Translation1 of Dhammacakka sutta version two (C1, Class 5) from the Chinese by N J Smith.

5/2001 Reading 4 : T # 109 = T 2:503b+c // SN # 56.11-12 = SN 5:420-425 So have I heard: Once when the Awakened One sat under a tree 2 in Baaraa.nasiis greater-metropolitanarea in the Deer Park 3 there were a thousand mendicants and a large gathering of gods to one side of the sky4. At that time there was a natural process wheel that flew to the AO and that turned in front of him. The AO stroked the wheel with his hand and said: Previously uncountable sufferings came to me. I experienced immeasurable stress as name and form cycling on. The mind of delusion and lust has stopped. Now I have liberated my mind from the influxes and fetters. All roots have stopped. Birth and death have been cut off. I will not be recycled in the five destinations 5. The wheel then rose up while the AO told the mendicants6 [this]: In the world there are two practices of indulging in extremes. These ways of practice are not suitable for doing the task for a disciple who has left home life for good. What are the two? One is to dwell in desire and passion with impure aspirations. The second is depending on grasping in sensuality 7 with which one cannot progress earnestly. For this reason one who goes back cannot rate as a real follower of the AOs ways. If a mendicant does not dwell with desire and passion [or] grasping in sensuality, he can experience the middle [path]. The One-Thus-Come completely and rightly awakened, attained to vision and wisdom, avoided the two extremes and realised extinguishment8. What is the meaning of experiencing the middle [path]? It is achieving the Noble Eight[fold] Way. First is Right View, second is Right Thought, third is Right Speech, fourth is Right Action, fifth is Right Livelihood, sixth is Right Effort, seventh is Right Memory (smr.ti) and eighth is Right Concentration. Mendicants, I have not heard of [this] way before. When he has known deeply stress as a noble truth, he is concentrated, experiences vision, calm, knowledge, wisdom, insight and realisation, which 9 cause liberation of mind10. When he has known deeply stresss arising [and its] ceasing as noble truths, he [is concentrated,] experiences vision, calm, knowledge, wisdom, insight and realisation,

Rather than an absolute literal translation, the principle of considering what the original Indian word was (since it is said these Chinese discourses were translated from the Indian) and translating with its meaning in mind is being followed here. The original Chinese text did not have punctuation so the use of it in translation is a matter of opinion. Later versions of the texts, including the one used here, have added punctuation. 2 The other Ch. version and the Paali say dwelled at instead of sat under a tree, but maybe this is referring to the tree dwellers practice. 3 This version leaves out at the Place the Sages Stay Isipatana. 4 The five mendicants of the other Ch. Version and the Paali are not mentioned, but we have a much larger crowd. It is not clear if 1000 is the count of both the mendicants and gods or only of the former. 5 It is interesting that only five are mentioned. In the Indian tradition, there are six. Maybe the sixth one was the Human realm and it was left out because the Buddha could have been said to inhabit it at the time of speaking. 6 No mention of the gods here. 7 The difference and how there are two extremes here, is not very clear. 8 The text gives a transcription for Nirvaa.na. 9 The text has nian4 sati here. 10 I will follow the English list of the benefits of realising the Four Noble Truths, as given in the table after the text, consistently throughout this translation.

which11 causes liberation of mind. So also with the noble truth of [the path to stresss] ceasing. What is stress? It is birth, ageing, sickness, grief, lamentation, despair, association with the hated, separation from that which is desired [and] not getting what one seeks. In brief five aggregates of clinging are stress. What is the arising of stress? It comes from desire the reason and cause for pleasure in rebecoming. Not leaving taking pleasure and delight now there and there 12. [That is] sensual desire, desire for form and desire for formless-ness. This is the arising of stress. What is stresss cessation? It is the realisation coming from desire to rebecome, which is happy. Not experiencing dwelling in excess, remainderless 13 dispassion, rejecting it to not consider it again. This is stresss14 cessation. What is the way to the ending of stress 15? It is the practice of the Noble Eight[fold] Way. Right: View, Thought, Speech, Action, Livelihood, Effort, Memory (smr.ti) and Concentration. This is the16 path to the ceasing of stress. Moreover mendicants, stress is a noble 17 truth. The arising of stress is a noble truth. Stresss arisings cessation is a noble truth. The path to the Stresss arisings cessation 18 is a noble truth. When I had not yet heard before, in the past, this process of stress, I ought [to have] vision, calm, knowledge, wisdom, insight and realisation, which 19 causes liberation of mind. Because I had not yet heard in the present this process of the Four Noble Truths20, I ought to experience vision, calm, knowledge, wisdom, insight and realisation, causing liberation of mind. As long as [I did] not hear all about this process of the Four Noble Truths in the future, [I ought to have] experienced vision, calm, knowledge, wisdom, insight and realisation, causing liberation of mind. These are the four truths in three phases and twelve modes and not knowing [them] purely I did not among all those in the world, all angels and men, gods, devils, recluses and priests know and proclaim that I experienced the way of morality, concentration, wisdom and liberation. Knowing and seeing completely these the four highest [attainments], there is no more future birth, [I am] far from the world not again to suffer. When the Awakened One said this, In Venerable Knowing 21 Ko.n.dannyya and 80,000,000 angels the stainless, dustless22 process eye arose. The influxes of those 1000 mendicants finished and their minds were liberated. They all realised the stage of

