Contents A A Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma by The Venerable Mahāsi Sayādaw of Burma Translated by U Ko Lay Buddha Sāsanānuggaha Organization Mahāsi Translation Committee, Rangoon A Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma by The Venerable Mahāsi Sayādaw of Burma Translated by U Ko Lay First printed and published in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma December 1981 New Edition Edited by Bhikkhu Pesala September 2021 All rights reserved Contents Editor’s Foreword......................................................................................vii Part One Preface to the Discourse...............................................................................1 The Date of the Discourse............................................................................2 Three Kinds of Introduction.................................................................3 The Bodhisatta and Worldly Pleasures.................................................4 The Ignoble Search................................................................................5 The Noble Search...................................................................................5 Approaching the Sage Āḷāra.................................................................7 Taking Instructions from Āḷāra............................................................8 Reassuring Words..................................................................................8 Approaching the Sage Udaka................................................................9 Extreme Austerities in the Uruvela Forest..........................................11 Extreme Austerity of Crushing the Mind..........................................12 Absorption Restraining the Breath.....................................................13 Extreme Austerity of Fasting...............................................................14 Māra’s Persuasion.................................................................................15 Right Reasoning...................................................................................16 Absorption While an Infant................................................................17 Resumption of Normal Meals.............................................................18 The Enlightenment....................................................................................19 Extreme Austerity Is a Form of Self-mortification..............................21 Considering to Whom to Give the First Discourse.............................21 Missing the Path and Fruition by Seven Days....................................22 Missing the Great Chance by One Night............................................23 Journey to Give the First Sermon........................................................23 Meeting Upaka the Naked Ascetic.....................................................24 Truth Is Not Seen if Blinded by Misconception.................................25 Arrival at Isipatana..............................................................................26 Part Two Avoiding the Two Extremes.......................................................................31 Sensual Indulgence Is Inferior and Vulgar.........................................32 The Doctrine of Ultimate Bliss in This Very Life...............................33 The Practice of Ordinary People.........................................................33 Not the Practice of the Noble Ones.....................................................34 Not Leading to One’s True Welfare ....................................................34 May Householders Indulge in Sensual Pleasures?............................35 Four Kinds of Sensual Indulgence......................................................35 The Practice of Self-mortification..............................................................36 Methods of Self-mortification..............................................................36 The Nigaṇṭha Teachings......................................................................37 Physical Suffering................................................................................38 Effort without Any Benefit..................................................................39 Wrong Interpretation of Self-mortification.........................................40 Misconception about Contemplation on Feeling...............................41 The View of a Meditation Teacher.......................................................41 iii iv Contents The Middle Path.........................................................................................43 How to Avoid the Two Extremes..........................................................44 Antidote for Indigestible Food............................................................45 How Vision and Knowledge Are Developed......................................45 Knowledge Deepens through Practice...............................................47 The Explanation of the Commentary..................................................48 Starting from Any Stage......................................................................48 Leading to Peace..................................................................................49 Wrong Belief in the Practice................................................................50 Temporarily Putting Away..................................................................51 The Arising of Higher Knowledge......................................................52 Penetrative Insight...............................................................................53 The Realisation of Nibbāna.................................................................54 Part Three The Invitation Ceremony...........................................................................56 Elaboration of the Eightfold Path...............................................................57 The Path Factor of Right Speech..........................................................58 The Path Factor of Right Action...........................................................59 The Path Factor of Right Livelihood...................................................60 Seeking Wealth Unethically Is Wrong Livelihood.......................61 Seeking Wealth Ethically Is Right Livelihood.............................61 The Path Factor of Right Effort............................................................61 The Path Factor of Right Mindfulness................................................64 Was the Noble Eightfold Path Taught in Detail?.................................64 Momentary Concentration for Insight................................................67 Genuine Insight Only by Mindful Noting.........................................69 The Path Factor of Right Concentration..............................................70 Insight without Absorption................................................................71 The Path Factor of Right View.............................................................73 Right View About the Ownership of Kamma....................................74 The Path in Three Stages...........................................................................76 How Jhāna Attainers Develop Insight................................................77 Contemplating Miscellaneous Mental Formations.............................79 Beginning the Path of Insight.............................................................80 How the Factors of Concentration Are Developed.............................81 How the Factors of Wisdom Are Developed.......................................81 The Path Factor of Right Thought.......................................................82 Part Four The Truth of Suffering...............................................................................84 A Critical Examination of Disparities in the Texts..............................84 Accurate Definition of the Truth of Suffering....................................87 The Four Noble Truths...............................................................................87 Suffering of Rebirth.............................................................................88 The Suffering of Change.....................................................................89 Suffering of Conditioned States..........................................................90 Concealed and Unconcealed Suffering...............................................91 Direct and Indirect Suffering.............................................................91 Suffering in a Mother’s Womb............................................................92 Contents v Suffering at Birth.................................................................................93 Suffering Throughout Life..................................................................93 Suffering Because of Aging.................................................................94 Death as Suffering...............................................................................95 Grief as Suffering.................................................................................95 Lamentation as Suffering....................................................................96 Physical Pain as Suffering....................................................................96 Sorrow as Suffering.............................................................................97 Despair as Suffering............................................................................97 Suffering as