Did the Buddha's first sermon talk about the Four Noble Truths? VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH. The title of this treatise comes from the doubt of a dharma friend while re-translating the Sutta Nipāta in the Nikāya literature. A seemingly normal question, but to answer satisfactorily is not simple. Because, in the traditional way of thinking, the Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariyasaccāni) are considered to be the first sermon when the Buddha turned the Dharma wheel to save the five Kieu-Tran like brothers. Relics of Deer Garden in ancient India, Deer Garden is the deer garden where the Buddha taught the Dharma for the first time to the brothers Kieu Tran Nhu. Even famous Buddhist researchers with widely influential works such as Nārada Mahā Thera (1898-1983), Étienne Lammote (1903-1983), Hans Wolfgang Schumann (1928-?)... Accepting the teachings of the Four Noble Truths was the first sermon when the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma. However, in the course of research, some scholars have said that the teaching of the Four Noble Truths in the first sermon when the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma was added later. First of all is the view of Japanese scholar Hajime Nakamura (1912-1999) in Gotama Buddha - a biography based on the most prestigious scriptures 1 (Gotama Buddha: A biography based on the most reliable texts - 1968). And the closest is the opinion of author Johannes Bronkhorst in the work Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India - 1986. Researching the issues mentioned by famous scholars is not an easy task. With limited capacity and limited literature, we will approach and try to explain this problem, starting with a review of the theoretical background of the two authors mentioned above. Theoretical basis of two authors Hajime Nakamura and Johannes Bronkhorst About the author Hajime Nakamura Hajime Nakamura is a famous Buddhist researcher in Japan. He has many valuable works on Buddhist studies and one of them is Gotama Buddha - a biography based on the most prestigious scriptures. The work consists of two volumes with the English title Gotama Buddha: A biography based on the most reliable texts. The work was first published in 1968 with a Japanese version. The Vietnamese translation, volume I of this work was completed and published by layman Tran Phuong Lan in 2010. In the introduction in the Vietnamese translation, Professor Le Manh That assessed that: Among the works Writing about his life (Buddha - mantra) published in different languages ​​around the world, the Gotama Buddha series consists of two volumes by Professor Hajime Nakamure, of the University of Tokyo in Japan, according to us, is the best work to appear so far 2 . And also according to author Le Manh That, this work also reveals certain limitations. One of the limitations, according to our findings, is the view of the first lecture. Specifically, in the views related to the first sermon of the Buddha, author Hajime Nakamura only based on the content of the bible (Ariyapariyesanā Sutta) and from that point of view that the teaching of the Four Noble Truths has been added later. To be more objective, we quote this passage verbatim with emphasis in the original Vietnamese format: The Ariyapariyesanasutta is apparently the oldest of these texts and is believed to have conveyed part of the first Dharma talk. However, the equivalent Chinese translation, called the Lama Sutra, No. 204, of Middle Ahamad says that in the city of Vānārasī the Buddha preached the Middle Way and the Noble Eightfold Path to five bhikkhus: You must know that there are two extremes in spiritual practice that people who seek the Way should not follow. One is the path of sensuality, lowliness and vulgarity, the karmic actions of ignorant ordinary people. The other way is the suffering of self-torture. They are not the path for the wise to seek the Dharma. They are not fit (for the purpose). If you abandon these two extremes and practice the Middle Way, you five bhiksu, you will gain insight, knowledge, complete concentration, and liberation. The attainment of knowledge, enlightenment, and Nirvana is the Noble Eightfold Path. There are eight factors, from right view to right concentration. Since this passage does not appear in the Ariyapariyesanasutta, it can be considered a later addition. When that sutra was compiled, the Middle Way and the Noble Eightfold Path were not codified, or at least not considered important. However, at the time when the original Sanskrit text of the lama was compiled, these two elements were incorporated into the dharma talk at Deer Park, although the Four Noble Truths (Four Noble Truths) had not yet been compiled by him. know! The addition of the Four Noble Truths to this discourse appeared much later. Likewise, there is no ancient verse (gāthā) that connects