Patrick Kearney's Vipassana Retreat Talk at Bodhi Tree Monastery (2009)
Tonight we begin our examination of Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Turning the dharma wheel), the Buddha's first recorded teaching, delivered to his five ascetic companions. He has found a strategy to communicate the dharma, which he calls the "middle way" (majjhima pa?ipada). What is the middle way, and how does the Buddha communicate it? And what does "turning the wheel" refer to?
We also preview the four truths, how their basic structure reveals the Buddha’s dynamic vision of dependent arising (paticcasamuppada).