{"id":11,"date":"2022-01-27T04:50:33","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T04:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fourthturningbuddhism.com\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2022-02-19T09:23:15","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T09:23:15","slug":"toward-fourth-turning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthturningbuddhism.com\/toward-fourth-turning\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is A Fourth Turning?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The philosophy of Buddhism is over 2500 years old<\/a>. In this time, it has undergone three significant incarnations. Traditionally, each of these is signified by a turning of the wheel of dharma. The dharma is the teaching or the path and each turning represents a new approach to the same goal, liberation from suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why A Fourth Turning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism is a truly remarkable philosophy. Its core purpose is to free humans and all other beings from needless suffering. By helping people to \u201cwake up,\u201d Buddhism is a pragmatic approach to training the mind to see through the conditioned illusions that cause us to perpetuate suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it does have some theoretical aspects, Buddhism is empirical at its core. It encourages people to try it themselves to see if it works. This empirical approach is compatible with rational thought and the scientific method. The core teachings are entirely compatible with a 21st-century worldview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its core compatibility, Buddhist thought hasn\u2019t had a major upgrade in almost a thousand years. In the interim, humans have discovered science, renounced slavery, given women equal rights, created computers, and the internet, and created a global environmental catastrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhist philosophy is well aware of the progressive and ever-changing nature of human culture. It includes a mechanism for an upgrade, the doctrine of skillful means. At its core, skillful means asserts that all teachings are approximations of the truth at best, and whatever message can awaken awareness to its true nature is useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skillful means was used as a justification for the second and third turning of Buddhism. It follows to use this approach again to make Buddhism accessible to the billions of people on earth who could benefit from its teachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before exploring what a fourth turning might look like, let’s examine the first three turnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Three Turnings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is some disagreement on whether Buddhism has already undergone three or four turnings, but the majority of scholars characterize it as three turnings. For our purposes, the exact number is less important than illustrating the evolution of Buddhist thought over time. We’ll give a brief summary of the important contributions of the first three turnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Turning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gautama, the historical Buddha, had a profound realization about the causes and antidote to human suffering while meditating under the bodhi tree. He summarized his teachings into four principles, known as the four noble truths. They<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Life is full of suffering.<\/li>
  2. The cause of suffering is ignorance and craving.<\/li>
  3. There can be an end to suffering.<\/li>
  4. The path to alleviate suffering.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The practice of Buddhism lies in the dharma, the path to alleviating suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The style of Buddhism characterized by this first turning is typically referred to as Therevada. Its practices are the basis for much of the modern mindfulness training in the west. Therevandin Buddhism is characterized by a focus on the impermanence of phenomena and a progressive path of insight toward enlightenment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Second Turning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The second turning of Buddhism is commonly attributed to the teachings of Nagarjuna. He taught that all phenomena are essentially empty, without essence. This was an expansion on the Buddha\u2019s insight that the self is an illusion. Nagarjuna extended this to all things and phenomena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The emphasis on emptiness is counterbalanced by a focus on compassion. The recognition of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion combine to produce bodhicitta, or awakening mind. Compassion is a tool to calm and focus the emotionally reactive mind. As the mind calms and attention steadies, it becomes possible to see that the true nature of the mind and everything else is emptiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Third Turning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The third evolution of Buddhism is widely attributed to the advent of the Yogachara school. It is actually the Yogachara school’s foundational sutra, the Noble s\u016btra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets, that first details the three turnings. The sutra makes such humble claims as its teachings are the final and ultimate truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yogachara attempted to integrate the diversity of Buddhist thought that existed at the time into one unified philosophy. Paradoxically, the ideas it presents are complex even for the philosophically minded, all the while it celebrates immediate non-conceptual awareness at the goal of practice. This focus on the unconstrued present moment became an important inspiration for Zen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What Is The Fourth Turning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Formally planned or not, the fourth turning of Buddhism is happening right now. Buddhism has captured the imagination of the global consumer culture. This is a culture that is looking to satisfy its every desire and it has little care for doctrine or tradition. It’s captivated by the promises that modern Buddhist teachers have made about meditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n