BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY:
The Three Turnings
Buddhism is a tradition that has developed for 2,500 years, and it is tremendously complex and rich. Obviously, we can't tell you every detail of Buddhist philosophy. This is just a practical introduction to some important concepts of Buddhist philosophy and what they mean in daily life. One way of talking about Buddhist philosophy is in terms of the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma.
Turning the Wheel of Dharma is an expression that refers to teachings given by the Buddha. The Buddha taught whoever came to him not according to a preconceived system, but according to that person's individual concerns and dispositions. Over time, these teachings have been systematized in many different ways, including categorizing them according to the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma.
The earliest teachings of the Buddha are contained in the First Turning, which is associated with the Hinayana, or Foundation Vehicle. The Second Turning and Third Turning are both associated with the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle. Through studying Buddhist philosophy, and developing helpful and correct concepts about the world by contemplating the teachings, our spiritual practice can develop more powerfully. Eventually though, we need to move beyond a merely conceptual understanding and develop direct experience through meditation. This 3-step process is how we grow in wisdom, and achieve the Fruit of Buddhist practice: Enlightenment.
All Buddhist traditions emphasize a combination of meditation practice and study. It is said that study without meditation is like having eyes, but no legs -- you can see where you want to go, but you can't get there. On the other hand, meditation without some study is like having legs, but no eyes -- you are walking, but you have know idea if you are headed in the right direction or not.
First Turning: Interdependence
The first teachings that the Buddha gave were about the Three Characteristics of Existence, describing the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and selfless nature of all things. First, everything that exists is impermanent: it arises, exists for a while, and then passes away. All physical and mental reality is like that. The more we struggle to achieve permanence in our outer world or in the inner world of feelings, the more we suffer, because we can't stop things from changing. It's like trying to hold back the river. Once we realize this, we know that nothing outside of us is going to bring us a real and lasting happiness. Everything in our physical and mental worlds is ultimately unsatisfactory, because of impermanence.
This impermanence is not random, however. Apple seeds don't produce oak trees: apple seeds produce apple trees and acorns produce oaks. In other words, everything in the world is governed by causal laws. This is known as interdependence (Skt. pratitya-samutpada) in Buddhism, and is often referred to as the law of karma.
Because we think that the world and ourselves are permanent and satisfactory, we react to change with attachment, aggression, and ignorance, known as the "three poisons" in Buddhism (Skt. kleshas). Based on these negative emotions, we engage in actions (Skt. karma) of body, speech, and mind that give rise to suffering in our lives, just as planting a seed gives rise to fruit in the future. It is important to understand that in Buddhism, suffering is not seen as "punishment" for bad deeds, but simply a natural process of cause and effect. Deeds based on attachment, aggression and ignorance naturally give rise to suffering, while deeds based on a mind of non-attachment, non-aggression, and wisdom naturally bring happiness into our lives.In Buddhism, this process continues from one life to the next, through the process of rebirth. Though the body ceases to exist at death, the mind continues into a future existence, and carries the seeds of karma into the next life. Different conflicting emotions lead to rebirth in different realms, some of which are not visible to humans, though others are.
In other words, our experience of the outer realm is dependent on our karma, on the thoughts and actions performed in this and previous lives.
The characteristics of impermanence and interdependence apply to us as well as to the outer world. In other words, there is no permanently existing independent self, as we usually think of ourselves as existing. Therefore, Buddhism teaches that we are selfless. Think of yourself as you used to be 10 years ago -- are you the SAME person now that you were then? Obviously not; you have changed in many dramatic and important ways. Therefore there is no permanently existing, unchanging self. In other words, the self is impermanent. However, can you say you are NOT THE SAME person you were 10 years ago? You can't agree to this either, because obviously the things that happened to you 10 years ago continue to influence you and make you who you are today. Therefore who you are today, while not a permanent and unchanging self, is nevertheless dependent on who you were 10 years ago. A local example might be the Arkansas River, which is changing moment by moment, but which we nevertheless call the "Arkansas River", as if it were the same river from moment to moment.
Similarly, according to Buddhism, who you are in this life is not the same person you were in previous lives, but it is dependent on the thoughts and actions of previous lives. Who you are in future lives will not be the same person you are in this life, but it is dependent on the thoughts and actions of this life. The process of rebirth happens with little or no freedom of choice for most of us. Ordinarily, we have no more control over our rebirth than we do over our dreams. However, through spiritual practice, it is possible to obtain control over this process and direct your rebirths towards your continual spiritual growth.
Learn More: See Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism and Khenpo Karthar, Dharma Paths for a discussion of the Six Realms. Sogyal Rinpoche discusses Buddha Nature and the process of death and rebirth in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. A traditional discussion of these basic teachings is found in Gampopa's Jewel Ornament of Liberation (translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen).
Analyzing the impermanent, unsatisfactory and selfless nature of phenomena starts to undo our attachment to the outer world, and we start to relax more with how things are. We start to see things more as they are, rather than colored by our emotional projections. We start to behave in more skillful and less destructive ways. However, we may still believe that the world exists in a real, solid, and substantial sense; that things exist pretty much the way we perceive them. This view could be called naive realism; in Buddhism it is often referred to as eternalism. It is the subtle seed of all of our more overt experiences of suffering.
