Page 24 - Siddhartha Gautama Buddha Teacher of Gods & Men

Turning
Turning

The Wheel
The Wheel

Of Life
Of Life

初转法轮处，⿅野苑 First preaching place, Sarnath (斯⾥兰卡 Sri Lanka: 2006)

After his enlightenment, Gautama Buddha contemplated on whom should he preached his doctrine of

awakening. It was his first 5 ascetic friends that came to his mind. Thus he delivered his first sermon in the

Dhammacakkapavatana Sutta at the Deer Park at Isipatana, present day Sarnath.

All past and future Buddhas are said to have passed through the same stages as Gautama Buddha: a spiritual

crisis followed by a renouncement of the world, an ascetic existence leading to awakening, the acquisition of

extraordinary powers, preaching and gathering disciples, being targeted by jealousy because of his success and

criticism of a corrupt society, his death being foretold, and a funeral that gives rise to the worship of relics.