The Importance of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta : หน้า 192/263

the other teachings of the Buddha,the teachings of the arahants and the teachings of distinguished Buddhist teachers down to the present time are simply enlargements upon the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. This is the importance of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta as a master-plan. It is complete in itself and can lead the listener, who had no other knowledge of the Buddha’s teaching to attain enlightenment in the Lord Buddha’s footsteps. If Buddhists were to neglect the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta to the point it disappeared from living memory, then with it Buddhism would also disappear. Even if the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta has not yet become extinct from the world, but a Buddhist fails to understand fully the meaning of this teaching, then it is as good as that person’s Buddhist-ness has disappeared. 4. Reason for Teaching the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta What was the reason behind the Lord Buddha’s preaching of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta? In order to understand this point, we have to go back to the day of Enlightenment of the Lord Buddha. If you look at the history of that time, you will find that having attained Enlightenment, the Buddha did not get up from where he was sitting. He remained where he was in order to “ingest the bliss that had come from Enlightenment”. Traditionally speaking, the long period of time the Buddha spent sitting, after his Enlightenment, is supposed to be because the Buddha felt so proud or exalted by what he had managed to achieve — like a man who has finished a task of hard work and can sit back with a smug grin on his face! However, in the eyes of meditators, we understand that the Buddha couldn’t immediately arise from His seat of enlightenment because He must go further and further through the centre in order to consider the