In order to counteract this view, the Buddha gave the teachings on emptiness (Skt. shunyata; Tib. tongpa nyid). Although the Buddha did not use this example, we can think of a television movie to help us understand what the Buddha meant by emptiness. A movie that we watch on television is just a display of changing color, light and sound. However, interpret that display as people and events happening in the movie. And because we temporarily allow ourselves to believe that what we are watching is "real" in some way, we experience emotional reactions to what we see: we laugh or cry, become angry or frightened. And yet ultimately, nothing is really happening. We are reacting to appearances that parade across the television screen. Of course, we enjoy being entertained by a movie for a couple of hours. We take our lives more seriously, however, and therefore we suffer more.
Obviously, the Buddha did not use the example of a television movie. Instead, he said that life was like a rainbow, a magical illusion, the reflection of the moon in water, and so forth. But the principle is the same. Recognizing emptiness not just intellectually but experientially removes our ignorance and confusion, and creates a tremendous sense of space in our lives. An example that is traditionally given is that of a person who mistakes a coiled rope for a snake, and experiences tremendous fear and suffering because of that. However, through investigation, the person realizes that it is just a rope, and that there was never a snake there in the first place -- and the fear and suffering vanishes. It was based on illusion.
Learn More: The Dalai Lama has an excellent discussion of emptiness and interdependence in The Meaning of Life from a Buddhist Perspective. Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso discusses the philosophy of emptiness in The Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness. See also the discussion of the Buddhist path in The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, especially the chapter on "Wisdom".
Emptiness is often MIS-understood in the West to mean "nothingness", as if to say that nothing exists. This extreme view is known as "nihilism", and it is a great obstacle to Buddhist practice. If you cling to the idea that nothing exists, then you may behave in ways that only solidify your own ego and cause harm to yourself and others. However, the view of nihilism is an extreme and incorrect view, according to Buddhism. In order to counteract this view, the Buddha gave teachings on the Buddha Nature (Skt. tathagatagarbha; Tib. deshin nyingpo).
Buddhist philosophy starts from the recognition that the fundamental nature of the mind of all sentient beings is awareness, openness, and limitless freedom. This inherent nature of the mind is called Buddha Nature, and it is present equally in all beings, regardless of age, gender, race, etc. However, this fundamentally pure nature of the mind, though present in all beings, is obscured by the negative emotions, concepts, and habits that ordinary beings are constantly engaged in. In other words, caught up in the thoughts and emotions of ordinary life, we become confused about our true nature.
We need to recognize that although the nature of our minds is obscured by confusion, it is not harmed by that confusion -- just as a mirror may reflect all kinds of negative things but is not itself harmed by the reflections. So we don't need to feel bad about ourselves. In fact, all we have to do is relax and slowly penetrate the negativity that obscures our enlightened nature, and our own Buddha-qualities will naturally shine out more and more. All Buddhist practice is about unveiling the enlightened qualities that are inherent in the nature of our minds.
The Fruit: Enlightenment. The result of Buddhist practice is to unveil the Buddha Nature within us, so that all its enlightened qualities of wisdom, compassion and power can shine without distortion. One way of describing the qualities of enlightenment is as the Three Bodies of the Buddha.1) Dharmakaya (Tib. choku). The "Wisdom Body" of the Buddha is the fundamental nature of the mind as openness, space and awareness. This enlightened awareness, though it has no form in itself, manifests as two "Form Bodies" in order to benefit other beings. These enlightened manifestations happen spontaneously without thought or effort, due to the compassion of the Buddhas.
2) Sambhogakaya (Tib. longku). The "Enjoyment Body" represents forms of color and light that are perceived in meditation, and that give teachings and blessings to advanced meditators. Many of the deity practices of Tibetan Buddhism consist of visualizing these pure forms of enlightenment.
3) Nirmanakaya (Tib. tulku). The "Emanation Body" is the form perceptible by ordinary beings who have the good karma to come into contact withan enlightened being. The most famous example of a nirmanakaya is Shakyamuni Buddha, who lived and taught in India 2,500 years ago. However, other highly realized beings also take rebirth in ordinary form in order to teach and lead other beings towards enlightenment. The Tibetan word for such beings is Tulku.
However, let's remember that the qualities of enlightenment are our inherent potential already. We don't have to struggle to be something we are not, but instead, we can relax and become more and more who we genuinely are, beyond all the confusion and negativity that dominate our lives. It's like the sun, which may temporarily be obscured by clouds, but it's still shining -- even if only a little light is getting through. Through meditation and study we dissolve the clouds, which become thinner and thinner, and let more and more light shine, until one day our true Buddha Nature shines forth without any veil. That is called enlightenment.
Learn More: Thrangu Rinpoche discusses the characteristics of enlightenment in Buddha Nature. See also the discussions in The Jewel Ornament of Liberation.