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The text has nian4 sati here. I have not used here and there, which would be better sounding, because I think that would miss the point of always looking elsewhere and being NOT satisfied with the here and now, i.e. The grass is always greener on the other side syndrome. 13 The text has nian4 sati here. 14 The text has ji2 arising [and] here which I omit for it has already been dealt with. 15 The text seems to have a word for word translation here dukkha nirodha gaamini pati padaa - ku3 ji2 jin4 yu2 shou4 dao4. The ji2arising is extra, but is paired with jin4-cessation throughout this discourse. The yu2-desire does not seem to make sense here, but maybe there was a mix up between gaamini-going and kaamini-desiring. 16 The text has noble truth of the here. 17 Or real. 18 As note Error: Reference source not found. 19 The text has nian4 sati here. 20 The first has been covered, and the other three are hereby covered. 21 The text has a transcription for Annyya (Knowing) here, which would be made in retrospect, since in the other versions it was only after attaining the Process-eye that his name was prefixed with Annyya. This text does not have the separate item of the renaming of Ko.n.dannyya except for this reference. Maybe this was an attempt to incorporate it by the translator/author. 22 I follow the Indian here in that stainless and dustless refer to the process-eye, not the mendicant and the angels.

Accomplishment23. Then in addition they all turned [their view to] All processes that arise are bound to cease. The many gods made know the process wheel in its three turns. Of the gods in the world, living in the Process Realm24, none did not hear it all. It first reached the Four Great Kings, then the Thirtythree 25 gods, Yama gods, Tusita gods, gods delighting in others creations26, gods delighting in their own creations. It reached the limit of the Brahma world. So in an instant all of them heard.At that time The Awakened Ones Realm27 of three thousand world systems and ten million two thousand earthly gods all shook tremendously. They were the Awakened Ones divine helpers to start to turn in Baaraa.nasii28 the highest process wheel not yet turned and proclaimed to a countless degree of gods and men who realised the path. After the Awakened One said this, all were very happy.This is the discourse of the Awakened One [first] speaking and turning the process wheel.

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The text gives A luo2 han4 a transcription for Arahant-(ship) fa3 di4 taken as Dhamma bhuumi 25 This and the next two dao1 li4 yan4 (mo2) and duo1 shu4 taken as transcriptions. 26 bu4 jiao1 li4 taken as ni-maana-rati and then next hua4 ying1 sheng1 taken as para-nimita-vasavasi and both are translated from the Indian.
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fo2 jie4 taken as Buddha bhuumi Use is in the text here.

Wen2 ru2 shi4. Yi4 shi2 Fo2 zai4 Bo1luo2nai4, Lu4ye3 shu4 xia4 zuo4 shi2, you3 qian1 bi3qui1 zhu1 tian1 shen2 jie1 da4 hui4 ce4 sai4 kong1 zhong1. Yu2 shi4 you3 zi4ran2 fa3 lun2 fei1 lai2 dang1 Fo2 qian2 zhuan4. Fo2 yi3 shou3 fu3 lun2 yue1: Shang4 wang4 zhe3 wu2 cong2 wu2 shu4 jie2 lai2 wei4 ming2 se4 zhuan4 shou4 ku3 wu2 liang4. Jin1 zhe3 chi2 (avijjaa) ai4 (tan.haa) zhi1 yi4 yi3 zhi3. Lou4 (aasava) jie1/2 (san.yojana) zhi1 qing2 yi3 je3. Zhu1 gen1 yi3 ding4. Sheng1 si3 yi3 duan4. Bu4 f4 zhuan4 y2 wu3 dao4. Lun2 ji2 shang4 yu2 shi4 Fo2 gao4 zhu1 bi3qiu1: Shi2 jian1 The number of items listed as benefits of realising the 4NTs. This earlier translation seems to list six items as in this table, Yan3 Yan3 guan1 Yan3 guan1 Dao4 yan3 Yan3 (* These have Chan2 Si1 Chan2 Si1 Chan2 Xing2 Chan2 Si1 Chan2 suo3 nian4 after them.) Hui4 Hui4 Hui4 Hui4 Hui4 Jian4 Jian4 Jian4 Jue2 * Jue2 * Jue2 * Jue2 Jue2

but other more modern translations do not have so many items as in this table: Yan3 Zhi4 Ming2 Jue2 This might be because some of the items in this earlier translation could be read together as one item. In modern Chinese two characters with similar meaning are written together to form a word to make it clear what the word is. This is because in spoken Chinese the number of syllables are very limited and one syllable may mean many things. This would not have been a general practice at the time this earlier discourse was translated therefore I take each character as an individual item giving six items. The Paali, which has six items as follows, supports this. The lists of benefits from realising the 4NTs as they appear in the Paali: Cakkhu Nyaa.na * Upasama * Abhinynya Sambodhi Nibbaana (* I follow the Chinese sequence and the general understanding that calm-upasama comes before experiential knowing-nyaa.na.) I use the following English terms as translations of the six items here: Vision Calm Knowledge Wisdom Insight Realisation