Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using the image of the Dharma wheel to anchor the discussion, Khensur Rinpoche closes his Eightfold Path series in this 20-minute talk by mapping all eight paths onto the three higher trainings. The hub of the wheel represents ethics (right speech, right action, right livelihood); the rim represents meditative stabilization, which confines the mind to its chosen object; the spokes represent wisdom, which does the work of removing afflictions and knowledge obstructions. He then explains the two deer traditionally shown flanking the wheel — symbols of the tender-heartedness of the Buddha’s first teaching at Varanasi — and closes by distinguishing the word wheel of Dharma from the meaning wheel, the internal realization generated within the listener’s own mind.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 EFP 1992 10 25.mp3
UUID: d3506751-93e8-4387-b60f-80f8bb0f809e
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Eigthfold Path (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1992-10-25
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 20.0 minutes
Words: ~915
And finally the eighth of the Eightfold Path of Superiors is correct meditative stabilization. And in dependence upon the observance of ethics as a basis, and in order to develop the four types of quick paths which are subsumed under the higher training in wisdom, we have necessary to engage in meditation. And we said that the higher training in wisdom involves the discriminating analysis of an object in order to understand its nature. In order to pursue that in a skillful manner, it’s necessary that the mind be such that it is able to abide single pointedly upon a single object without any types of mental fault, without any types of wandering or excitement, that the mind is able to abide single pointedly and depend upon that then one can engage in the higher training in wisdom. So here we’re speaking of the correct meditative stabilization.
I was requested to talk about the Dharma chakra or the wheel of Dharma, and the eight spokes are these eight paths of the superiors. And these eight paths, as I have just explained, are subsumed within the three higher trainings. The first four of the eightfold path are subsumed within higher training in wisdom. Then the next three are subsumed within the higher training in ethics. And finally, the last path of the superior, correct mental stabilization, is included within the higher training in meditative concentration.
So the hub is the higher training in ethics. So the hub of the wheel is symbolic of higher training in ethics, and higher training in ethics was made up of correct speech, correct aim of actions, and correct livelihood. The latter two higher trainings, that is a meditative concentration and wisdom arise from the higher training in ethics, they’re dependent upon higher training in ethics. So as it’s displayed in this illustration, that they extend out from the hub, which is ethics. Ethics is like the center, the hub from which everything else extends out from.
Then the rim of the wheel is symbolic of the higher training in meditative concentration, which is the correct meditative stabilization, because meditative concentration confines the mind internally and does not allow it to go to negative objects, but brings it within and confines it to a specific object. Whatever we wish the mind to meditate on due to the force of our meditative concentration, the mind will abide. So it acts as a confining means, a confining force, like the rim of the wheel. Then within the wheel are the eight spokes and the eight spokes are symbolic of the higher training in wisdom. The spokes bring about, support the function of the wheel as a whole and it is the higher training in wisdom which brings about, which acts as the function to bring about the goal of removing all our various faults, the various afflictive emotions, the various knowledge obstructions.
And though we have listed four correct types of paths which are subsumed in higher training in wisdom, in fact all eight of the correct paths can be termed higher training in wisdom which act to actually bring about the function of the wheel supporting the rest. So the hub of the wheel is symbolic of the higher training in ethics, the rim of the wheel is symbolic of the higher training in meditative stabilization, and the spokes are symbolic of the higher training in wisdom. So if you notice in this illustration, and it’s quite often illustrated in this way, there are two wild deer to the side of, to each side of the wheel of Dharma. And when the Buddha Śākyamūni first taught the Dharma, he taught it at a place called Varanasi, which at that time there was a large forest, and it was inhabited by many deer. Deer are extremely tender hearted animals, the showing of these two deer is symbolic of the tender hearted quality of these teachings.
The teachings of the Buddha are often termed a wheel of Dharma. And there are two types of wheels of Dharma. There is the word wheel of Dharma and the meaning wheel of Dharma. The word wheel of Dharma, when the Buddha first taught the Dharma, his spiritual teachings, he communicated verbally and this verbal teaching is termed the word wheel of Dharma. Then the students heard this teaching and realized the meaning of these teachings, that is to say within their own mind they generated these three higher trainings.
The higher trainings in ethics, meditative stabilization, and wisdom. And this realization of the meaning of the words is what is meant by the meaning wheel of Dharma. So upon Buddha turning the wheel of Dharma, giving the teachings, the students listen to the teachings and realize the meaning of the teaching. That is to say, they actually within their own minds generated the eightfold path of the superiors, and all of the various beings who were present at that time, whether they were celestial beings or human beings, became superiors by means of realizing their meaning. Okay. So we’re going to stop there, but if you have some questions, we’ll take some time for those.
Anybody have any questions? The fourth what? The fourth? So as we in terms of the presentation that was given today, the fourth was correct wisdom. So there are some concluding prayers, which welcome to join in.
The first one is on page ten. In verses eight to nine on page five.