the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, or the Middle Way with this discourse . In the discussion of the First Discourse (The First Discourse) 4, the main materials used by author Hajime Nakamura include the Nidānakathā fairy tale, the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta, the Sutta Nipāta, the Middle A-function, the Fourfold Law and the A-function Sangha. . Particularly regarding the view that the Ariyapariyesanasutta is likely to be the oldest of these texts and is believed to have conveyed part of the first dharma talk 5 . (The Ariyapariyesana-sutta seems to be the oldest of these texts, and it is belived to transmit part of the first discourse) 6 . In our opinion, considering the chronological order of the Buddha's transformation, this is not necessarily the earliest and oldest preached scripture. Because, based on a detail recorded in the very first lines of the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta, it partly shows that. These are the words of the Buddha: This Ananda, let us go to Pubbarama (East Park), home of Migaramatu floor (dialysis amphitheater) to lunch 7 . According to the commentary on the Dhammapada (Dhammapada Aṭṭhakatha - DhA.i.413), the Pubbārāma monastery was built by Visākha. It should be seen that, when the Buddha became enlightened and went to propagate, she met the Buddha at about seven years old (sattavassikakāle). Accordingly, at least ten years after she has stabilized her family and transformed her husband's family, the new Visākha is capable and qualified to build this monastery to make offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha. 8 . Thus, in terms of historical chronology, the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta, delivered near the Pubbārāma monastery, is not yet one of the first sermons. Although the resources are not complementary or related; only based on the results of judgment when comparing the Chinese and Pāli scriptures, but Professor Hajime Nakamura said: The addition of the Four Noble Truths to this discourse appeared a long time later. (The addition of the Four Noble Truths to the discourse came considerably later) 9 . Similar to the author Hajime Nakamura when discussing the content of the first sermon, many researchers have proposed specific views, and one of them is the author Johannes Bronkhorst. Deer Garden is the deer garden where the Buddha taught the Dharma for the first time to the brothers Kieu Tran Nhu. About the author Johannes Bronkhorst Johannes Bronkhorst was a professor at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Due to his ability in Sanskrit and Pali ancient languages, he had many works on early Buddhism in relation to the religions of the time. Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India is one of his works. In this work, Johannes Bronkhorst argued that the Four Noble Truths are a teaching that does not appear to have appeared in the first sermon. The text is as follows: This seems to indicate that the Four Noble Truths were not originally included in the first discourse at the Deer Park, and therefore were not a core element of Buddhism as it is today. We can surmise that such a concise formulation of the Four Noble Truths does not yet exist, nor does it necessarily deviate from the original content. If the Four Noble Truths were not present when the Zhuan Dharma Wheel was first compiled, one can be sure that at that time the Four Noble Truths were not considered to be constitutive of the insight that appeared just before the moment of enlightenment. Enlightenment, and leading to enlightenment (Kan translation) 10 . In the work Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India, the author made comparisons between Buddhist meditation and other meditation traditions such as Hinduism and Kyrgyz. -naism (Jain) at the beginning. However, it seems that too much emphasis on charity (Four Dhyanas) that the author has presented is not really objective about the role of the Four Noble Truths 11 . Here, what we are really interested in is that author Johannes Bronkhorst also argues that the teaching of the Four Noble Truths does not seem to be present in the first discourse. From the point of view of Professor Hajime Nakamura to the skepticism of the author Johannes Bronkhorst, it motivated us to review the bibliography related to the first sermon, as well as the content of the Four Noble Truths in that sermon. Credible bibliographic sources regarding the first discourse The bibliography relating to the first discourse as well as the teachings of the Four Noble Truths in that discourse covers various genres such as Sutras, Disciplines, Commentaries, and History. present in both the canon from the Chinese to the Nikaya. For convenience, the Sino-Tibetan documents we denoted by C and those belonging to the Pali system, we marked them as P and arranged by chronology.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.16/5/2021.