma.

Brief Explanation of the Three Turnings

The 14th Dalai Lama states:

The Buddha’s teachings and subsequent Buddhist literature can be appraised in several different ways. If we consider the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma, the first deals with the Four Noble Truths, the foundation of all Buddhist doctrine. The second comprises the Perfection of Wisdom teachings and the third explains the nature of the mind. A bodhisattva makes him- or herself familiar with all these teachings.

John Dunne states:

The Prajñāpāramitā literature and its philosophical approach were supplemented by later developments that introduced more positive expressions of the nature of the ultimate reality. These include sūtras that teach Mentalism (cittamātra)— that everything is mind—and those that some Tibetans call “Essence Sūtras” (snying po’i mdo), which teach the innate buddha essence (tathāgatagarbha). Mentalism and the concept of tathāgatagarbha are the most important developments in Mahāyāna sūtras after the Prajñāpāramitā. The most important of the Mentalist scriptures for Tibetan commentators is the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra or Sūtra Elucidating the [Buddha’s] Intention. It is an essential source for understanding the developments of the Mentalist philosophy of the Buddhist commentators Asaṅga and Vasubandhu and the distinction between provisional (neyārtha, drang don) and definitive (nītārtha, nges don) teachings in Buddhist hermeneutics.

Early Buddhist tradition had used the “Dharma wheel” metaphor to refer to the Buddha’s act of teaching. For example, the image of a wheel was used before anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha became common. In the Prajñāpāramitā this metaphor was used to distinguish two different levels of teaching and the Prajñāpāramitā’s superior profundity. The Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra is a locus classicus of the idea of three successive “turnings” of the wheel of Dharma, each one of increasing profundity, as a classificatory scheme for Buddhist scriptures. The Prajñāpāramitā literature had distinguished itself from earlier scriptures as a second and more profound phase of turning. In addition to introducing the three-turning model, the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra claims to epitomize the last phase as the most profound expression of the Buddha’s doctrine. The teachings of the second turning, the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra advises, were not definitive (nītārtha) but required interpretation (neyārtha).

According to the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, the most explicit and definitive understanding of reality is conveyed not only by the dichotomy of “form” and “emptiness,” but also with reference to the “three natures” (trisvabhāva). The three-nature theory is held to be the quintessential teaching of the third turning. The first of the three natures is projection (parikalpita). Projection is the process of imagination that labels and constructs the multifarious deceptions of saṃsāra. What exists in truth is confused with deluded perceptions, as in mistaking a coil of rope for a snake. The second nature is relativity (paratantra). Relativity is what does exist—that is, a rope, in spite of our misperception of a snake. The third nature is perfection (pariniṣpanna), the fact that projection does not exist in relativity. Perfection is realized through meditation that eliminates all forms of projection, resulting in the realization of the fundamental coalescence of subjective perceiver and objective fact. Thus the three natures provide the philosophical basis for Buddhist Mentalism (cittamātra), which holds that relativity exists as mind (citta), while dualistic appearances of subjective mind and objective phenomena are unreal. It is significant that the theory of three natures is also found in a Prajñāpāramitā text, the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitāsūtra, in the “Chapter Requested by Maitreya.” This indicates that the philosophical views later considered paradigmatic for the “third turning” were known early in the development of Mahāyāna scriptures, and that Bodhisattva Maitreya was associated with Mentalist trends some time prior to the appearance of Mentalist texts attributed to him and commented on by Asaṅga.

The Essence Sūtras, of which the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra, and the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra are probably the most famous, teach that all beings possess the essence of buddhahood (tathāgatagarbha). One of the earliest scriptures of this type is aptly named the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. It teaches that the wisdom (jñāna) and bodies (kāya) of enlightenment are present in sentient beings, but are obscured by emotional afflictions (kleśa). Thus, the Buddha’s teaching serves not just to remove defilements, but to render manifest the innate qualities of buddhahood. Buddhahood is thus not understood as a special achievement, distinct from arhatship, which results from the extraordinary practices of bodhisattvas. It is, rather, none other than the original nature of the mind. Other Essence Sūtras elaborate on this theme. The tathāgatagarbha is referred to as “self” (ātman) in the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. It is said to be what the Buddha intended when he taught selflessness (anātman). In other words, enlightenment is our true nature. It is pure (śuddha), blissful (sukha), permanent (nitya), and self (ātman), while the misperception of self in the evanescent flow of ordinary experience is impure (aśuddha), miserable (duḥkha), impermanent (anitya), and not really a self (anātman).

The tathāgatagarbha is also identified with the dharmakāya, the wisdom body of the Buddha. It is a radiant (prabhāsvara) and pure (viśuddha) awareness (jñāna). In some places the tathāgatagarbha is linked with the ālayavijñāna, which has led some commentators to classify the scriptures teaching one or another form of proto-Mentalism and the Essence Sūtras together as Mentalist scriptures. The most important feature that they share is the understanding of luminous mind (prabhāsvaracitta) or wisdom (jñāna) as the ultimate truth. This is arguably equivalent to the Mentalist conception of ultimate reality as perfection (pariniṣpanna).

Thus, if the essential import of the scriptures of the third turning is considered to be of definitive meaning, the nature of mind — understood as identical to buddha mind — is an ultimate reality.

The places where it turning took place

According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the three turnings occured in the following locations:

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.
   

What gets abandoned at each turning

According to the Tibetan tradition:

• 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.

Metaphor

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.”

From the above quote:

• "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 teachigns on emptiness.
  
• "The nature of mind is clear light" refers to the final turning and the teachings on buddha nature.
  

Sources

• Asanga (2016), The Bodhisattva Path to Unsurpassed Enlightenment: A Complete Translation of Bodhisattvabhumi, translated by Engle, Artemus B., Snow Lion 
• Pettit, John Whitney (1999), Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, Wisdom Publications 

External links

• A Brief Overview of the Three Turnings and the Mantra Pitaka of the Vidyadharas, Lotsawa House by Khenpo Pema Vajra
• Three Turnings, Rigpa Shedra Wiki