Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 28-minute session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches the origin of the Wheel of Life through a striking parable: two ancient Indian kings exchanging gifts, a Buddha’s shadow traced onto cloth, and King Udayana’s transformation from curiosity to ordination. By studying the drawing of the Wheel and its twelve interdependent links, the king comes to understand the true nature of dependent origination. The session then covers the seven types of individual liberation vows—lay precepts, novice ordination, full monastic vows, and the two-year pervasionary stage for nuns—and clarifies how the one-day Upavasa vow (taken for oneself) differs from the eight Mahāyāna precepts (taken for others’ benefit). Suited to those beginning their study of Wheel of Life teachings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 WoL.mp3
UUID: d098bc8a-c145-4a6d-bb9f-50c6c6b0be9d
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Wheel of Life (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 28.0 minutes
Words: ~1,438
So for those who have great training in philosophy, and for some who are very intelligent, and for some special beings, they said that this practice of the twelve links of interdependence is very suitable. As one of the reasons — and how this Wheel of Life came into being, or came into existence — there was in ancient times in India two great kings: one who lived in the central part and one who lived on the edge or outside. The central king sent — as a gift or present to the king who was living on the outside or on the edge — an image of the Wheel of Life and an image of a Buddha as a present. And as soon as the king saw these drawings of the Wheel of Life, that made him realise the true nature. So in the text it gives a very long history of how it came into existence.
So before going into the Wheel of Life, Geshe-la said he would briefly explain how it came into existence. So it was a long time in the past where in India there were six big cities. And of those six, the biggest is known as Gyelpo Khab, which is Rajagriha. And in that city Buddha Śākyamūni was doing his meditation in one of the forests nearby the city — this is the place where Buddha gave the teachings on the Heart Sūtra. And these days, you don’t even see a part of that city.
So at that time, in that city, there was a king called — what do you say — let’s say his name was Bimbisara. Anyway, the king named Bimbisara was very famous and had great renown. And he had a wife, the queen, and had a son called Dachen Tenjin. So then on the edge of that city, again there was another city, known as Vaishali. And there was again a king who ruled that city, which is the king named Udayana. And similarly, the king had his wife, the queen known as Dahe, and a son — yes, a son — who had a very righteous nature. So then there were also two ministers there: one known as such-and-such and one known as such-and-such.
So the two cities — when one city is prosperous, the other city sort of loses its prosperity. And when the other one is prosperous, the one loses its prosperity. So that is because of the karma of those beings living there. So those two kings had never met but were always sending gifts or presents to each other.
So finally, at the end, the king known as Udayana sent a gift or present to the king who was living in the central part: a golden armour decorated with many precious stones as a present to the king. So the central king received the present and thought, as he had received the present, he also wanted to send a present back to the king. But he was worried about what he should send. He didn’t know what to send. He was a little worried at that time.
And then the king had a minister who was a very intelligent one. And the minister gave an idea to the king, saying: our city has the Buddha — Buddha Śākyamūni was living and doing his meditation in the forest of that city. And the minister told the king that in the other city they don’t have a person like Buddha Śākyamūni, and we should draw a picture of the Buddha and send it as a present to the other king. So if they see drawings of Buddha Śākyamūni, then they would also create merit. And so that’s what the minister sort of suggested to the king.
So the king was very pleased with the idea and went to the Buddha, Buddha Śākyamūni, and asked whether he could do that or not. So then Buddha agreed to do that, so the king found an artist who could draw the picture of the Buddha. So the artist went to the Buddha and tried to draw the image of the Buddha. And because the body of the Buddha is too big, too tall and big, the artist couldn’t put it down in the drawing surface. And Buddha asked him, the artist, to bring a big piece of cloth and put it on the ground. Then Buddha stood on the side so that the shade, the shadow of the Buddha’s body, fell on the cloth. And then through the cloth the artist traced the drawings of the Buddha.
So the drawing that then came out had a Buddha on top and different refuge objects and the Wheel of Life and everything. And together with that, the king wrote a letter and sent it as a present back to the other king. So then the other king, Udayana, received it and made great offerings to the drawings — like oceans of offerings. And also he made a throne which is supported by lions, and he set up the thangka, arranged the thangka, and made offerings.
So the king had to go often to see the drawings. And as the drawings were very beautiful, the followers of the king also generated great faith and accumulated a great amount of merit. So then the king, because of looking at the drawings — the twelve interdependent links — let’s say the forward and backward of the twelve interdependent links — through studying or looking into the picture, he understood the true nature. So then the king Udayana also invited ordained beings, like monks, to the place, to his town. And finally, the king left his palace and took ordination. And then finally, yes, the king Udayana also achieved that state.
So today probably we will stop here and we will continue explaining the rest in the next teachings. And all the explanations that come under this teaching — there are things which have meaning, or have stories based on stories. Whatever you find meaningful, don’t leave it as just history — but whatever you find meaningful, put it into practice.
I’ll keep on talking in the teachings. And so here we do some question and answer.
The seven types of individual liberation will come later in the teaching. So the seven types of individual liberation are seven types of vows that you take: three relating to lay people, and then the rest for those who take ordination.
So what are they? The first one is the lay ordination, which is for male and female. Then the novice monk and novice nun. Then fully ordained monks and nuns. And then, what do you call that — the probationary stage. Which is for the probationary nuns — before they take the bhikshuni vows, they have a period of two years where they have to — before taking the full ordination, for that period of two years, they take what is called the probationary vows. It is a kind of examination period of two years to see whether they are suitable to take the full ordination or not.
So the vows — they are known as the eight different kinds of vows. The first one is like the eight Mahāyāna precepts, or the one-day vows. And then secondly, which again are two — vows for laymen and vows for laywomen. And then the remaining five are for monks and nuns. Also it is known as seven, because when you count it as seven, the first one is not counted. So sometimes the first one is skipped because it is not counted — because it is a vow that you take only for one day. So because of that reason it is not listed with the rest. This, what do you call — the first one, what do you say — is known as the Upavasa vow. In Sanskrit it is called Upavasa. That vow is very similar to that of taking the eight Mahāyāna precepts — it is very similar to taking the eight Mahāyāna precepts. But then, a fully ordained person is not suitable to take that first vow. But then the eight Mahāyāna precepts are also taken by the ordained ones. So that is the difference.
So the first vow is taken only for the purpose of the self. And when you take the Mahāyāna vow, that is for the sake of others. This is important to notice.
So we stop there.