Buddhism and its Teachings - (By Min Bahadur Shakya)

Lord Buddha appeared in this world with the sole purpose 
of benefitting all sentient beings of the Triple Realm. His 
appearance in this world is a very rare phenomena and is the 
outcome of the collective merits of his disciples and the beings 
who are to be trained under him. Out of great compassion 
Buddha Shakyamuni revealed many different means to attain 

enlightenment and to win liberation from the cycle of birth 
and death. Buddha Shakyamuni set forth three Wheels of 
Law to suit varying degrees of intelligence and receptivity.
At a place called Mrigadavana (Deer Park) near Varanasi, 
Shakyamuni Buddha turned the First wheel of Law which 
constituted the doctrines of the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path and it is designated as Shravakayana.
At a place called Gridha-kuta hill (Vulture Peak) near 
Rajgir, the Buddha turned the Second Wheel of Law which 
constituted the doctrines of Emptiness and Selflessness of the 
person and phenomena. These doctrines are vividly preserved 
in Prajnaparamita literature and Vaipulya sutras. This approach 
was later known as Mahayana or Path of the Bodhisattva.
At Vaisali, on the other hand, the Buddha turned the 
Third Wheel of Law which constituted the doctrines of 
Buddha-nature as described in Tathagatagarbhasutra, Mahaparinirvanasutra and Dharanisvararaja sutra.


At various places such as Dhanyakataka, Sriparvat, 
Kamakhya, Sirihatta, Purnagiri, Odiyana, etc. the Buddha 
revealed the path of Mantra to his highly gifted disciples as 
a shorter path to attain enlightenment. This approach was 
termed as Vajrayana which integrates all three vehicles.